Have you ever thought about traveling overseas to complete your student teaching? Taylor University provides such an opportunity, and Senior Mathematics Education major, Abby Pyle, seized it! In the Fall of 2021, Pyle traveled more than 4,000 miles to Bonn, Germany to fulfill her student teaching requirements.
Pyle hopes one day to teach the children of missionaries or in an international school. When asked what she hoped to gain from the experience, Pyle stated, “I really want to experience how other countries do education. I have studied about the American education system so much and seen it in action. Now I want to see how teaching math carries over into other nations. I hope also to see how different cultures and societies deal with classroom management and discipline.”
While in Germany, Pyle taught 7th to 12th grade mathematics classes. Although the school at which she taught did not formally list Algebra or AP Calculus, she taught the equivalent of Algebra 1 and 2 as well as AP Calculus. She noted that the practicums she completed in prior semesters helped her prepare for this experience. “I think having my practicums every semester helped prepare me for student teaching because it really got me into the classroom and it helped me learn how to deal with students and other teachers.
Pyle was also able to attend the Bonn International school while in Germany, which gave her a unique perspective on math. “I experienced a UK system of math, which my British cooperating teacher called ‘maths.’ Going into this, I thought ‘math is math world round,’ but I was wrong! They use so many different math terms. It was funny because it was still English, just not English that I was used to. For example, they would say’ brackets’ instead of ‘parentheses’ and ‘indices’ rather than ‘exponents’ and ‘surds’ instead of ‘radicals!’ It was hard to get used the system at times and the way they assess their students (which is sooo different than the way we test here in the States), but I am really thankful for the experience.”
Take advantage of the opportunity to complete your student teaching overseas and enrich your educational experience!
taylormath.com 