German Education Student Plans to Put a Little of America in His Teaching Style

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Ruben Gehb of Germany spent the 2012-13 school year at the University of Arkansas.

FAYETTEVILE, Ark. -- German education student Ruben Gehb hopes to introduce some American ways when he begins teaching at a German gymnasium, the equivalent of a U.S. high school.

Gehb experienced firsthand several differences between the German and American educational systems when he spent the past school year as a student at the University of Arkansas. Gehb took classes in the Master of Arts in Teaching program on campus and observed classes at Fayetteville High School, Woodland Junior High and Ramay Junior High through a collaboration between the College of Education and Health Professions and the Graduate School and International Education. The college has partnerships with the Fayetteville school district and many other districts in Northwest Arkansas to enable university students to observe and do internships before they graduate.

Gehb also did some teaching and presentations in his subject areas – English, math and sports – and cultural presentations in German classes.

Return Visitor

Gehb was not a newcomer to the United States. He had been here five times previously, including a year spent as an exchange student during his gymnasium days. He's now a student at Heidelberg University and has another year and a half to go before he completes his degree. At 27, he's a bit older than the traditional student, he said, having spent four years as an officer in the German navy.

One difference he cited between American and German schools is the relationship between teachers and students. In the United States, teachers and students have a friendly relationship in which they may interact outside the classroom. They can be friends. In Germany, the teacher-student relationship is more authoritarian, Gehb said, and the two groups don't interact outside the classroom.

It was a little difficult for him to overcome his German reserve when he was around students, Gehb said.

"I'm going to try my best to use my experience here when I start teaching in Germany," he said. "I hope I can model my classroom like here."

National Differences

Gehb said he also enjoyed the diversity among students in the classrooms he observed. He described some other differences between U.S. secondary schools and German gymnasiums:

• In the United States, students have some choices in the classes that they take. In Germany, students take a fixed curriculum.
• In the United States, the students move from class to class. In Germany, the students stay in one room and the teachers travel between rooms. Gehb said this gives U.S. teachers a "home advantage" that German teachers don't have.
• In the United States, students are involved in school-based activities outside regular school hours including sports, drama and choir. In Germany, the only extracurricular activities are operated by the towns and involvement in these clubs is very low, maybe 10 to 15 percent of students.
• In the United States, students at any schools may go on to college. In Germany, most of the students attending gymnasiums are college-bound. The German comprehensive schools enroll students with a wider range of abilities.

Teaching is a highly respected profession in Germany, Gehb said, along with engineering and medicine. It's considered one of the few "safe" jobs as far as income and stability, he said. His aunt and one of his grandmothers were also teachers.

Dance, Football, Food

Gehb didn't spend all his time observing and studying while in Arkansas. He took two dance classes at the Health, Physical Education and Recreation building and traveled with University Recreation's ballroom dance club to compete in St. Louis. Gehb said he competed in the quickstep, waltz, tango, rumba and cha-cha, and the group did well at the competition.

He learned to call the hogs very soon after arriving on campus and became a college football fan. He had previously only followed the National Football League and was surprised to learn of the passion and strong attendance at college football games.

He doesn't have definite plans as far as his future but he would consider returning to the United States, Gehb said. He missed the food in Germany, though, he laughed. His home district of Gotha is known for its bratwurst, he said. His other favorites are dumplings, red cabbage, pork and deer.

International Opportunities

Michael Freeman, director of International Students and Scholars, said that more and more departments are bringing in undergraduate and graduate students from other countries who want to do research or internships with Arkansas faculty. Freddie Bowles, associate professor of foreign language education, worked hard to make Gehb's nine-month stay possible, Freeman said.

"This was a pilot program for teacher training," Freeman said. "It is unique for an international student to be placed in a school to do an internship this way. Dr. Bowles went out of her way to help with that."

Several other international students have been on campus doing research in subjects such as food science and computer engineering, he said. These students are not enrolled in a degree program, but arrangements are made so that their experience here is credited toward the degree they are seeking in their home country. The time they spend in Fayetteville ranges widely, from a few months to as long as a year, he said.

"It's very dependent on the connections that faculty members have," Freeman explained. "Some of them have done research abroad or taken a sabbatical to a university in another country. They have already established a relationship. Other faculty members came from other countries before getting teaching positions here, and some of our graduates work overseas before coming back and teaching here. A lot of overseas universities are now requiring their students to have practical experience abroad or to do research abroad."

Freeman's office works to provide a personal touch to help the students feel welcome and get acclimated to campus and the community.

"We see some of the students in computer science at a lot of our cultural events," he said. "They have really gotten a taste of what our university is like. Instead of just staying in a lab the whole time, we see them walking around campus, happy, enjoying themselves."

Faculty who are interested in setting up an experience for an international student can contact him, Freeman said, and his office will help facilitate the experience by working with the U.S. Department of State.

"We have to have a detailed plan of what the student is going to be doing," he said. "The State Department wants the student's experience to be meaningful."

For Ruben Gehb, that objective was clearly met.

"It was a really nice experience," he said. "I enjoyed the different perspective, the friendly attitude."