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EIU 360

Teaching With the Heart

Elementary Education majors observe in Indian classrooms, earn eye-opening experience.

Joe Stambaugh dreams of leading his classroom and molding young minds to think, dream and create.

As an elementary education major at Eastern Illinois University, Stambaugh takes the lessons from his professors and hands-on experiences to imagine what his classroom will look like one day.

His image guides him as he observes and listens in classrooms on EIU’s campus, but it wasn’t till his study abroad trip to India that he learned the most important tool — his heart.  

Stambaugh and two other students, Jori Wilson and Laura Krieg, traveled to India in the first study aboard trip to the area for education majors.

The students observed at Jubilee Hills Public School in Hyderabad, India, and Ambience Public School in Delhi, India, with three other faculty participants, including Kiran Padmaraju, Joy Russell and Ann Brownson.

Sharing Oneself

Kiran Padmaraju, a professor of elementary education who grew up in India, wanted to share her culture with her students.

The department embraces faculty-led study aboard trips, said Russell, the chairwoman of the Department of Early Childhood, Elementary and Middle Level Education.

“It was a perfect opportunity for students to observe in the global classroom and for Padmaraju to share her culture and school with her students,” Russell said.

Padmaraju taught at the Jubilee Public Hills School for 14 years before moving to the United States.

The students observed in classrooms of third, fourth and fifth grade students during the trip. “We wanted to show them how teaching is done globally,” Padmaraju said.  “We wanted them to experience the classroom in a different culture.”

After having Padmaraju as a professor and hearing about her culture, all three students were eager to experience India with their professor. The students ate in her parent’s house where they chatted with her family and traveled around the country including her hometown, Hyderabad.

The group visited five different cities, Delhi, Amritsar, Agra, Jaipur and Hyderabad and visited monuments such as the Golden Temple and the Taj Mahal.

“Like the United States, you can’t just view one area and know what the country is like,” Stambaugh said.

Observing the Global Classroom

Stambaugh said his initial observations of the classroom were how well-mannered and polite the students were. Wilson and Krieg agreed. Every time a teacher would walk into the classroom, the students would refer to the teacher as “Madam,” and were always attentive and respectful.

“The children were excited to see us every day,” he said. “The first day we arrived in the classroom, the students were handing us friendship bracelets as part of friendship day.”

Throughout the experience, Stambaugh compared his observation to the image of his classroom.

“I want my students to strive for politeness, as well,” he said. “I know some classes will have behavioral issues, but I want to ensure my classroom is practicing manners while enjoying learning and having a good time.”

Krieg agreed that she wants politeness and manners in her classroom, but her observations made her take away something else.

“My teacher would sing to her class in songs from India folklore,” she said.  Right now, Krieg emails her back and forth to see how she can incorporate music into her classroom in the United States.

The schools the students observed in are called “public schools” by name, but Padmaraju said they are similar to American private schools.

In India, since English language is emphasized more in private schools, all parents strive to send their children to private schools. Free public education is provided in government schools for those who cannot afford to go to the private schools. The students spoke Hindi and English in the classroom.

EIU students noticed that the school system seemed more flexible and did not have testing on a regulated basis.

In India, Russell said, they do not place as much focus on group work, and the class sizes are larger and desks are organized in straight lines.

“It reminded me more of when I was in elementary school, because of how the classrooms were set up,” Russell said.

The EIU students also noticed the pace of the classroom. “I felt there were some students who did not understand the lesson at times,” Stambaugh said. For example, he watched as two students struggled to write down a math problem as the teacher steamed ahead.

“I think they do have students there that do have some type of learning disability or some learning issue that is unrecognized,” he said.

According to the school, they have only one counselor because less than 1 percent of their school needs special help.

Though Russell said she felt the Jubilee Hills Public School overall was moving toward a direction of student –centered approach of education then a teacher-centered approach where the student comes first.

The New Image

Even though they observed in the private schools, Stambaugh said the group witnessed grave poverty throughout the country. “We don’t experience that type of poverty on an everyday basis,” he said. Both Wilson and Krieg agreed.

In the United States there is poverty, but they said it was more obvious in India. From their experiences outside the classroom in India, the students said it opened their eyes to the world and influenced how they will conduct their own classrooms someday.

“I want to pass on to my students, not to forget to be thankful,” he said.

Most of Stambaugh’s original image of his classroom still exists, but now the only true addition is the heart.

“It has opened my mind and my heart little bit more," he said. "It makes me want to teach my students to give back."

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