Day 4- Visit to the Zuyd University

Jan. 8 6:15pm

Today was a very busy day! I woke up at 7am to get ready for our school visit at the university. Once Cinzia and I got ready, we both headed down for breakfast. I ate a nice little croissant, eggs, and bacon. After breakfast we all hoped on the bus and made our way to the Zyud University. During our time there we visited the teacher training college. We were greeted by two lovely ladies that were teachers in the school. They gave us a short lecture on the how the school system is organized in the Netherlands and the path students take in order to become a teacher. The Dutch educational system is broken up into different levels. In the U.S school starts at Pre-K (age 3-4), then primary school (grades K-5), secondary school (grades 6-12), and then higher education. On the other hand, the Dutch system is quite different. Students begin primary school at age 4 and end at age 12 which is at sixth grade. Once the student is in the 6th grade, they have to take a standardized test call the Citotest. This test is way to identify which secondary school and level of higher education the student will attend. There are four different secondary schools offer in the Netherlands. Depending on the secondary school that you go to, it determines which level of higher education and the career path you take. Therefore, students are taught the skills they need for their career rather than general education.The system is complicated to explain; however, it works! Another interesting fact about the school systems here is that each district is equally funded by the government, which I personally thing is great! There is no barrier between school districts that some school receive more money than other schools.  After our lecture, we had a short break for tea, coffee, and pound cake..yum!! We then had the opportunity to go into three different classrooms and talk to students that were studying to become primary education teachers. In the art class, the students were learning how make stamps, so that way they could incorporated art in their lessons. In science, a student name Kelly, was telling us that she had to create a science lesson for students in 6th grade about energy. Students that are learning how to become teachers get to experience teaching in their first year. Students go into a school once a week, starting in their first year of college, and prepare a lesson for the students. We then all went to lunch and were treated with some Dutch sandwiches. After lunch we went to one last class which was drama. The teacher split us up into groups so that way we would be able to interact with the other students. In our groups, we were given a list of ideas to perform in front of the class. My group decided to act out a surprise party. This activity was a great way to meet other students and see how two different cultures worked together. After our drama class, we ended our day by talking to third year students in the education program. They gave us tours of the school and answered all our questions! The student that gave my tour mentioned that becoming a teacher during this time is quite difficult because there are not that many jobs available for primary educators. Since a lot of older teachers are retiring later, newer teachers are having trouble finding teaching jobs. We then had the opportunity to have a Dutch lesson. The students taught us few Dutch words that we could use in our school visit tomorrow. I learned how to say my name is and thank you! After that long day, everyone was exhausted and ready to take a nap once we got back to the hotel. Now that I am re-engerized from nap I am ready for dinner and to explore the city of Maastricht!