For Danvers teacher John Hodsdon, summer break was by no means a vacation from learning.
Hodsdon, a sixth-grade science teacher at Holten Richmond Middle School, spent more than two weeks in Ghana through the Fulbright Teachers for Global Classrooms Program.
The fully funded program is a yearlong professional learning opportunity and short-term exchange for elementary, middle and high school educators from the U.S. to develop skills to prepare students for a competitive global economy. The program equips educators to bring an international perspective to their schools through targeted training, experience abroad and global collaboration.
“One of the goals is to help prepare kids for a global world,” said Hodsdon. “How do we communicate with different cultures? How do we show empathy? How do we create a sustainable future by working together?”
Hodsdon is in his 30th year in Danvers. As a science teacher, he enjoys helping students learn about the environment and feel empowered to effect change. When he found out about the Fulbright opportunity, he was immediately interested, and applied.
“Danvers is becoming a more diverse community of students,” he said. “I wanted to increase my own cultural understanding and my knowledge of global education.”
Prior to the trip abroad, participants completed a semester-long online course focused on best practices in global education and gathered for an in-person professional development workshop in Washington, D.C. Finally, they traveled to immerse themselves in another country’s culture and education system. Participating countries and territories included Brazil, Colombia, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Morocco, Peru, Philippines, Senegal and Uruguay.
Hodsdon was in Ghana from July 13 to July 29 with 17 other participants in the program. Ghana, the second-most populous country in West Africa, is dominated by agriculture. Hodsdon and his group spent the first few days in the capital city of Accra for an orientation period.
“We met with government officials, and they’re going through education reform right now, so it was interesting to see that process,” he said.
Next, they went to Yendi, a small town in northern Ghana, and visited Yendi Senior High School. Hodsdon had a chance to observe, co-teach some lessons and put on presentations.
“We shared ideas about making curriculum student-centered,” he said. “There are some really great teachers over there, so we learned a lot as well. And in working with the kids, they had so much joy in learning, in spite of the fact that they don’t have a lot of the conveniences that we have here.”
Hodsdon said it was interesting to see how connected the students in Ghana were to their own environment and natural resources.
“There’s more of a disconnect to the environment here, like if you were to ask, ‘where does your water come from?’” said Hodsdon. “In Ghana, they’re gathering their own water from a well.”
Hodsdon said he and his host teacher in Yendi will continue to work together and hopefully collaborate on some projects throughout the year. At the start of the school year, Holten Richmond seventh-graders wrote to students in Yendi and sent them school supplies. Next, Hodsdon’s students are raising money to help the students there buy trees to plant, to help with climate change.