Those Who Come from Afar

In search Of Light
I am personally not fond of prejudices, but lately, I've caught myself actively
feeding one in my mind without even trying to verify it, or giving the targets of my
thoughts a chance to tell their side of the story. So I decided to get ahold of a sample of
those to whom my -probably unjust- thoughts are being aimed at, and interview them -
using Carolyn Ellis's model of "Reflexive Dyadic Interviews" as a springboard.
My target group is teachers who instruct in a foreign country. I want to know why
they desire to teach and bestow their acquired knowledge so far from home. Wouldn't it
be just as efficient to do so where one is already living?
My first interviewee is Abigail Kahn, "After graduating from Emory University with a
major in German and Italian in 2010, she spent three years in Vienna, Austria, teaching
English for two years on a Fulbright Teaching Assistantship. During this time she
completed her Masters in Applied Linguistics at the University of Vienna in 2013.(...) As
a graduate of the German Studies Department, and this year shes teaching German
101-102.(...)"
I was a student in the Linguistics class for which Abigail is a TA, so when I thought
of this project, I was happy to remember that she had mentioned at the beginning of the
year that she had studied and taught abroad. So I contacted her for this interview.
Abigail's position regarding foreign teachers is that of a foreign language one. I believe
it's a teaching position best fulfilled by a fluent, preferably native, speaker of the tongue,
so I understand the necessity of foreign language teachers. Then again, Abigail herself
would disagree with me, as I recall her stance on the subject of language acquisition.
I asked for some of her time because I had a few questions regarding her
reason(s) for studying abroad. To see if there might be a correlation with that of others.
My first question was "Why decide to go abroad to teach?" She likes languages and
was a double-language major in college. One of the reasons why she pursued learning
German is because her Great Grandparents were German, and she wanted to
reconnect with her heritage. She is now fluent in German, and teaches Elementary
German at Emory University.
She also went to Austria for study abroad during her undergrad and really loved it
so she returned to teach English in Austria; at the same time she decided to take
classes there and completed her Masters in Applied Linguistics. In Austria she felt like
at a second home, and very at ease. Her reception by the students was very warm.
When I asked if she is likely to go back, she said "Probably," depending on how things
go for her, she might be "doing [her] doctorate there; for tertiary education at least."
Abigail was the first of my interviewees, so I don't know if there is anything similar
between her teaching experience and that of the others. I know however from the
research I did that teaching abroad temporarily is very different from moving there
completely. I don't think that the subject which is being taught by the foreign faculty
member matters, the length of one's stay and the sacrifices it entails might have more
weight. I understand teaching a language to those foreign to it, on foreign grounds. But I
haven't yet fully comprehended why help another country's University stats, instead of
your own. Perhaps there is something more I cannot yet see.
The next person I interviewed is Dr. Francesco Evangelista who was born in the
beautiful city of Vasto in the Abruzzo region of Italy. After high school he attended the
Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa where he graduated with a laurea in chemical
physics. After a summer fellowship in the group of Prof. Schaefer at the University of
Georgia (2003) he moved from Pisa to Athens for graduate school.(...)
In the Schaefer group he met Prof. Jrgen Gauss, who later became his
postdoctoral advisor and host when he moved to Mainz, Germany for an Alexander von
Humboldt Junior Fellowship. Later he moved to New Haven, Connecticut to start a
second postdoc with Prof. John Tully. In summer 2013 he joined the Chemistry
Department at Emory University as an assistant professor.(...)
Before thinking of this project, I had never come across Dr. Evangelista. Knowing
my target Ethnographic group, Foreign-Born Professors, or those who have taught
abroad, I sat for a cumulative 4+ hours, spanned in 2 days, and running my eyes
through the mathematics and sciences department faculty pages, reading profile after
profile until I found Dr. Evangelista's which told a story I was curious to hear; thank
goodness he was willing to share it.
I find I could not properly summarize the "Full Story" and will lay it out as it went.
As I read Dr. Evangelistas profile online, I was a bit floored by all the moving he must
have done. And wrote down the first question I would ask him. How did you transition
into the US? To which he responded, Let me give you the full story.
His mother is American, so growing up, he felt somewhat American. His family
used to visit relatives in the US for vacation. But when he came here to reside, he had
to adjust to the U.S and realized that the side of America that he used to see when
visiting relatives in the us for vacation was just a little bit of it. There were a lot of things
that he didn't really know. I find his answers very well in line with the articles I've read.
Then again, it's expected of everyone to have difficulties adjusting to a whole different
country and the way it works, no? Perhaps it isn't, there seems to be an underlying
phenomenon at work here, which I will dub "the teacher's coat. For some reason,
teachers in general are exempt of certain human factors. We expect them to grade 50
papers in one night, they are also sometimes held to a higher standard of existence
then human nature. Somehow, no one thinks about Foreign Professors' transition into
an unknown environment. Are they somewhat immune to being disorientated? But we
stray.
When it comes to teaching... He started at graduate school, and came here after
finishing his Master. He finds the educational system here completely different. He
points out to our final exam system here, at the end of the course you just take a test.
For him, that was an optional final but then he always had an oral recitation for every
course that he took. And you never knew what was going to be on it, you had to be
totally prepared for everything and anything. The test changed depending on what you
didn't know, if the professor thinks you don't know something, he would quiz you based
on what you didn't know.
I wondered at how or why he became a teacher and asked him so. Apparently,
hes always wanted to teach and do research in the US. Since his Mom is American its
easy for him to travel here, he didn't have to get a visa. He feels coming here to study is
a great opportunity. Becoming a teacher's been a long process however, he did a PhD
at UGA then went to Germany, was a postdoc, from Germany he went to Yale, again
postdoc, lastly from Yale, to Emory. In my mind, Yale weighs a bit more than Emory
But Dr. Evangelista reassures me that "Yale is a very good school but its very similar to
Emory."
I simply nodded, short of being there; I'm unable to make a judgment call. But I will
acknowledge that there must be an over flowing river of love for chemistry in this man;
PhD, twice Postdoc...Professor. The fact that I'm making a face at the thought of
chemistry might be the result of the educational, mental, and social plague associated
with science. Despite strongly against such biased reaction, at least mine is not
completely devoid of basis, I got a kick from Chem last semester. I doubt to ever smile
at the thought.
I wondered if he had plans to go back to his homeland. When I asked him, he said
that if he can he will. Hed always dreamed of founding his own university in his
hometown because he thinks its such a beautiful place. A couple of things that are
stopping him from really pursuing going back to Italy: The system is not very
meritocratic. It's not a matter of changing the place, but also about changing the
mentality of the people that's not very easy to do.
I thought that this was a very interesting point he brought up. Staying in Vasto,
and teaching there, probably wouldn't have made a great difference to a place that
doesn't want to make a difference. It reminds me of Haiti, the real one, not the media
catered version. If you try to change something, you are going to walk into a solid wall of
disapproval. I suppose those are good reasons to teach a core subject abroad. Lest
your knowledge stays encased in the walls of one town, have it be shared and spread
upon students and students who will carry it diligently until it's time for them to share
and spread.
He feels able to do more in the US, and has to accept the compromise that is not
being at home because he loves his town very much. When you usually move from a
place like Italy to the U.S, you do it for work related reasons. The hope is there that the
people would get an education and come back to make the country better. But it
doesn't happen does it? I'm part of Haiti's "Diaspora" now. God knows I want to have a
say in the economic growth and structural reconstruction of my ancestral land. But
would they let me do it? Of course not. The hope is that I'm able to contribute somehow
in the future. But everyday, more and more, it seems I'll never be able to live there
again.
Regarding the American Job crisis, I wondered if he felt that as a foreign professor
he might be filling up the seat of someone else? The position that I hold here is more
than a teacher, its also a research position. If it comes down to teaching, then I would
say there are probably many others for this job, but just for this position, however the
applicants were: One Italian-American (Me), one was Japanese, one is Russian, one
American. The Americans just did not apply, only one and I.
"And that's true, American's seem to be running away from Math and Sciences
related position. I guess foreign professors and teachers might as well take advantage
of the open seats left by the retiring Baby-Boomers.

My last Interviewee is Isabel Chen, a Singaporean from Chinese descent. Her
grandparents are from china, they had left in search of a better life in southeast Asia, so
she was born in Singapore. She wants to do her PHD in the US, because they provide
a lot of financial student aid for 5 years, which is not very common in other parts of the
world and also because when accepting PhD students they don't discriminate, theres
no advantage or disadvantage to not being an American citizen.
She actually spent quite a few years in the UK before coming here, but had to
adjust a little from being in the UK to the US." - I should've asked with which culture she
associates the most. This is reminiscent of my first Ethnos project.
Teaching is part of the curriculum; she thinks teaching is a very useful part of our
experience as graduate students in America because in other countries you won't get
any teaching experience until after you graduate. But here we get some experience
before so we get to see whether we like it or not.
I did not know that. It's interesting to see how the US is a door one must go
through these days for success. I'm happy Isabel gets to experience teaching as a grad
student. That will probably help shape her teaching skills later on.
She likes teaching. In the beginning when she first started it took a lot of time to
prepare as well as having to do her own course works so that was a lot of work but once
I knew the material well , it was fine. And she had a decent course planned out, she
enjoys, interacting with the students here. - As she told me that I was very surprised,
because I did not expect them to have course work of their own. It's that "teacher's coat"
again. She is a graduate student after all. Wow, thats lots of work.
She wouldn't mind staying here to get some experience, but long-term she would
probably move.... probably back to Europe actually, not back to Singapore. Why not
teach in Singapore? She doesn't really enjoy the lifestyle in Singapore, its a very small
country, and the weather is too hot, its like Atlanta all the time, so she prefers to be
elsewhere when it's that hot.
Also, she doesn't like the school system back in Singapore, they are very very
grade oriented and it's very stressful for teachers, as well as the students. One is under
lots of pressure to teach to a set schedule, and the final test much more then here in the
US. Here, college level teaching is quite flexible, it's quite nice, but in Singapore, she
wouldn't do it.
Its hard for her to speak for other Singaporean, especially when she doesnt know
many Singaporeans here. A lot of people from her Singaporean home however, like the
lifestyle there. Shes been away ever since shes been 18, so shes much more used to
the lifestyle of living abroad.
"She really enjoys working with people at Emory because they're very motivated.
Meaning she doesn't need to worry about motivating anyone. They naturally want to do
well, and generally are pretty hard working and have a pretty good attitude over all. She
wonders if shes a little too spoiled at Emory, and if she started teaching elsewhere,
would she have a lot more trouble with teaching and students?" -My interviewees make
teaching sound fun and adventurous. Especially Isabel.

After interviewing them, I realized that my approach was very biased. There is
never just one side to a story. For some reason, which now evades me, I had thought,
as far as nationalism goes, that a person who intends to teach internationally, should
only teach a foreign language. I believed they would be better off teaching core subject
in their home country, and by so, aid in said countrys economic rise.
I thought that if they all concentrated on relying their knowledge solely to students
on their land, their nation would thrive and the U.Ss failing educational system (U.S.
students lag around average on international science, math and reading test -Lyndsey
Layton)
1
would be left bare and flat in comparison, ready for a complete makeover.
Such was my theory.
But the fact of the matter is, the U.S has some of the best universities and
colleges, where lots of funding is available for research and paychecks, perhaps more
than they are offered in their homeland. Why would a person refuse an offer to work
abroad with higher pay than they would get if they stayed where they are? Certainly not
for a theory, which can only be tested through them, whether it fails or not. It would be
quite the sacrifice. What is their incentive to stay? This is simple math.
Also no one should be whining about jobs being taken away, because they are not,
we are Giving them away, and that makes a big difference. Many are not applying to
science and math positions at universities. Of those that do, little seldom qualify, leaving
us in a shortage. To the international teachers that care to give the U.S a helping hand,
welcome to the Land of Opportunity.

1
Layton, Lyndsey. "U.S. Students Lag around Average on International Science, Math and Reading
Test." Washington Post. The Washington Post, 04 Dec. 2013. Web. 04 May 2014.