Where in Central Europe Would I Teach?
Bratislava is the capital of Slovakia, with a population of over 400,000. It is a dynamic city where construction and reconstruction projects are everywhere. Alongside this are reminders of the past with a castle overlooking the city, the Old Town with its narrow winding streets and sidewalk cafes, and many historic buildings. Bratislava is a cultural center with art galleries, museums, and an especially rich selection of music, from classical to jazz, from folk to rock. The city has a good public transportation system.
The Evangelical Lyceum
The Lutheran high school, the Evangelical Lyceum, was founded in 1606 as part of the Reformation. In the 1800s, many of the national leaders were students or teachers at the Lyceum. The school was closed during the Communist period, 1948-1989, but reopened in 1991 as a bilingual school. More than 100 Americans and Canadians have served as volunteer English teachers.
The Lyceum has five grades for students ages 13-19. For the first-year class, 300 students apply and 72 are chosen based on their academic record. In their first year, students have four hours of English classes a day, including grammar, reading and writing, and social studies (American and British history). In successive years, students have one hour of English per day to improve their reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills. Third-year students focus on American literature, fourth-year on British, and fifth-year on contemporary literature of Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Fifth-year students mainly focus on preparing for their Maturita, a series of demanding written and oral comprehensive graduating exams.
Teaching at the Lyceum
The teaching assignment for American volunteer teachers may include English language (listening, speaking, reading and writing), grammar, conversation, thematic topics (including history and culture of Great Britain and the United States), and English literature. Teachers meet with all their students daily, 5 class hours per week. The normal number of teaching hours per week is 20 but could be expanded by substituting. Usually each teacher has two preparations: for example, two sections of second-year students and two of fourth year. In the school year 2005-2006, the school had five American teachers in addition to Slovak teachers of English at the school. Assignments are made according to the teacher interests and the needs of the school.
The New Maturita (National comprehensive graduating exam)
In 2005, the Slovak government standardized all graduating exams in high school subjects, including English. As such, Kosice’s Gymnasium utilizes their American volunteers to teach extensive year-long conversation classes. The new Maturita exam for English language requires students to know specific vocabulary, dialogue, description and basic comprehension in 25 topics (such as food, multi-cultural society, family, mass media, health care, etc.). Teachers of 4th and 5th year classes are expected to help students organize and review their materials for the comprehensive graduating exam given at the end of the 5th year, in addition to presenting the assigned curriculum.
The school’s teacher resource library and circulation library has sufficient resources for English language classes; however, resources in English for selected units of content area study taught bilingually by Slovak teachers are lacking. In addition, the library holds reference works, magazines, videos, and provides Internet access.
Volunteers receive free housing in proximity to the school. Generally two teachers share an apartment.
In addition to the English teachers, Global Mission provides a coordinating teacher, a librarian, and one or more religion teachers.
Teachers find support and fellowship at the Bratislava International Congregation, an English-language congregation of the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Slovakia.
Links
Kosice, with a population of 240,000, is the second-largest city in Slovakia. It is the leading urban center of eastern Slovakia and a transportation hub. A six-hour train ride from Bratislava, it can also be reached by plane from the capital. It is a historic city, dating back to 1230, and has a restored main square, a Gothic cathedral, and several museums.
The Evangelical Gymnasium J.A. Komensko
The Lutheran high school is the Evangelical Gymnasium J.A. Komensko. It was founded in 1994 and includes both elementary and high school students. In the school year 2005-2006, the school had three American volunteers as well as Slovak teachers of English. American teachers are asked to teach 1st year Realia (history and culture of English speaking countries, especially Great Britain and the United States) and all conversation classes in the 5-year bilingual program as well as in the last four years of the 8-year gymnasium program. These conversation classes may include reading and discussion of abridged or unabridged literary works as well as selected thematic topics and writing skills. Conversation classes meet two times per week in each class. American and British literature is taught to compliment conversation classes. All teaching is expected to facilitate conversation skills in preparation for the oral comprehensive graduating exam, and the writing skills will help prepare for the written English comprehensive graduating exam. Limited resources for conversation topics for the leaving-exam are provided; additional resources are being organized by the American teachers on site (2005-06). The normal class load begins at 20 hours/week but could be 2 to 4 hours more. Volunteers also assist in the library and with a drama group. The American teachers are expected to participate in the spiritual life of the school (attending chapel services, leading devotions when teaching the first hour of the day, etc.).
The New Maturita (National comprehensive graduating exam)
In 2005, the Slovak government standardized all graduating exams in high school subjects, including English. As such, Kosice’s Gymnasium utilizes their American volunteers to teach extensive year-long conversation classes. The new Maturita exam for English language requires students to know specific vocabulary, dialogue, description and basic comprehension in 25 topics (such as food, multi-cultural society, family, mass media, health care, etc.). The American teachers spend their time in classrooms facilitating conversation among students in these specific areas, developing their speaking and writing skills to prepare them for the comprehensive graduating exam in their final year.
Volunteer teachers live in the upper floor of a duplex, a ten-minute walk from the school and near the city center.
Links
Located in north-central Slovakia, Liptovsky Mikulas, a compact city of 32,000, is surrounded by mountains, the West, Low, and High Tatras. It has a pleasant Old Town with shops, restaurants, and a fine art museum. Liptovsky Mikulas is a center for outdoor activities such as hiking, backpacking, skiing, and cycling.
The Evangelical Gynmasium Jura Janou
The Evangelical Gymnasium Jura Janou opened in 2001 with a first-year class and is adding one class each succeeding year. In the school year 2005-2006, the school had two American volunteers as well as Slovak teachers of English. They are asked to teach English conversation, Realia (history and culture of English speaking countries, especially Great Britain and the United States), and content area subjects (if it is their field of study) in both the 5-year bilingual program and the 8-year gymnasium program. Moreover, they are asked to cooperate with Slovak teachers who teach content area subjects bilingually by giving assistance in English vocabulary. American teachers share school duties (lunch duty, hall duty) with Slovak teachers and participate in weekly staff devotions. A normal teaching load for American teachers is 20-22 hours/week.
The New Maturita (National comprehensive graduating exam)
In 2005, the Slovak government standardized all graduating exams in high school subjects, including English. As such, the Gymnasium in Liptovsky Mikulas utilizes their American volunteers to teach extensive year-long conversation classes. The new Maturita exam for English language requires students to know specific vocabulary, dialogue, description and basic comprehension in 25 topics (such as food, multi-cultural society, family, mass media, health care, etc.). The American teachers spend their time in classrooms facilitating conversation among students in these specific areas, developing their speaking and writing skills to prepare them for the comprehensive graduating exam in their final year.
The volunteers in Liptovsky Mikulas live in a duplex a few blocks from the school. They are more isolated than the teachers in Bratislava or Kosice, but have Slovak colleagues who speak English and have regular opportunities to meet with the other American teachers in Slovakia.
Links
Cieszyn is a town of 40,000 people located on the Polish-Czech border. After World War II, the town of Cieszyn was divided into two towns: Cieszyn, in Poland, and Cesky Tesin (or “Czech Cieszyn”), in the Czech Republic. The historical town’s attractions include castle structures dating from the 11th century and a beautiful market square from the 15th century. In 1709, Emperor Joseph I allowed the building of an evangelical (Lutheran) church, named The Jesus Church, in Cieszyn. It is one of the largest Lutheran churches in Poland and can seat 6,000 people.
Lutheran Lower Secondary School (GTE) and Lutheran Secondary School in Cieszyn (LOTE)
Gimnazjum Towarzystwa Ewangelickiego w Cieszynie (GTE) and Liceum Ogolnoksztalcace Towarzystwa Ewangelickiego w Cieszynie (LOTE) are two Lutheran schools founded by the Evangelical (Lutheran) Society in Poland. LOTE (the high school and equivalent of U.S. grades 10-12) was founded in 1993 and GTE (the middle school and equivalent of U.S. grades 7-9) was founded in 1999. There are 120 students in the high school (LOTE) and 170 students in the middle school (GTE). The two schools are located in one building across the street from The Jesus Lutheran Church. The school specializes in foreign languages (English, German, and French) and science/mathematics.
Teaching Focus
ELCA volunteers teach English conversations classes and therefore their instruction focuses exclusively on helping the students improve their speaking skills. English conversation classes meet once a week with 8-16 students per class. Volunteers are responsible for designing the English conversation curriculum and are encouraged to discuss a variety of topics with their students, including American culture and history. In addition to 16-18 hours of teaching, volunteers are also responsible for running the school’s English library and holding English tutoring hours before and/or after school.
The volunteers in Cieszyn live in private, single apartments a few blocks from the school and church. Shops and markets are only a 5-10 minute walk from the apartments.
Cieszyn Website:
http://www.cieszyn.eu/
School Websites: http://gte.tecieszyn.pl/; http://lote.tecieszyn.pl/