A Warm Blend of Blue and Orange

This past Friday I had a direct experience where traditional cultural values meet modern cultural values.

Most university education only began in Albania after World War Two.  Mandatory education after age 12 is one of the positive legacies of the communist dictatorship.  Most of the high school and college buildings were built in the concrete block style construction that we associate with the communist era.  Many Albanians continue to live and learn in these types of buildings, occasionally letting them crumble until more modern facilities are built.  Sometimes new paint covers the cracks and concrete mold. 

Faculty of Foreign Languages

The legacy of the communist regimentation, absolute authority and rote learning, lingers in the education system even as educational and political leadership work to create an "American" system that encourages individuality, student engagement, skepticism, innovation and creativity.   I have recently had my first teaching opportunity to experience this cultural whirlpool when I delivered a three hour class to graduate students in the Faculty of Economics at the University of Shkoder.

Because it was a graduate level class there were only 15 students instead of the 35 or 40 who are in the undergraduate classes. (My primary assignments in October will be at the undergraduate level, although I hope to also work with graduate students.).  The Dean of the Faculty encouraged me to use  “American” teaching methods.  I was asked to focus on consultative selling skills.  To make class more relevant, I spent the last week learning about the marketing of tourism and hospitality, in Albania and elsewhere.

This animated group spoke the best English

My experience of the last thirty years has been designing and delivering learning modules for adult business professionals where relevance, fast pace and participant engagement were demanded by an assertive and achievement oriented customer.  In that spirit for this class, in addition to necessary conceptual models and  brief explanation slides, I came with a variety of application exercises including role plays, small group problem solving, fish bowel demonstrations and dramatic examples where I simulated a variety of customers,   The practices of Albanian teachers and students is primarily students sit and listen while the teacher talks.  The primary goal of the students is to memorize only what is necessary to pass exams. 

Groups of three preparing for a role play skill practice 

For this class, when the students  arrived the desks had been changed from the theater style where they all faced the teacher and looked at the back of each other’s heads.  Instead the desks were placed into table groups of four or five where they were facing each other.  To my joy, there were delighted and anxious to learn in the “American” way

They did the best they could, with virtually no experience with these teaching methods, bringing unconscious habits from years of rigid education.  They were often perplexed when given the freedom to collaborate, think creatively and set their own small group agenda.    And I also had to adjust my expectations and instruction style in the midst of this three hour getting to know you session.  The bottom line is that beneath the occasional muddle, I had the sense that we had a shared hope for the future and that we looked forward to the next time we could learn together.  The class ended with a spontaneous applaud, they for me and me for them, with smiles all around.

I will meet the Dean and other faculty on Monday and we will explore possibilities for my contribution starting in October.  I already have a commitment of three courses at the Faculty of Foreign Languages.  Two of those are advanced English classes and the other is a course on English for Business Purposes.  Perhaps I can teach this same ESP* course at the Economics Faculty, and  also one day a week at the University of Tirana where I have been invited as well.  My advisors at the Peace Corps warned me that there would be many requests and I should be careful about taking on too much.  If I can prepare one course and teach it three times a week, maybe that would be ok?  We will see.  More to follow.

Teacher in this case is Guide on the side, not Sage on the stage

*ESP is English for Special Purposes – where  English is taught in a professional context, i.e. business, law, mechanical engineering, agriculture.  The situations and the vocabulary are customized to the immediate communication requirements of the targeted professionals.  Grammar is included, but only as a necessary support to communication competency.  My area of concentration in ESP is for business professionals, or for students anticipating a business career.

TRANSITIONS

In the last three weeks in Shkoder I have been experiencing transitions.  Transition from regimentation of the Peace Corps Pre Service Training and the obligations of living with a host family to the freedom of my own apartment and the choice to once again create my own daily schedule.  Transition from a small mountain town with a strong influence of traditional values to the city of Shkoder where modern values are manifest in dress, grocery stores, music, religious tolerance and educational institutions.  In both cases, small town and large city, people tell me about  the residual influence of fifty years of a repressive communist regime that used spying and excessive punishment to isolate the country, discourage creative thinking and generated fear and mistrust among the population.  (More on that in a later blog)

Elona and her brother Beni

I rent from Fredi who lives above me with his family

Since my last blog post I have been adjusting to these transitions; creating a home in my apartment, getting to know the family that lives above me and shares my patio and yard, finding shops and restaurants, visiting the university where I will teach and negotiating my teaching assignments for the next school year which will start in October. (Yes, I have a largely free summer ahead of me!  I do hope to go to Tirana occasionally to teach some Business English workshops for working adults.)

My primary focus in the last three weeks has been on my teaching responsibilities for next year. .  The Peace Corps staff has told me that a native English speaker is highly valued, particularly one with an advanced degree and with business experience and therefore I will have to manage the demand on my time or risk taking on too much work.  (I certainly do not want to take on too much work.)  At the University of Shkoder I have met several times with the Dean of the Language Faculty and Dean of the Economics Faculty.  I have met others in Tirana who would like me to commute down there one day a week to teach a course in Business English.   I have numerous requests to tutor individuals.   Last night I met the Director of a choral group who has encouraged me to audition to sing bass and to support the choir with English pronunciation when needed.  So I will have to sort this all out.

Here is youtube link to choir I might join if I am accepted  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHN9zkG1Yzo. 

This Friday I will teach a four hour session for Masters Students in the Economics Faculty who are studying marketing for sustainable tourism.  They want me to focus on consulting skills and relationship selling. To make the four hours more relevant, I have spent the last week learning about the marketing of tourism and hospitality, in Albania and elsewhere.  Albania tourism is focusing on its natural beauty and unique culture.  I will post more about this in later blogs.

So I am managing the transition.   I am living in a studio apartment that is part of a family compound that is behind a stone wall, similar to many homes in Shkoder.   I walk miles daily just for everyday requirements, I have joined a health club, I have made friends with shop owners and greet my neighbors when I walk down the street.  I still miss my wife, my children, my friends and my big bed in America.

The street outside my family compound

Streets in the old part of Shkoder near my compound

Doing business with a new friend.