TU Students Say ‘Viva Italia’
Eleven COE students teamed up with Study Abroad to take classes in some of the most historic Italian cities.
One of the most exciting opportunities a college student has is the chance to study in a different country. This summer, 11 TU College of Education students spent more than two weeks studying in Italy, thanks to Towson University’s Study Abroad Office.
The students -- a majority of them elementary, middle or secondary education majors -- traveled overseas as part of the university’s “Teaching with an International Perspective” program.
Through their travels, the students spent time in the cities of Vicenza, Reggio Emilia and Florence. While there, they were immersed in a new culture, which they will later apply to their life as a teacher.
Learn more about the students’ trip through their TU2Italy Blog
“I think from a personal perspective it was life-changing for the students, to be completely immersed in that culture for over two weeks,” said Molly Mee, chair of the department of secondary and middle school education at Towson University. Mee was also the adviser for the trip.
“From a professional standpoint, being exposed to other cultures and seeing it from another viewpoint, then applying that to your teaching back home is life-changing as well,” Mee added. “There really is no substitute for the experience they had.”
While in Vicenza, the TU students were able to study and work with the students at the Little English School, an international school for children from all over the world.
The Towson University students used their experiences in Italy to design and deliver lesson plans to their pupils. One TU student gave a lesson on poetry after seeing Michelangelo’s David.
“They were all out-of-the-box creative thinkers,” Mee said. “Their lesson segments were amazing and very creative. One student gave a lesson on how to write a poem about David’s facial expression in the sculpture.”
In fact, the Towson University students’ experience in Italy was very similar to the learning experienced at the Little English School.
“Traditionally, our courses are taught in a classroom at Towson University where we are given a lot of guidance and structure. The eleven students, including myself, that chose to take this course abroad opted for a different experience,” said Grace Kessler ’16, a secondary education major at TU. “The Little English School’s student-centered approach to teaching and learning provides individual students with the freedom to learn in a non-traditional way, similar to our study abroad experience.
“Giving students of every age the freedom to be independent, learn from failure, and tools to form their own opinions is invaluable and necessary for our rapidly changing global society.
Mee will be offering the program again, but it will focus more on integrating the arts into teaching and will be called “Teaching with the Arts in Mind.” Those interested in this focus of study should contact Molly Mee at mmee AT_TOWSON, or by phone at 410-704-4572.
If “Teaching with the Arts in Mind” isn’t in a students’ interest, The TU Study Abroad Office has many different programs to offer, at varying lengths and locations around the world. Students have the chance to study in the United Kingdom, Cuba, Costa Rica, Africa and many additional locations.
Students looking for more information about the many programs offered by the Study Abroad Office can check out the “Find a Program” section the Study Abroad Office’s website.