I am a graduate student in European Studies at Indiana University. But if not for the inspiration I found in one high school French class, I likely wouldn’t be here. As foreign language and culture offerings in K-12 education seem to move from the back burner to the fridge, I worry about the dwindling opportunities for other young students to find their own moments of inspiration and wonder.
At my rural high school, there were only three other students in my French course. We had great fun choosing French nicknames (I was Hélène), translating Le Petit Prince, and gazing over the glossy photos of francophone cafes and beaches in our textbook. We felt quite sophisticated sampling Perrier for the first time, munching on French cookies and baguettes with real European butter that Madame Nowling kindly brought for us.
Those bites of baguette dropped crumbs of hope into my heart; I wondered if I might one day go to Europe. It didn’t seem so out of reach to Mme. Nowling, who spoke to us with a sense of expectation and confidence that we would travel and continue to study the language. She framed lessons around how we might use our knowledge abroad, saying “Now, when you go to France…” before diving into vocabulary or verb tenses.
As foreign language and cultural offerings in schools become increasingly rare, I worry about the possibilities that young students will have to be inspired. Indiana’s new high school graduation pathways require foreign language coursework only for those seeking honors diplomas. That is, if language classes are offered at all. A statewide teacher shortage has forced some districts like New Palestine High School to only offer French language coursework virtually. No baguettes for you! How inspiring it must be after years of COVID e-learning to stare at a screen, learning to conjugate, without an instructor to correct your pronunciation of “le désert”.
And speaking of deserts, the desertion of foreign language offerings by authorities and institutions is just one reason why programs like Indiana University’s “Windows to the World” are so critical. The Windows to the World (W2W) project began as an online resource connecting rural Indiana K-12 educators with IU’s museum collections and archives. Completely free of charge, teachers can have access to digital renderings from IU’S collections of artifacts from around the world as well as educational materials developed by area studies specialists and curriculum experts. Since W2W doesn’t focus on just one language or culture, instructors can incorporate W2W’s teaching tools in a variety of ways. It’s up to the teacher whether to build an entire learning experience around a W2W activity or adapt it to supplement an existing lesson plan.
A cohort of eleven Indiana educators inaugurated the first series of W2W training workshops and have shared international content from the website with over 700 students across the state. The number of students positively impacted will only continue to increase thanks to a recent grant which made redesigning the W2W website possible. The site is now much more user-friendly and content is being consistently designed, uploaded, and updated.
Learning resources vary widely based on subject matter and intended student age group, but the goal is to make the content as engaging and thought-provoking as possible. It’s the sort of stuff that I would have loved to have access to when I was in school. Even now, I find myself inspired by the content that the W2W team is developing.
Sarah Hensler displays the Korean Hanbok paper doll clothing and accessories she is developing.
W2W Project Manager Sarah Hensler shared paper doll designs that she is developing as a lesson supplement with me, describing how the clothing will complement a lesson about Korean culture. The pint-size attire is representative of actual Hanbok, traditional Korean clothing. I told her that I was quite jealous of the students who would one day get their hands on these learning materials-what a cool lesson!
Access to such neat educational materials can have great learning outcomes on students, particularly in their most impressionable years. Particularly when, like me, they attend rural school systems where there isn’t much support for instructors who want to provide fun, out-of-the-box activities. Years (and I’m happy to report, several trips to Europe) later, I can only emphasize the educational impact those fun lessons in the classroom had on my life and academic trajectory. I truly believe it only takes one moment of inspiration to see new opportunities for yourself that you didn’t quite imagine before.
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