Visit to the Capital - reflection on governance

The Capitol building of the US

E Pluribus Unum - Out of many, One

God of Freedom - behind me of course

Martin Luther King Jr

It has taken me awhile to write this as I wanted to spend some time to reflect on what I have learnt here about governance and leadership. America is a great country. Not perfect but great. She has a great history, she gave birth to great people, but most importantly I think she is founded on great principles. E Pluribus Unum - out of many, one. This country is made up of many peoples, many ideas, many beliefs but all of them have one common principle, that each individual no matter rich or poor, regardless of color or ethnicity have rights - they are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness (as seen in the Declaration of Independence). Every individual has a voice. The issue with that of course is that making decisions take time. Time to listen, time to deliberate. The strength of such a policy however is that every decision made tries to take in account multiple perspectives and hopefully that decision will be the best at that point in time.

At the feet of Einstein 

"As long as I have any choice in the matter, I shall live only in a country where civil liberty, tolerance, and equality of all citizens before the law prevail" - Albert Einstein

There are conditions and prerequisites of course to this voice. The owner of such a voice must be responsible and well informed. It should be made in view of the common good and for the advancement of the nation.

I think these are wonderful ideals. Ideals that value every individual, every voice. A management style based on this ideal will take time, but i think it is worth it. Einstein certainly thought so...

Orientation @ UMD

Look at Analia from Argentina

Cruising with Dr G and the 2 Indian girls

Checking in at The Varsity

Another week has passed and we came to the University of Maryland (UMD) after a week of orientation in Washington. Of course we were brought straight to our dorms at the Varsity and all the guys get to share an apartment together. Well there were only 4 of us so I guess no surprises there. In the midst of adjustment, I must say I miss my family and friends back home. But strangely, a bond is starting to form between the 16 of us ragtag bunch of teachers from different corners of the world. Indeed they have become my friends, my home away from home. We spent much of the weekend shopping for daily necessities like pillows, water, linen, and cooking utensils at Target and Giant. I must say I am glad the guys are easy when it comes to food and groceries. As long as there is good coffee and a steady supply of beer, it seems we will do fine. The UMD staff have been more than helpful, always ferrying us to places and supplying all of our meals. They really feed us very well. I fear I will gain a few kilos when I am here - must run more.

We got most of our paper work done as well - opening a bank account, getting a UMD staff card, and even a social security card from the State Department. I think administratively we are all set.

We learnt a lot during our orientation here at UMD. The program was designed for us to ease into the American culture and learn to adapt and adjust. We learnt about how UMD functions (which is very similar to UW-Madison where I did my undergrad) and of course a little more about the school system here in the US - which I believe I will see more of and share more of later.

However, I think learning has a mind of its own. Especially when you let it. I felt that the conversations we had with each other were just as enriching if not more. I hope I will be able to digest all the different threads of thought and make it meaningful.

Workshops in Washington DC (Capital Hilton)

Cultural Differences between Different countries 

We had a really wonderful sharing by Craig Storti, Director of Communicating Across Cultures, about well, crossing cultures. He helped us realise that a lot of misunderstanding arise when a person of one culture interpret another's behavior through his own culture. If you take a look at the picture, you will see how the different cultures deal with issues like control, face, management style, rank and status, and communication. (Incidentally, the Finnish culture is like the complete opposite of Indian culture) The key take-away for me is that when we start getting frustrated and upset about certain behaviors, we should take a step back and assume that the person did not purposely do it to upset us but that the behavior is probably perfectly normal in their own cultures. We should come with low or even no expectations. Craig mentioned something interesting about "expectations". He said the funny thing about expectations is that they concern the future but they come from the past.

We had representatives from the Department of Education Mr Clay Pell, the Deputy Assistant Secretary and Ms Meghann Curtis, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Academic Programs. It was encouraging to hear their support of the Fulbright program and that they are open to suggestions by the Fulbright teachers. One of the key quotes from Mr Clay Pell was "You are going to be transformed... take time to be transformed."

We also had Ms Karin Chenoweth from The Education Trust to come talk to us about academic success in unexpected schools. One of the learning I gathered from hearing her sharing on schools that perform despite challenging environments, is the concept of using data or evidence to inform our pedagogy and classroom practice. Data can be a powerful tool to help teachers reflect on their current practice and to serve as a common platform to talk to other teachers about these practices in their classrooms. I really hope that data and evidence will play a larger role in my classrooms. 

First week in Washington DC.

My fellow Fulbrighters

 I have never been to DC. To step foot into the US and start the first week of orientation at the capital of this great country is indeed a wonderful treat. More than the sights and sound of the city, is the wonderful people I have grown to enjoy - my fellow Fulbrighters from the other countries. It is always good to interact with people of similar passions and drive. They have grown to become a family, a community, a home away from home. I have learnt many things from them and from the speakers IIE has arranged for us doing this week of orientation. I will share a bit more in the later posts.

Washington DC is a great city of a great nation. But I think what makes a nation great is not just the great people the make up the nation, but also the values that undergirded the foundation of the nation. America has always stood for freedom, inclusiveness and opportunity. Great principles to create an environment where people can excel and be all that they can be.

The orientation week was packed to say the least. The only free day we had was on the 14th and that's the day after we landed.

I had time to walk around a little - getting my new phone number, a Smartrip card to get around town, and a zipcar card to rent a car should I need one. I also realised there's a Starbucks everywhere I went. The coffee is not that great, but I don't have much of a choice for now. We had a chance to do an evening city bus tour - which was great. Some of the sights are depicted here in this post. It was really cool to finally be at the Lincoln memorial and to read the Gettysburg address.  Its words cemented some of my beliefs about this nation, which I wrote above.

Preparing for departure - anticipation and anxiety

Wow. I don't even know where to start. In the blink of an eye, the time has come for me to embark on this incredible journey. For the first time after I have been married for almost 10 years, I will be leaving my family for 4 months. It is not a long time I know, but it is not short either. I don't know how my kids will take it. I don't even know how I will cope without my lovely wife with me. I am certainly anxious about being in a new environment, and having to complete a project with limited control (or so I was told by the previous Fulbrighters).  I am also anxious about the work I will leave behind at school, but I guess the students (and teachers) will have to take care of themselves.

At the same time, I am excited to go on this trip. It really has been a while since I came back to the US after graduating 13 years ago. I would really love to catch up with some of my dearest friends in Madison Wisconsin and maybe even catch an NBA game here in Washington. But most important of all, I would really want to take this opportunity to do something I really enjoy. To take some time to slow down and reflect, to learn and to grow professionally and personally.

But I will still miss my lovely wife and wonderful children. I can only pray God will continue to protect them and comfort them when I am not around.