Aline Guerbet, a French teacher of chemistry and physics, is shown at right with Jennifer Exten-Kennedy, her mentor at Revere High School.

Firestone High School history teacher Alison Seefeldt is shown at left with Muriel Jorge, a teacher from France who spent nine weeks at the school as part of a teacher exchange program through The University of Akron.

Photos: Kathleen Folkerth

The 29 teachers, all from France, are part of a University of Akron (UA) program, the Franco-American Teachers-in-Training Institute. UA’s College of Education received a grant from the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Global Education Programs to conduct the program, which also allowed a group of UA education students to spend the fall in France.

This winter was the second that a group of French teachers arrived in Akron, where they spent three weeks in UA classes and then headed into local middle and high schools to work with mentor teachers for nine weeks.

Among the group were Muriel Jorge (Firestone High School), Aline Guerbet (Revere High School), Nolwenn Quemere (Norton High School) and Emmannuelle Gosse and Aurelien Marchesi (Archbishop Hoban High School).

Jorge, who taught history with Firestone teacher Alison Seefeldt, said teaching in an American school has been a great experience.

“Being in another environment with different students in a foreign language gave me more self-confidence as a teacher,” said Jorge, who attended a bilingual school growing up. “Now I know I can teach in English.”

She added she has applied to teach her subject in English in a French school.

According to Susan Colville-Hall, a UA professor and director of the project, French schools are increasingly offering classes in other languages, so teachers who can speak English well are in need.

But one of the best things about the program is that it allows teachers who may not get the chance to do much international travel the chance to explore another culture.

“Understanding how another culture operates is a very broadening experience,” Colville-Hall said. “The earlier people experience being abroad, the better they have an understanding of what’s happening in the world.”

For Guerbet, the Revere trainee, the program gave her the chance to come to the United States for the first time. Since being here she has visited Washington, D.C., Chicago and Detroit. She also got to attend a Cleveland Cavaliers game against the Phoenix Suns — although she was more interested in the Suns because of their French player, Boris Diaw.

Guerbet and Jorge both noted the atmosphere in schools in America is different than in France.

“The behavior between teachers and students is different,” said Guerbet, who taught physics and chemistry with Revere teacher Jennifer Exten-Kennedy. “In France, we are very strict with students.”

They also noted that teachers don’t talk much about their personal lives with students.

But Guerbet said she thinks it’s good that many American teachers work after school with students in clubs and sports.

Seefeldt, a West Akron resident, said her students gained a lot in the classroom from Jorge.

“She has a great deal of knowledge about European history,” Seefeldt said. “The students in my Advanced Placement class have been really challenged by her.”

Each trainee taught two classes under the direction of their mentors. While in Akron, they spent the first three weeks at the Quaker Square Inn and the rest of the time with host families.

Guerbet lived with a family in Bath, while Jorge stayed with a family in Fairlawn. Jorge had previously been to New York City for a study-aboard program but said she enjoyed being in Akron.

“Akron is much more representative of most of American everyday life,” Jorge said.

The teachers arrived in Akron Jan. 5 and will leave March 29. They will participate in a graduation ceremony at the Martin University Center March 27 at 4:30 p.m.

Colville-Hall said another group of education students from Akron will go to France in the fall and one more group of French teachers will arrive in Akron again at the beginning of 2009.

For more information on the program, go to
www.uakron.edu/colleges/educ/fatiti/index.php.