German & Netherlands International Board Connections
05 Apr 2024
The Association for Learning Environments (A4LE) International Board meet every month via zoom and when possible, twice a year ‘face to face’. The most recent ‘face to face’ workshop/meeting in March 24 was held in Europe. This was to coincide with connecting and reaching out to our colleagues in Germany and Europe. Part of our strategic plan is to have a more global reach. I am excited to say it was very worthwhile with traction beginning to take place.
A small group from the board met in the Netherlands first. We visited a number of schools and met with a number of people. It was a great opportunity to visit and learn about the educational environments throughout the Netherlands! And what a tremendous host we had. Thank you Peter de Vries! Peter is an Educator in the Netherlands currently doing his Doctorate in Parent Participation and Education.
One of the schools was Kindcentrum De Parel in Drachten. A beautiful and very transparent facility, alive with children, engagement and interaction!
Prins Bernhard Elementary School in Ermelo was another school we visited in the Netherlands. Another incredible experience. Here we were shown around by students. They were delightful and proud. The students spoke English incredibly well! When asked if they learned their English in school they stated “… a little, but mostly we learned it from playing video games”!
After three days we then headed to Frankfurt, the rest of our board joined us. There we also visited several schools. One was an elementary school just outside of Frankfurt. The interesting thing about these schools in this region of Germany, is the buildings are owned and maintained by the city. The school takes care of staff and curriculum. We were also informed that this type of arrangement is different as you travel from school to school. They all do it differently throughout the entire country.
Another site visit included a secondary campus. Some secondary campuses lean more towards college or skill level classes. So you pick a path to either learn a trade or continue your tertiary progress. There is an opportunity to move from one to the other but I didn’t get an understanding of how difficult it was to do that.
Once the site visits were over we spent two days at VS Furniture Headquarters and Manufacturing Facility in Würzburg. What a great host they were and it was amazing to see how they work. We also got to visit their Education Museum. A journey through time.
One of the days included our board workshop/meeting where we reviewed aspects of the strategic plan and discussed the next steps to connect with Europe.
We also heard from some amazing architects. They shared some of their education projects and we were engaged in a round table conversation.
The next plan is for an event to be held in Germany and Netherlands to support our growth and connection in these countries. More about that as details become available.
Article & Photography by: Deb O'Riley, International Director
A small group from the board met in the Netherlands first. We visited a number of schools and met with a number of people. It was a great opportunity to visit and learn about the educational environments throughout the Netherlands! And what a tremendous host we had. Thank you Peter de Vries! Peter is an Educator in the Netherlands currently doing his Doctorate in Parent Participation and Education.
One of the schools was Kindcentrum De Parel in Drachten. A beautiful and very transparent facility, alive with children, engagement and interaction!
Prins Bernhard Elementary School in Ermelo was another school we visited in the Netherlands. Another incredible experience. Here we were shown around by students. They were delightful and proud. The students spoke English incredibly well! When asked if they learned their English in school they stated “… a little, but mostly we learned it from playing video games”!
After three days we then headed to Frankfurt, the rest of our board joined us. There we also visited several schools. One was an elementary school just outside of Frankfurt. The interesting thing about these schools in this region of Germany, is the buildings are owned and maintained by the city. The school takes care of staff and curriculum. We were also informed that this type of arrangement is different as you travel from school to school. They all do it differently throughout the entire country.
Another site visit included a secondary campus. Some secondary campuses lean more towards college or skill level classes. So you pick a path to either learn a trade or continue your tertiary progress. There is an opportunity to move from one to the other but I didn’t get an understanding of how difficult it was to do that.
Once the site visits were over we spent two days at VS Furniture Headquarters and Manufacturing Facility in Würzburg. What a great host they were and it was amazing to see how they work. We also got to visit their Education Museum. A journey through time.
One of the days included our board workshop/meeting where we reviewed aspects of the strategic plan and discussed the next steps to connect with Europe.
We also heard from some amazing architects. They shared some of their education projects and we were engaged in a round table conversation.
The next plan is for an event to be held in Germany and Netherlands to support our growth and connection in these countries. More about that as details become available.
Article & Photography by: Deb O'Riley, International Director
