When Kristin Baldwin made the life-changing decision move to Sweden and teach English, she had no idea just how much she would learn from the experience.
Miss Baldwin graduated from Jamestown High School in 2006, and went on to study English and history at Allegheny College. While at Allegheny College, Miss Baldwin said that she was on the path to have a career in journalism.
"I love journalism. I worked for a couple of newspapers while I was in college, and a couple of magazines for internships," Miss Baldwin said.
Shortly after graduating from college in May 2010, Miss Baldwin moved to San Francisco to intern for The Sierra Club Magazine, before moving on to intern at Highlights Magazine.
"During that time, I really was loving it, but I was also kind of feeling like I was wanting to do some traveling. And so, while I was at Highlights, I applied to different teaching positions and writing positions," Miss Baldwin said.
Her chance to work in Sweden came almost by fluke. Miss Baldwin said that the founder of Internationella Engelska Skolan, or The International English School, Barbara Bergstrom, has a summer home near Chautauqua Lake, and had made a connection with Miss Baldwin's father, who works at the Roger Tory Peterson Institute.
"Basically, I heard about it just because she was in the area, and, she ended up being able to interview me here, which was nice. So, I got to talk with her, and I felt really positive about the way that they do education, I guess. And, also, I felt like I would have a lot of support, because moving to a new country is scary, and I felt like she made me feel really confident about it," Miss Baldwin said.
Ms. Bergstrom hired Miss Baldwin the same day of her interview. The only thing standing in her way was a teaching certification, which she acquired online.
"That kind of gave me, like, a basis for how to teach English as a second language, and how to put together lesson plans, how to make assessments, all that kind of stuff," Miss Baldwin said.
Although she knew that she had a job opportunity ahead of her, Miss Baldwin said that she still didn't know what grade she would be teaching, or even what city she would be heading to in Sweden.
"I ended up at a brand new school, so that was kind of, like, one of the defining characteristics of this time, because she, our principal, hired 40 people from all over the world to come and start this school," Miss Baldwin said.
Miss Baldwin moved to Hasselby Strand, which is near Stockholm. There, she met all of the other people that would be teaching at Internationella Engelska Skolan. Miss Baldwin said that they had three weeks to work together to essentially put together a functioning school.
Even though Miss Baldwin had done some tutoring while she was in high school and had completed a short internship at Jefferson Middle School while she was completing her teaching degree, she had not considered a teaching career until this opportunity found her.
All of a sudden, Miss Baldwin was teaching English literature, as well as basic grammar and vocabulary to 150 students, all of whom were 11 and 12 years old. Not only that, but Miss Baldwin said that many of her students not only speak Swedish, but many are immigrants from the Middle East, and many speak three or four different languages.
"I love it so much more than I expected to. I can't believe how much fun I have," Miss Baldwin said.
Teaching 150 students for an hour each day has proved to be a challenge that Miss Baldwin has accepted and conquered. She said that she has found that she can break her classes up into several mini-lessons and incorporate games in order to help her students to learn.
Growing up in the Jamestown Public School District, Miss Baldwin has also been able to make observations as to the differences between the schools that she attended and the school she teaches at in Hasselby Strand.
For example, Miss Baldwin said that students have more freedom in school to choose their classes and schedules.
"Between classes, sometimes they'll have up to 40 minutes between a class," Miss Baldwin said.
Additionally, school doesn't start at the same time for each student. Miss Baldwin said that students begin their day anywhere between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m., depending on their schedules.
Teaching in Sweden provides Miss Baldwin the opportunity to create her own lessons, based on what she described as a skeleton curriculum, where she is able to teach the things that she enjoys.
"I can do stuff that I'm interested in. Like, I did a journalism unit, and they put together a class blog, where all 150 kids were writing in this blog all of the stuff that was going on in the community and the school. We kind of get to do the things that I like, which means that I'm excited about it, which I think passes onto the kids. If I were being forced to teach something that I wasn't that interested in, I think it wouldn't come off as being as interesting," Miss Baldwin said.
There are three other English teachers currently at the school, one for each grades four through eight. Each week, the English teachers are able to get together to review what their students are learning, and work together to build a consistent framework for their students.
Teachers in the school are also mentors, according to Miss Baldwin. Each teacher is assigned a group of students that they work with, and that teacher is responsible for keeping the lines of communication open between the school and the parents of its students.
"(Teachers) have to call the parents every other week, good or bad. And, just give them an update on how they're doing in all of their classes, and just kind of keep a constant communication going. It's a lot of work for us, but it's also so good if you have five positive calls and then one negative call. Then, they trust us a lot more and are more open to a bit of criticism than they would be if there had been silence up until that point," Miss Baldwin said.
Aside from learning the fundamentals of communication and teaching, Miss Baldwin is also learning about what she finds to be a smooth way of operating a business.
"We have an amazing administration. The principal is an incredible woman who works so hard for us. She protects us and she supports us, she always has time for us and the kids. I'm seeing such a good example of how it should work. We have so many meetings, and you can just see the level of respect between the principal and the teachers," Miss Baldwin said.
Miss Baldwin will be returning to the area at the end of the school year in Sweden. She anticipates returning to Internationella Engelska Skolan for another year, but isn't sure what she will be doing with her life after that.
"I love to write, but I'd love to travel too. And, now I love teaching, and I never thought that I would. So, I guess, after a year, we'll see. But, I could see myself writing or teaching. If I want to teach here, I've got to go to school. For now, I'm just thinking one year at a time," Miss Baldwin said.
