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| Through the agreement made by the president of Southwest Virginia Community College, Charles R. King, and the principal of Aberdeen College, Rae Angus, I was able to take a sabbatical from SVCC to engage in a part-time teaching and artist-in-residence program at Aberdeen College, Scotland in 1995. When I look back on the ten months of teaching and learning at Ruthrieston Centre, Aberdeen College, I realize how vitally important such experiences are for professional and personal growth as an educator. I am most grateful to the administrators of both Colleges for having the vision to make my sabbatical possible.
I learned a great deal, not only about the teaching and making of art, but also about European people as individuals. Aberdeen is a center of oil industry, bringing people from all over Europe, as well as other continents, to work there. Therefore, students in my “Friday class” were from many different countries and brought wonderful energy and knowledge to our classroom experience. My students, colleagues, and neighbors in Aberdeen provided both new perspectives, and surprisingly similar outlooks on the world we share in common. My family and I also made lifelong friends while in Scotland, some of whom, (such as Totta Burnett, Gay Halley, and the Hick family) have since come to visit us in the United States. The interchange of ideas through a sabbatical experience serves to eradicate stereotyping and strengthen understanding between people – clearly an important component of education today. |
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