MACON — Students from Tift College of Education of Mercer University traveled overseas to study the education system of Scotland in October. The six students are in the College’s Holistic Child Program, which focuses on elementary and special education. The students spent a week studying the Scottish curriculum, best practices in teaching, assessment, school culture, and the structures of nursery and primary schools in the Edinburgh area.
The overseas travelers were: Kelli Banister, of Warner Robins; Victoria Bartlett, of Cary, Ill.; Katelyn Dellinger, of Rome; Susanna Grantham, of Atlanta; Hannah Kosater, of Braselton, and Kaitlyn Morris, of Jonesboro.
The General Teaching Council for Scotland, which regulates and supports professional standards for teachers, hosted the Mercer group from Oct. 5 to Oct. 12.
“Scotland was a natural choice for this short study abroad experience because of the common language and the emphasis that the Scottish schools place on formative assessment,” said Dr. Margaret Morris, chair of the Teacher Education programs for the Macon campus. “Educators are interested in ways to assess students formatively throughout the delivery of the curriculum without the high-stakes testing practices that are currently found in the United States. The schools the candidates observed in Scotland were able to do this quite well. We are hopeful that our candidates, through experiences of how other countries successfully structure curriculum delivery and effectively assess students, will take this knowledge with them into future classrooms and schools.”
The Tift College of Education plans to continue working with the General Teaching Council to establish a study abroad experience in Scotland as an option for the student teaching fieldwork that is required for education majors.
For more information about Tift College of Education’s Holistic Child Program, please visit http://www.mercer.edu/education.
About Mercer University:
Founded in 1833, Mercer University is a dynamic and comprehensive center of undergraduate, graduate and professional education. The University has 7,300 students; 11 schools and colleges – liberal arts, law, pharmacy, medicine, business, engineering, education, theology, music, nursing and continuing and professional studies; major campuses in Macon and Atlanta; four regional academic centers across the state; a university press; two teaching hospitals — Memorial Health University Medical Center and the Medical Center of Central Georgia; educational partnerships with Warner Robins Air Logistics Center in Warner Robins and Piedmont Healthcare in Atlanta; an engineering research center in Warner Robins; a performing arts center in Macon; and a NCAA Division I athletic program. For more information, visit www.mercer.edu.