International Education Week: Professor Anderson in Latvia

In 2019, I moved to Riga, Latvia as an English Language Fellow with the US State Department. I taught classes at the University of Latvia and visited schools around the country to train teachers as part of the rollout of a new national curriculum.

My experience in Latvia was a great adventure. I didn't speak Latvian or Russian, so I relied on the patience and kindness of others to help me figure things out as I learned to do things like use transit and shop. My job was the same as here - teach college students. At the same time, everything was slightly different from the US schools I had worked in. It took some time to regain my confidence as a teacher because I had to figure out how to fit in. It was little things - everyone checked their coats in the University coat check. Students didn't use computers in class and often didn't have a personal computer. My students elected a head student for each class, and that is the person who communicated class concerns with me. I got in trouble for being "too easy" of an evaluator- they took the idea of "C" being the average grade that most students should receive. My supervisor couldn't believe that I had given out so many "A" grades! My colleagues were skeptical of my less formal teaching style that ignored the textbooks and allowed for things like "video-game" language in the classroom.

Once I started to get used to the way things were done in Latvia, I felt more comfortable and started having a lot of fun. I found a balance between my ways and the Latvian ways. I embraced the Latvian way of opening all the windows in my classroom at the beginning and end of class to air the room out, even when it was freezing outside! But I also continued to teach in my style, and my colleagues came to appreciate me for it. They helped me become a bit more strict, and I helped some of them incorporate more student voice and choice in the classroom. I got to continue the exchange when my closest colleague in Latvia came to the US and taught for a term at NLU! We still talk all the time and learn a lot from comparing our experiences.

Overall, the best part of my time in Latvia was the connections I made. The friends I made taught me about their culture, and I brought home many of the Latvian ways, including being more connected to nature and more invested in my hobbies as an important part of my life. The people I met in Latvia also got the chance to know someone from the US beyond the stereotypes. I am so lucky that I had this opportunity to experience life in another country!