By:JOSEPH KELLARD
Thanks to an initiative from the Fulbright Organization, which promotes cultural integration and awareness among Americans and the wider world, Dickson has become OHS's first foreign-exchange teacher. He is at the helm of Global 1 and Economics, a ninth-grade ancient history class usually taught by Jennifer Wolfe.
Both educators have essentially swapped nations, jobs and homes. Wolfe, an OHS teacher for seven years, lives in Dickson's house in Hartlepool and is educating his all-girls classes at Teesside High School in northeast England. Staying with his new wife, Joanne, in Wolfe's Long Beach digs, Dickson will teach at OHS until July, and aims to learn more about American education and culture.
Besides learning that Americans mix peanut butter with jelly, which sounded horrible to him, Dickson mentioned the teacher-student relationship at OHS as among the more striking differences from his mother country. "I think that things here are very laid back," he told the Herald. "Not in a bad way, but in the sense that there is quite a friendly relationship between the teachers and the students that's informal. I think it's a good way to build relationships with the kids. I think in England that relationship can generally be more prudish or standoffish."
Dickson addressed some of the stereotypes his countrymen have about Americans. He explained how, when friends and coworkers learned he'd be teaching at a high school in the U.S., they had visions of the movie "Grease," a cult favorite in England. Instead, he described the students he has encountered as good and hardworking, and said their parents are involved and active in their educational careers, factors mirrored in England.
A soccer coach back at Teesside, Dickson is taken most by the level of development and organization of OHS's sports programs, such as soccer, football and lacrosse. "I've been really impressed with the kids' commitment to their sports," he said, noting the comparatively longer hours they spend at practice. "They seem to be really into it."
Dickson is currently teaching Wolfe's students how to define a culture. Even his learning about a peanut butter and jelly sandwich served as a springboard to discuss cultural differences, including how what sounds weird, stupid or wrong to one culture can be perfectly normal to another.
One surprise for him has been the two country's so-called "common" language. Dickson is struck by how many words in his British vocabulary he thought were universal in English-speaking nations but that are as foreign as Swahili at OHS. His students shot him strange looks, for example, when he used "skive" to describe a slave.
"Here you use the word tardy, when a kid is late for class," he said. "It's just not a word I've ever heard used."
Though confined to teaching ancient history, Dickson imagines that it would be interesting for him to teach the American Revolution - particularly events that remain controversial, like the Boston Massacre - to his American students. His main mission, however, is to find the positives that are distinct to American education and return with them to Teesside, while offering some of the best aspects of the English system into OHS. "Really, all education systems can improve," Dickson said. "If you think they can't, then they very quickly can get worse."
Kevin Sheehan, chairman of OHS's social studies department, described Dickson as an extraordinary person and a gifted teacher, as well offering a great opportunity for his students. "We Americans speak English, we don't travel abroad as much, we are a pretty self-contained country," Sheehan explained, "and I think for the kids to have Paul here is like a window on the world. I think students are innately curious about what it's like to live in other places and times and cultures."
Dickson has served as a window to Australians as well, teaching at a school there in 2001. While there, he immersed himself in the culture of his host nation, joining an Australian soccer league, and he looks to do the same in Oceanside, since, he said, "That means you meet people outside of teaching and in all walks of life."
Before arriving in New York, Dickson attended an orientation conference in Washington, D.C., where he met fellow educators from 30 nations, from Peru to Senegal.
"Wherever you go around the world," he said, "once you get to know them - and it doesn't matter if it's Americans, Germans, the French or the English - people are generally kind and helpful when you strip away the generalizations and stereotypes. And I've found that to be the case here in Oceanside."
Addressing the overall goal of the Fulbright initiative and Dickson's work in Oceanside, Sheehan said, "For the students and for Paul, I think every day is an adventure, because it's a tremendous learning experience that goes beyond the textbook and subject matter, and into the very essence of what we hope for in social studies: that we develop an understanding of peoples and places around the world, as well as our own culture."
Comments on this story?
JKellard@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 287.
