VGCC Instructor Explores Education and Wildlife in Africa
For the fourth consecutive summer, Vance-Granville Community College sent an instructor overseas in 2008. In June, Biology instructor Nikole Jorgensen Zidar of Zebulon traveled to the west African nation of Senegal. She was one of 35 educators on an expedition organized by World View , an international program for educators based at UNC-Chapel Hill.
So that her students, co-workers and friends could keep up with her journey, Zidar kept an online diary, or blog, about her experiences, called “The Traveling Vanguard,” in honor of the VGCC mascot. In the blog, Zidar recounted her impressions of Senegal and its schools. One of the primary goals of each World View trip is for North Carolina educators to learn about different educational systems and methods around the world. Zidar visited educational programs for children from age 3 through high school, a business college and the University Cheikh Anta Diop (in the capital, Dakar), where the group was housed.
Zidar noted that the Senegalese speak French (a leftover of the colonial period) as well as their native languages, the most common of which is Wolof. “The schools here are all in French,” she wrote on the blog. “This is a problem because it really is not the native tongue of most people. Most kids do not learn French until they begin school, so in order to learn anything in school, they must first learn French.” As a biology instructor, Zidar was interested to learn that this particularly creates barriers to learning science.
While the primary focus of the educators was Senegal’s education system, Zidar also enjoyed examining local animal life (including an African spurred tortoise) and plants (such as the Baobab, the national tree). In addition, the group visited mosques, markets and the so-called “Serpent Island,” which, Zidar was disappointed to learn, did not actually have many snakes.
Zidar reflected that she was “awed by the intelligence, the dedication, the hospitality, and the overall feeling of respect the Senegalese show for themselves and for other people and cultures.” She found that Senegal and the United States have more in common than she had expected. “This has been an exceptional trip, and I feel that I have grown tremendously as a person, as a teacher, and as an American!” she said.
“Vance-Granville’s partnership with World View is an important strategy for reaching our global education objectives in the classroom,” said VGCC Dean of Business and Applied Technologies Bobby Van Brunt, who chairs the college’s Global Awareness committee. “We are confident this program is bringing heightened expertise to our faculty and is contributing to the overall well-being of our local communities as they strive to become more competitive on the international stage.”
“We are excited to provide an opportunity for our faculty to anticipate and respond to the challenges of a smaller, more interconnected world,” said VGCC Vice President of Instruction Dr. Angela Ballentine. “Through World View programs, educators are able to deepen their appreciation of cultural dynamics, and expand their comfort level in cross-cultural settings. Our goal is to integrate a global perspective into every subject area of the curriculum and prepare students to succeed in a global society.”
Above: At a reception held at the West African Research Center in Senegal, Nikole Zidar met Baidy Boucoum (left), an English instructor at the middle school she and her colleagues visited.
