Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 18, 1993 TAG: 9303180523
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: S-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By TIM MOSER SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
FROM RUSSIA, WITH RESPECT
Cheri Johnson had two objectives for her trip to Russia: to have a positive impact on the Russian educational system and to immerse herself in the Russian way of life.As a result of her experience, she will never be the same - as an educator or as an American.
Johnson, a special-education teacher at Penn Forest Elementary School and an adjunct professor at Roanoke College, was one of about 70 teachers from the United States chosen for a Soviet-American teacher exchange program sponsored by Hands Across the Water.
"My aim was to use a totally hands-on approach," Johnson said. "I understood the system there to be stiff and rigid. As a special-ed teacher in America, I know how valuable a hands-on approach can be - for any student. My hope was that a method we American teachers know to be so successful would be beneficial in the Russian classroom to the extent that the teachers there would use it, too."
Johnson was able to accomplish much of what she wanted to. "The children were so receptive," she said.
"The chalkboard is the Russian teaching tool. In a typical 45-minute lesson for upper elementary students, the teacher lectures for 25 minutes. For the next 10 minutes, the students stand in front of the class and tell what the teacher said. For the last 10 minutes, students use their pens [they don't use pencils because sharpeners are scarce - pencils are used for math only] to write down what the teacher put on the board as the students talked. And that's what they do, lesson after lesson. So the kids loved the visuals."
And what a lot of visuals Johnson took. And all free.
"People were just wonderful," Johnson said. She took White House bookmarks from Barbara Bush, 200 packages of peanuts from the Virginia Diner, an Indian outfit, pictures, a stuffed opossum, Post-a-Notes - "just bunches and bunches of things."
Johnson left in Russia the 70 pounds of things stuffed into her suitcases and all she could carry with her. She taught units on peanuts, Cherokee Indians, Thomas Jefferson, Roanoke (as a city), poison ivy ("There's none on that side of the world") and the opossum ("because it doesn't live there, either").
But for all Johnson taught the Russian children, "the most dynamic thing we all saw was the respect the children had for their teachers."
"They listened intently. We realized why. Auditorily was the only way there was to learn. The rich schools have a phonograph."
Besides the lack of visuals, Johnson also was struck by the fact that at the same moment, every student in every school on a certain grade level would be studying the same page in the same textbook.
This conformity was typical of everyday Russian life, Johnson said. Another example was tea. Not only does everyone drink tea, but the tea is brewed the same everywhere, she said.
Johnson stayed in the home of Nadezhda Degtyaryova, a Russian teacher who will be coming to Roanoke this weekend and will teach in Johnson's classroom. Johnson also will be host to a Russian journalist during part of the same time.
"Nadezhda's [pronounced Nah-dezt-duh's] home was typical of the homes in Magnitogorsk, a city of 500,000, and Russia's largest iron and steel plant," Johnson said. The entire apartment (no one can afford a house) measured 15 feet by 30 feet. The rent is less than $2 a month, but Degtyaryova's teaching salary is just $22 a month - less than her husband earns as a plumber.
Food is never wasted, Johnson said. It is kept in the refrigerator overnight and eaten for the next meal.
There are no lawn mowers. The grass finally falls over in the fall when it quits growing. A horse and cart on a dirt road is common travel. It takes a lifetime to save enough money for a car.
The family in Russia is a strong unit, Johnson said, because there is nothing to do once everyone comes home each day. Everyone stays in the town where he or she grew up.
Not surprisingly, Russians treasure the simplest things, Johnson said. The students' favorite of what she brought were the stickers of the Dominion Tower.
Johnson read 17 books and learned basic vocabulary to prepare for her trip.
She now is making appearances to share with groups all she learned and brought back with her. She also is selling lapel pins for $2 each to help pay for Degtyaryova's plane fare.
The lapel pins, frequently worn by Russians, include Russian heroes and landmarks.
She also is seeking monetary donations and items for Degtyaryova to take back to Russia.
Donations or requests for pins can be directed to Johnson at Penn Forest or Marty Robison at the Roanoke County School Board offices, 387-6458.