Up on the cliffs of the Aran Islands

Author: Emmy Talbot | Major: Childhood Education

Hello! My name is Emmy Talbot, and I am a Childhood Education major in the College of Education and Health Professions. I had the amazing opportunity to go on the U of A Faculty-Led: Education in Ireland – The Art of Teaching program for the Summer 2022 term. In other words, I got to spend almost three weeks exploring the cities of Limerick, Galway, and Dublin in Ireland.

I chose the Education in Ireland study aboard program because it is one of the only teacher education programs the University of Arkansas offers. While in Ireland, we participated in lectures on the Irish education system, culture, and history while also visiting four primary schools. In the schools, we got to teach a lesson to students in K-6 classrooms, ask questions to the teachers about the education system in Ireland, and experience the culture firsthand. This program appealed to me because it offered a lot of time spent in real classrooms interacting with real students.

The combination of lecture-based teaching and experiential learning allowed me to learn so much more than I would have from just sitting in a classroom. Culturally responsive teaching is an important pedagogy that I plan to adopt when I become a teacher. This practice of teaching recognizes the importance of including students’ cultural references in all aspects of learning. By growing my knowledge on the Irish education system and having firsthand experiences with students in Irish classrooms, I will be closer to achieving total cultural responsiveness that I hope to continue to build on as I finish my degree and enter the classroom.

I also want to give a huge shoutout to the amazing faculty that led this program, Dr. Calleja and Dr. Kern. These professors made the trip what it was by organizing fun group excursions, preparing us for all of our school visits, and helping us travel to three different cities in under three weeks. Even from one of our first orientation meetings leading up to the trip, I knew I was in good hands.

Outside of the classroom and the school visits, we were able to fully immerse ourselves in the Irish culture. We were free to explore the city we were staying in or take day trips to areas outside of the city. A few places we visited were the Limerick Milk Market, Adare (Ireland’s Prettiest Village), the Cliffs of Moher, the Aran Islands, and the Blarney Castle (where we got to kiss the Blarney Stone). My absolute favorite part of this experience was taking tours from locals because the Irish are such amazing story tellers. On our way to Kylemore Abbey, a monastery in Connemara National Park, we took a two-hour bus tour where we got to learn about the bogs, oyster farming, and all the history held in the land from a local of the area.

I would recommend this study abroad program to anyone wanting to get out of their comfort zone and truly experience life and the workplace in another culture. Your time studying abroad goes by so fast, especially on a trip as short as this one. My advice is to make the most of your time abroad and spend as much time as you can with the other students on your trip. Don’t waste time sleeping in or looking at your phone – truly unplug and just enjoy your time in another country. The process of studying abroad can seem stressful at times, but just know that it will always work out in the end, and the best memories are made when things don’t turn out like you expected. Even if you take the wrong bus and spend an hour and a half instead of ten minutes trying to get back to your dorm. The first thing I am doing back in America is eating some Chick-Fil-A and planning a hangout with the great friends I made in Ireland!