Topics of interest to education-focused
National Service Projects

Savvy Traveling:
Volunteers Engaging With School Culture

When thinking about culture, people often think first of nations or ethnic groups, but organizations and workplaces have their own cultures, too. Schools in particular have distinct cultures, characterized by specific values, language, rules of behavior and etiquette, and acceptable dress. Upon your initial entry into a school or out-of-school time program as a participant in national service, you may need many of the same strategies used by someone visiting a foreign country for the first time. In this issue of the Tutor, we outline those strategies, provide concrete tips and examples, and highlight some of the subtle differences among different types of education settings.

• Journal Entry … Day One … Megacity High School
• What is Culture?
• Steps to Learning a New Culture
• Phase 1: Pre-Entry Strategies: Preparation
• Managing Expectations Realistically
• Phase 2: Initial Arrival Strategies: Observation and Imitation
• Phase 2: Initial Arrival Strategies: Observation and Imitation (cont.)
• Learning the Language of the School Site
• Phase 3: Integration Strategies: Reinforcement and Internalization
• Collaborating With Teachers / Integrating Into School Culture: Teamwork
• Journal Entry … Thanksgiving Break / Reference

fall2004.pdf - To download the Fall 2004 edition of The Tutor in its entirety, click the disk on the left to download.

The Tutor is produced at the
Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory