Bring verden ind i skolen - autenticitet i sprogundervisningen

Af Ulla Krogsgaard, pædagogisk konsulent, CFU Absalon og Ken Foxman, lærer

Ken Foxman er lærer på Absalons Skole i Roskilde og Roskilde Ungdomsskole. Han beretter herunder om mødet med USA's ambassadør i Danmark, Alan Leventhal. Ambassadøren ville gerne møde danske skoleelever, og Ken inviterede ham til Absalons Skole for at møde 8.-9. klasses elever i en åben dialog.

Dette tilfældige initiativ kan du læse om i Ken Foxmans artikel herunder.

Læg især mærke til de kvalificerede spørgsmål, eleverne stiller. Det er tydeligt, at eleverne har oplevet noget helt særligt, hvor faget engelsk kom i fokus på en helt autentisk vis.

Roskilde Ungdomsskole meets the American Ambassador for the Kingdom of Denmark, Alan Leventhal

March 24th, 2023 at Absalons School in Roskilde. The auditorium at Absalons School was decorated with Danish and American flags, countless red, white, and blue balloons, and lots of positive atmosphere, when Roskilde Youth School received a formal  visit from the American ambassador of the Kingdom of Denmark, Alan Leventhal. The mayor of Roskilde, Tomas Breddam was also present, along with Ken Foxman, the teacher who invited the ambassador. Ken is an English teacher and the leader and creator of the New York Language Excursion class (New York Sprogrejsehold) at Roskilde Youth School. Ken started the class in 1998, and 2023 was his 22nd trip to New York City, guiding Danish students around the exciting, vibrant city.

Charlotte Nielsine Bøcher, one of the leaders at the Youth School, and the mayor of Roskilde welcomed the ambassador. Ken chose the first verse from one of his favorite Danish songs to sing: “I skovens dybe stille ro”, and translated the verse into English, so the ambassador could sing along with the students, which he did!

The ambassador showed a PowerPoint, where he talked about what his job entails and how he became ambassador. 

Then it was time for questions from the teenage students. They asked a variety of interesting questions - for example:

• When I was in NYC it stank of marijuana and hash on almost every street corner. Really smelled strong! What is your opinion about legal pot in the USA - especially if the smell bothers a lot of people?
• Artificial intelligence is exploding - here at my school some kids use chatbots illegally. How can governments and schools control this or is it non-controllable?
• President Biden has given a green light for the Willow Project in Alaska. This has provoked many young environmentalists who are afraid it will add to the climate crisis. What is your opinion about this?
• How do you like the Danish food?

The students thought it was very cool to have the man President Biden chose to represent the USA in Denmark, at their school! The ambassador was invited for lunch after his presentation. He got to eat one of his favorite Danish foods, “smørrebrød”. After lunch, he signed autographs and allowed students to take selfies with him.