Overview

We are pleased to have you on board as a participant in Project Harmony's Educator Travel Program to Russia! In order to make this experience as professionally rewarding as possible, Project Harmony has developed a set of professional development guidelines aimed at providing you with ideas, resources, and activities for the pre-, during- and post-travel stages of the program. We believe that these guidelines will enhance each participant's ability to prepare for, participate in, reflect on and take advantage of all components of the program. Moreover, we hope that these guidelines will be useful to those participants petitioning to receive professional development credit for their participation in the program.

Though no participant is obligated to follow these guidelines, we encourage everyone to engage in at least some portion of the professional development plan, be it the recommended reading, goal-setting activities, or on-line journaling (see details below). Please note that all participants are expected to take part in the professional program activities during our stay in the host city. Details about these program activities are included within the guidelines information below. You may also want to refer to the Program Itinerary.

Recommended Readings
Deciding how best to spend your precious reading time can be a challenge, especially when you are balancing it with other preparations for your visit to Russia. In the past, Project Harmony has developed general recommended reading lists for professionals traveling to Russia; however, this sort of list quickly becomes outdated and may prove limiting to those with specific thematic interests. Thanks to the Internet, there are now many options for accessing informational resources relating to Russia and its history, society, culture, arts, geography, and educational system. We have compiled a short list of Internet sites intended to help you identify and/or directly access books, journals, short stories, articles, essays and other resources related to your interests and learning objectives. In addition, we have included the titles of a number of books recommended by Project Harmony staff and our colleagues. See Recommended Reading and Surfing List.

We encourage participants to share their thoughts on specific readings. This sort of feedback is useful to Project Harmony, as it gives us a clearer sense of which materials we should recommend to educators participating in our programs. You can share your recommendations (or warnings!) with Project Harmony and with the other participants via the Participant Listserv (see below).

Information and perspectives you gain through background reading will undoubtedly prove useful throughout the program: helping you mentally prepare for the experience of traveling to a foreign culture; offering topics for discussion and further investigation while in Russia; and allowing you to compare your experience to that of the authors you read once your journey is completed (see "Written Reflection" in the Post-Program section below).

Goal Setting
The more focused you can be in determining your professional goals for participating in this program, the more likely you are to benefit from the experience. As you know, one part of the application process for this program involved writing a statement of intent. For the purposes of the professional development component, we are asking that participants take part in a goal-setting exercise aimed at helping you further refine your objectives.

Most participants submitted a "Statement of Purpose" as part of the program application. Now that you are definitely planning to take part in the program, we ask that you take some time to create a list of program goals. Please record in writing the following:

• 3 personal goals: explain what do you hope to gain on a personal level
• 3 professional goals: how do you expect this program to benefit your professional growth (please be as concrete as possible)
• 1 community goal: what contribution can you make to your community as a result of this program (community can be interpreted as professional and/or geographical)

Please bring this list with you on the program. See the On-Program section below for details on activities linked to pre-program goal-setting

Preparing a Lesson
Project Harmony encourages all applicants to give a lesson during their school and/or institute visits in your host city. Presenting to a class offers a unique experience both to participants and to Russian students and observing teachers. Though it is not obligatory that you give a lesson, for those participants intending to secure continuing education credit for the program, we recommend that you include this component in your program plan.

• For educators involved in pre-school or elementary education, keep in mind that Russian students of this age will have limited if any English-language skills. Activities should be as action-oriented as possible, and involve only minimal translation. (An interpreter can translate directly to the children.) You may want to consider how the classroom teacher can be involved in the lesson, even if she or he does not have English.
  
  
• For educators involved in middle or secondary education, you will most likely be giving your lesson in an English class. Past participants have done lessons on everything from archeological digs in Montana to the Civil Rights Movement, while others have addressed themes beyond the US. Keep in mind that the students' English skills may vary considerably, as will their willingness to take an active involvement in discussion and activities. (Obviously, shyness exists worldwide, but speaking up in English in front an American guest can be especially intimidating. Then again, some students will be so eager to communicate with an American they'll have their hand in the air constantly. Rarely will a student speak without being called on.)

Remember that your lesson will be of interest not only to the students but to their teachers as well. We will look for opportunities in the school visits schedule to have you meet with the teachers who observe you (and whom you observe) to discuss issues related to the lessons. Come prepared to offer context to your lesson (i.e. how it fits into your curriculum, why you think its effective, why you picked it to give in a Russian school etc.). Many participants have found it useful to bring copies of their lesson plans to share with teachers before and/or after the lesson.

Though there may be the opportunity to give your lesson more than once, it is unlikely. You should bring with you any materials required for your lesson, as items may be unavailable in your host city or the schedule will not allow you to search for them.

Bringing Along a Part of Your School
Many participants in the past have worked with their students and/or colleagues ahead of time to put together a share package to take with them to Russia. The contents have ranged from pen-pal letters to student artwork to signed class photos etc. One past participant had her students silk screen cotton T-shirts to take over, which will be presented as gifts to students in Russia as well as incorporated into a lesson on North Carolina textiles. While we realize that such an ambitious project (and one entailing lots of suitcase space!) is not realistic for everyone, we encourage you to consider a means of sharing the good will and collective personality of your classroom, school or institution with those whom you will be visiting in Russia. This is also an effective way of getting your students and colleagues involved and invested in this cross-cultural experience from the very start. Returning home with response letters or other reciprocal items from Russian schools can only enhance your efforts to bring the experience back to the classroom.

Participant Listserv
Project Harmony will create a listserv intended to provide a forum for pre- and post-program discussion among program participants and staff. The listserv offers an easy way for staff to send out updates and any information relevant to all participants. Participants can use the listserv to throw out questions or ideas related to program content, to recommend readings or to discuss issues related to continuing education credit. We will ask that participants refrain from using the listserv to discuss non-professional issues (e.g. gift ideas, travel plans, homestays).

Orientation Program
The first professional day of the program in your host city will involve an orientation and Overview program. This session is intended to provide participants with a basic understanding of the Russian education system and the major influences shaping education in Russia today, drawing on statistics and anecdotes specific to the region you are visiting. This session will be interactive and involve input from all participants. It is an opportunity for concentrated learning, and will offer valuable information for referencing throughout the program and once you return home.

School Visits
Visits to schools and other educational institutions will constitute the primary professional activity of the program. Your time in schools can be spent in a variety of ways - from observing classes to teaching lessons, from meeting with teachers to attending student performances. The types of activities that you engage in will depend on your interests, expertise and program goals, as well as the specifics of the educational setting you are visiting. Project Harmony and our Pskov partners will do our best to accommodate your preferences relating to school visits (both in terms of sites and activities).

Realizing that the benefits of observing or giving a lesson can be considerably expanded by follow-up discussion and assessment, we will make every effort to create opportunities for you to meet with your counterpart educators between or after classes. Past participants have gained a great deal through one-on-one or small group discussions with teachers in the schools they visit, and we will be emphasizing this point in program planning with our host schools in Pskov.

Cultural Site Visits
Cultural site visits are planned for your stay in your host city and the 2-day program in St.Petersburg. (See Program Itinerary for a complete list of sites.) These visits, most of which will involve guided tours, offer excellent opportunities to learn about historical events, religious traditions and worship, the influence of art, architecture and literature on society, as well as present-day attitudes toward the past. In your role as a learner, you will also have the opportunity to gain perspectives on the use of culture as an educational tool.

On-line Journaling
With the aim of increasing the "ripple effect" of this program, we have come up with a plan for an On-line Journal. The project is meant to serve two main audiences: students and colleagues (as well as friends and family) of the US participants; and Russian educators from beyond the host city interested in following the program and possibly communicating with participants via the Internet. The project will involve daily postings of journal entries by US participants to the program's web site. Students, colleagues, counterparts etc. in both the US and Russia will, via the collective journal, be able to follow the program activities, access images, take in first-hand perspectives etc. These "virtual participants" will also be able to interact with program participants, along with others visiting the site, by means of a message board, also housed on the program's web site.

Background: For the past two years, Project Harmony has been running the Internet Access and Training Program (IATP), a Russia-wide initiative aimed at opening public Internet access centers and providing the knowledge and skills necessary to use the Internet effectively. Project Harmony maintains over 50 IATP sites throughout Russia. Project Harmony education programs staff is collaborating with the IATP staff on the journaling component of the program, both on technical and networking aspects.

Mechanism: Project Harmony will put together a journaling schedule for the program, which will give each participant the opportunity to contribute at least one entry during their stay in the host city and/or St. Petersburg. Each contributor will be provided with a digital camera during the day of his or her scheduled entry in order to take photos with which to illustrate their entry. Contributors will have a slot of time during or following the professional program to write an entry, either at a school/institute computer center or on a laptop provided by Project Harmony. General guidelines on tone and content will be available to contributors. Entries will be posted each evening, allowing for those in the US to access the information that very same day (thanks to the time difference).

Aims: We envision that most entry materials would address the experiences and observations of US participants with a US student and/or educator audience in mind. The on-line message board will allow this audience to respond to journal contributors. For Russian educators checking out the journaling site, the chance to see how US educators relay their interpretations back home is, we believe, a learning experience in itself. The virtual involvement of Russian educators, via the message board, will also provide the opportunity for two-way dialogue between counterparts. Russian educators can offer counter examples to or concurrence with observations made by their US counterparts. US contributors may choose to pose a question as part of their entry, soliciting information or opinions on an issue of specific interest from Russian educators afar.

Promoting virtual participation: Project Harmony encourages all participants to spread the word to colleagues, students, community members etc. about the on-line component of the program. The exact web site address for the specific program will be available to all participants one month prior to departure. Project Harmony encourages all participants to make as many people as possible aware of the opportunity to follow the program and interact via the Internet.

Goals Check-in and Action Planning
A portion of the final professional day in the host city will bring all US participants together to revisit their program goals and to create an action plan for the post-program period. Participants will review their goals in pairs, assessing which have been met and which have not. The group will then come together in order to share one another's assessments and, in the process, compare observations and experiences.

The second part of the session will involve each participant developing a plan for what he or she aims to initiate and/or accomplish during the post-program phase. Participants should be as concrete as possible in setting goals, and should identify resources needed to accomplish them. Action plans will be developed individually and then shared among the group in order to spread ideas and encourage collaboration.

Project Harmony's Russian partners will be invited to sit in on this session in order to observe the process of reviewing goals and action planning and to gain perspective on program impacts.

Educators' Forum
Following the check-in and action planning session, Project Harmony will hold a forum for US participants and Russian educators interested in discussing a range of educational topics in small-group settings. The discussions are intended to bring together educators with expertise and interest in specific areas of education in order to share concerns, ideas, and resources. These discussions may serve as a springboard for on-going collaboration and communication and/or as an opportunity for US participants to fill in information gaps identified during their program goals review. The sessions will be moderated by Project Harmony staff and program partners, and interpreters will be available in order to include Russian educators who do not speak English.

Written Reflection
Project Harmony always encourages participants in our programs to put their experiences down on paper. Keeping a journal throughout your visit in Russia is one way to ensure that your impressions stay forever recorded. Pulling together those impressions (be they in written form or still fresh in your mind), reflecting on your experience as a whole, and then expressing it all in words takes time. But the creation you come up with can serve as a valuable resource for the people around you as well as a treasure for you to return to from time to time.

For participants wishing to receive continuing education credit for the program, we suggest that you integrate your pre-program readings into a post-program written reflections. Comparing and contrasting your observations and understanding to those expressed in the readings could be one way of approaching this assignment. You could analyze how the readings informed (or misinformed) your experience in Russia, perhaps even taking your analysis to the next level by examining the effects of pre-travel reading on culture shock and transition. If the readings are student-appropriate, you might discuss how they could be used in your classes.

Web site continues
The program web site will remain on line following the completion of travel as a record of program activity and participant contribution. Project Harmony will create a place on the site relating specifically to follow-on activity. Participants will be encouraged to link to the web site any web-based projects resulting from the program.

Listserv continues
Project Harmony will maintain the program listserv for a period of time following our return from the trip. The listserv will serve as a forum for reflection, sharing project ideas and implementation, discussion of further group interaction. Highlights from the listserv will be posted to the program web site, with the participant's permission. The duration of the listserv will depend upon the degree to which it is used.

Reviewing action plans
Though there will be no structured process for revisiting action plans, Project Harmony will encourage participants to reflect periodically on which parts of their plan they were able to realize and which proved unrealistic. This sort of information is extremely useful to Project Harmony, and we would appreciate participants sharing these assessments either directly with us or with other participants as well via the listserv.