Maynooth University was a very beneficial experience for me, especially educationally…I was completely unprepared for the educational environment I was confronted with. The Irish higher educational environment differs greatly from the educational atmosphere in the states. Class material is not “organized” in the same way as in the US. For example, a typical American format or student/professor relationship is that the professor will cover material in class, give an assignment for students to complete outside of class, and discuss the assignment/reading the next day of class. Additionally, student participation is often expected and so are class discussions. At Maynooth University (and, as is my understanding, other Irish institutions), this is not the format whatsoever. Course material is very fluid. Professors often talk freely around a subject with little class discussion or in-class student participation. Students are not given assignments on a weekly basis; “Spoon-feeding” is what this type of class organization would be titled in Ireland.
One weekend, I sent one of my professors an email containing questions regarding the expectations of an assignment. She responded back on Monday saying that it is “not usual activity for students to email their professors over the weekend.” This probably meant that students didn’t email their professors nearly as much as they do in the states (drawing on from my experience and my friends’ experiences). I was used to more professor (and student) involvement both in class and outside of class.
I came to the conclusion that the education system in Ireland is not individually-centric. While I think the American educational system (or at least at Rollins) encourages students to absorb themselves into their studies and allows for more dynamic and integrated educational experiences, I think that there is some sort of self-centered aspect to that. I believe this has to do with our ambitious, goal-oriented and career-driven mindset. In Ireland, there is more separation between the self and one’s work. Self is separated from education and career. A negative symptom of this American belief system is students complaining about assignments. The most common kind of complaining is along the lines of “I don’t have time for this assignment. I have other more important things/assignments to do.” Therefore, there is some sort of individualistic and selfish lens through which we see education. I had never heard an Irish student complain about an assignment in such a fashion. In the same vein, the professor I emailed over the weekend may have thought that I was selfish, audacious, and self-centered to send out an email over the weekend. I had sent professors many emails over the weekend before with timely responses and so have many of my American friends (even friends who attend large universities). With these emails, I wasn’t necessarily expecting a response over the weekend. However, with each of these emails, a response is more than welcomed and preferred. Her response did make me aware of the self-centeredness and entitlement that many American students feel.
However, I think that students in the states do work, study, and care harder because of the absorption of the American self into their work. Both Irish separation and American absorption have both benefits and drawbacks.
Both my “weekend email professor” and a different “accommodating” professor (who dealt with a lot of American students and therefore answered emails in a very timely manner) were aware of the American student mentality. For example, “accommodating” is a very interesting word. Over the years in the US, I think that a lot of professors are trying to improve on their courses by being more “accommodating” towards their students. For example, I have spoken with American family members that graduated college some 20-30 years ago and their experience with professors was more “old-school”, meaning that accommodating professors are something that is completely foreign to those older individuals.
I think that the need for all these accommodations is only a symptom of the American self becoming inseparable from work. While such “accommodating” qualities may seem to encourage separation of self and work, it is a symptom of the opposite and results in the opposite. Student expectation that professors are accommodating reveal an individualistic and self-important belief-system that their school work and academic experience should be individualized and subservient to each’s own expectations and personal life. As a result, school and self remain within the same domain. I think that the professor who dealt with a lot of American study-abroad students realized this mentality, viewing our experience as one where her course would be an aspect or stepping stone of her American students’ personal fulfillment—as one often pursues personal fulfillment when traveling. This professor also knew that students would be traveling. She probably knew it would have been disastrous to be unaccommodating to American students, especially when their personal lives (traveling) would be completely booked.
Such reflections will make me more equipped to expect the unexpected. I was totally unprepared for the academic situation I was confronted with at Maynooth. It made me aware of a belief system that I didn’t even know I had. In the future, I will keep this belief system in mind so that I will understand the dynamics behind any misunderstanding and other interactions that may come my way.