And so it begins!

7 Sept 2011

            Fulbright orientation officially began today! During our morning session, I met the other Fulbrighters who—like me—will be in the region of Valencia. There are ten of us who are placed in ten primary schools throughout the region.

*Side note: For those of you not familiar with Spanish geography, Spain is divided into 17 autonomous communities—which are similar in a way to states in the United States. However, as the name suggests, they have a lot more autonomy than our states. Many of these communities were actually once their own kingdoms with separate rulers and laws. However, over time, these kingdoms joined and gave up their sovereignty. Nevertheless, many people identify more with their autonomous community than Spain as a whole. Each community is very unique--they have different traditions, cultures, and sometimes even completely different languages!
The autonomous community of Valencia is divided into 3 provinces—Alicante, Valencia, and Castellón. Valencia has two official languages--castellano (Spanish) and valenciano (Valencian). 

During our session, we were able to talk a bit about the logistics of moving to Spain as well as hear about the experiences of a 2010-2011 Fulbrighter. There are a number of things we have to take care within our first month of being here in Spain--finding an apartment, opening a Spanish bank account, and applying for the NIE.
Since we are going to be in the region of Valencia, we learned a little bit about the school system in Valencia. Since the region of Valencia has two official languages, there are a number of different schooling options. First of all, students can start school much earlier in Spain than in the United States. Students can begin with the first cycle of primary school at age 3. This is not obligatory but it is paid for by the government. Then, at age 6, students start primary school. This is free and required by the government. Once they are 12 years old, students begin secondary school until the age of 16. Then, students can finish a Bachillerato--which enables students to apply to a university.
In addition to these differences, all schools in Valencia teach more than one language. There are 5 basic types of language programs that can be found in Valencian schools.

1. Content in Valencian with Spanish introduced later (for students whose mother tongue is Valencian)
2. Immersion--Valencian is used in lower grades and Spanish is introduced as a subject
3. Content is taught mainly in Spanish and Valencian is introduced later. Science is taught in Valencian.
4. English is introduced when students are 3-5 years old
5. A foreign language is used to teach students from the beginning

If that sounds complicated to you, believe me it's a little confusing to me. The school that I'm working at is the 3rd type of program. Mostly everything is taught in Spanish. However, all the science classes are taught in Valencian. This is pretty controversial amongst the teachers--which I'll discuss later when I talk more about my school.
At my school, they also have English class as a specials class (like art, PE, library, etc are in the United States).