Kate Raffile is about to embark on a journey that will combine two of her passions in life – traveling the world and teaching children how to read.
Raffile, a special education teacher who has been with Sippican School for six years, was awarded the Fulbright Distinguished Award in Teaching in April of this year. Along with that comes the opportunity to live and study abroad for six months in the country of her choosing: Raffile was drawn to New Zealand, which is known for its highly regarded early literacy intervention practices.
“One of my true loves in teaching is teaching early primary students how to read,” said Raffile. She wants to witness firsthand how New Zealand implements its successful early literacy programs, what its practices and interventions involve, its special education referral rates, and how it supports its teachers.
“They know what they’re doing,” said Raffile. Her preferred early literacy intervention program, Reading Recovery, was devised in New Zealand and widely implemented in the country, as well as in other countries. “I’ve made connections with some of the people (in New Zealand) I consider gurus.” She continued, “I already have meetings set up for when I go.”
Raffile’s departure date is January 21, and she won’t be back at Sippican until July 18. She has been preparing for the trip for months now, making contact with educators, as well as literacy scholars and authors, in New Zealand.
Beverley Randell, an internationally recognized author of books for children, is one whom Raffile has looked up to, often referring to her books for inspiration and ideas. When the two finally spoke, Randell asked Raffile if she had secured housing yet, to which Raffile replied that she had not. Randell offered an apartment in her home until March, when another rental belonging to Randell’s daughter becomes available. This was thrilling for Raffile.
Randell just so happens to have a library in her home of 26,000 children’s books, which means Raffile will find herself literally in a full-immersion experience.
When Raffile is not researching for her Fulbright capstone project focusing on early literacy intervention, Raffile will be based in the capital city of Wellington and will spend much of her instruction time with students living beneath the poverty level. She is also looking forward to spending some of her free time exploring the country.
“Although I’ve traveled a lot, I’ve never lived in a foreign country for six months,” said Raffile, anticipating some personal growth to accompany her growth professionally. Things have recently started to set in for Raffile as her trip nears, she said, with a little bit of nervousness mounting. “I’m starting to think six months is a long time to be away,” she laughed. And that 15-hour flight from California to New Zealand is weighing a bit on her mind.
Being separated from her students at Sippican will be challenging, too, but Raffile intends to stay connected from abroad, hoping to set up some video chat sessions between her classes in New Zealand and her classes back home.
In addition to returning to Sippican with new teaching techniques and early literacy interventions, Raffile is hoping to bring back a strong message for her students that look up to her.
“I got the bug to travel and I love to travel. If I could instill that into my students…” said Raffile. “There is so much you can learn from talking to and being around all different types of people.”
Raffile will be writing a blog throughout her stay abroad, which can be found at http://kateraffilenewzealand.blogspot.com.
By Jean Perry
