John Melton is a high-school biology teacher in Northern California. Andy Neighbor is a sixth-form college teacher near London, England. Sixth-form colleges serve 16- to 19-year-old students. This fall, the two teachers began a one-year teaching exchange. This article is the third in a series about their exchange.

American Fulbright teachers in England attended a two-day meeting in London, hosted by the United Kingdom's Central Bureau for International Education and Training. Housed in a London School of Economics dormitory, they met to compare notes on their experiences thus far, as well as to attend meetings on specific topics. John Melton related this joke, told by a Scottish teacher who was giving a workshop on classroom management and parental expectations in the U.K.:

Two little boys the same age – one in New York, one in London – are watching a Wimbledon tennis match. Pete Sampras is smashing the ball and dominating the match. The little American boy jumps up excitedly and says to his mother, "Mom, I want to grow up and BE Pete Sampras!" His mother says, "That's great, honey! If you try hard enough, you can be whatever you want to be!" The parents then hire the best coaches, buy the best equipment, and after years of practice and hard work, the boy becomes the next Pete Sampras.

In London, the English boy is watching the same Wimbledon tennis match. Pete Sampras is smashing the ball and dominating the match. The little English boy jumps up excitedly and says to his mother, "Mum! I want to grow up to be the ballboy!" His mother turns to him with a somewhat dispirited look and says, "Well, dear, it's not as easy as it looks!"

The Scottish teacher used this joke to generalize a difference between how American parents and British parents approach excellence and success, especially in their children. She stated that American parents generally tell their children that they can do and be anything, whereas British parents tend to focus more on the possible failures and difficulties in meeting goals. This was, of course, just one perspective in a number of meetings that compared the educational systems in the two countries.

John enjoyed the opportunity to talk to other Fulbright teachers about their experiences. A number of primary teachers talked about England's national curriculum, and how it dictates what they teach. Since the national curriculum is very detailed, requiring that specific topics be taught in a specific order in a specific amount of time, many American teachers have had to toss out the lesson plans they brought with them. A number of the secondary teachers, like John, have found the higher number of preps and different scheduling system challenging. As John reported, "Many of us agreed that we feel like first-year teachers again."

A highlight of the London meeting was a reception for the Fulbright teachers and their host administrators at the American Embassy. Afterward, many of the participants went out for dinner and a night on the town. The next meeting will be held in the Cotswalds, near Stratford-upon-Avon, so once again teachers will be able to mix business with pleasure.

John's prior journal entries

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