First person narrative: Teacher fellow journeys through Great Britain

• Details
• Last Updated on February 21, 2012
• Written by Aimee Whitescarver

Editor's Note:  Aimee Whitescarver, an English teacher from Valley Springs, Arkansas, was a 2011 Fund for Teachers Fellow who travelled to Great Britain last summer.  Read below for a firsthand account of Aimee's experiences.  The Rural Trust's Fund for Teachers has been renamed the Global Teacher Fellowship, and the new 2012 Fellows' Class will be announced in the near future.

This past summer, thanks to Fund for Teachers and the Rural School and Community Trust’s teacher fellowships, I had the opportunity to go on the educational experience of a lifetime.

Each year, I pour my passion for reading--specifically British literature—into my teaching in order to show students who believe themselves to be nonreaders that literature can be fun and engaging, as well as meaningful and to teach them to appreciate literary legends of the past. Unfortunately, most students do not share my love and enthusiasm for reading—with some even of the mindset that in our digital world classic literature is irrelevant. Therefore, I set out to Great Britain to personally discover the worlds of four literary greats, visit their old haunts, the places that inspired them to create great works of transformative literature, and then bring that knowledge back to my classroom—via digital media— in order to better appeal to students in our technology-driven world.

For my 15 day literary journey, I decided to concentrate on four revolutionary British authors that used their writing to spur change: Wordsworth, Chaucer, Shakespeare, and Dickens. My journey began in Southwark, one of the oldest boroughs of London with strong literary ties. I then wended my way to Canterbury, taking the same route Chaucer’s pilgrims followed, stopping in the same villages mentioned in the Tales. Along the way I hiked a section of the North Downs—the nature paths in the area of Kent that pilgrims in the Middle Ages would have followed to Canterbury. And I discovered that while the inevitable urbanization has occurred, much of the countryside along the North Downs Way has been left reasonably untarnished, allowing me to capture a portion of Chaucer’s Tales for my students.

Halfway to Canterbury, I stopped in Rochester, where Dickens lived for several years. I timed my journey to be able to take in the annual Rochester Dickens Festival where I experienced traditional Victorian funfair, mingled with Dickensian enthusiasts, and explored the landmarks that inspired so many of the places in his novels. The festival allowed me a rare glimpse back into Victorian England and Dickens’ world.

After successfully completing my pilgrimage to Canterbury, I travelled cross-country to Tintern, Wales, and then up to the Lake District to take in the natural beauty of the areas that inspired the writing of William Wordsworth. Touring the regions, it was easy to see how Wordsworth used the tranquil beauty of these locations as inspiration for his writing during the midst of Britain’s tumultuous industrial revolution. Around every boulder or moss covered tree trunk, over each grassy knoll or bracken covered hillside, I saw lines from Wordsworth’s poems.

Throughout my journey, I had one recurring thought, “I wish my students were here to see and experience this.” But after travelling more than 1,500 miles, taking over 1,000 pictures, shooting hours of video footage, and blogging the entire trip, I AM able to bring the sights and experiences home to my students. Thank you, Fund for Teachers.