Dr. Les Crawford educates students in Belarus

Dr. Les Crawford, professor of education at Georgia College & State University, has packed his bags for Belarus to share his knowledge of the U.S. university system.

In the spring, Crawford learned that he was one of approximately 800 nationwide recipients of a Fulbright Scholar Award. Thanks to this grant, he traveled to Belarus Sunday to serve as a consultant of higher education to faculty and administration at the Institute of Higher
Education.

“They are interested in internationalizing their curriculum,” said Crawford, former dean of the John H. Lounsbury School of Education. “We will also be going to schools and talking to (students) who would like to study in the United States.”

According to Crawford, receiving the Fulbright Scholar grant was quite
an honor.

“This ranks really high up there,” he said, adding that the honor ranks among having a book and then a series of books published.

Crawford admits that he is no stranger to traveling or teaching abroad. In fact, he spent two years in Costa Rica at the Lincoln School, a facility where students from pre-kindergarten to age 14 were taught. During his stay there, Crawford served as a consultant through the U.S. Department of Education.

One difference that Crawford noted between the Costa Rica and Belarus trips is the language barrier.

“I knew more Spanish than I do Russian,” he said.

The biggest problem that Crawford could foresee is the alphabet in
Belarus.

“They use some Greek letters,” he said, adding that he is lucky that he remembers some of the Greek symbols. The grant allots a certain amount of money to pay a translator, and Crawford said that having that aide would serve as a great help on and off campus.

Other factors that will take getting used to are the climate and cleanliness in Belarus.

“It’s inhumanely cold there,” Crawford said. “And the water has to be boiled and filtered to remove any mineral composites.”

“The consulate (in Belarus) has found a realtor who will take me around and show me various apartments,” Crawford said.

He added that he has nearly pinpointed where he hopes to live – near the grocery store, McDonald’s and the theater for ballet.

Along with meeting the academic goals of his journey, Crawford set some personal goals.

“The reason I selected administration is that it is the end of my administration, and I’d like to do something to culminate my experiences,” he said.

Crawford came to GC&SU from the State University of New York at Potsdam, where he was professor and Dean of Education and Graduate Studies. Earlier in his career, he held positions as chair teacher of development at St. Cloud University in St. Cloud, Minn., Director of Elementary and Childhood Education and Director of the English Second Language Program at Moorhead State University in Moorhead, Minn.

Crawford plans to travel to Poland, his mother’s native country, and research family names and history.

He will return from his travels at the end of the year and will resume teaching in the School of Education.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Sep 13 2002. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry