Narva Teacher of the Year: “There is a huge fear among parents about the transition to Estonian as the language of instruction, but there is nothing scary about the transition itself”

2023-10-12 14:45:57
“What do I do as a mother? For example, from time to time I turn on cartoons in Estonian. I don’t require him to watch them or play educational games in Estonian, but I try to unobtrusively interest him.”

Evgenia Kirsanova, head teacher, Estonian language and language immersion teacher at Narva Krenholm School, recently received double recognition: she became the winner of the city competition “Teacher of the Year 2023” and a finalist of the republican competition “Teacher of the Year 2023” in the category “Class Teacher of the Year”. Today she is our editorial guest.

Who is who

Evgenia Kirsanova was born and raised in Narva and almost her entire life is connected with the Krenholm Gymnasium, which a year ago became known as the Krenholm School.

Here she studied from the first to the twelfth grade and came here to work as an Estonian language teacher – immediately after finishing her bachelor’s degree at Narva College of the University of Tartu. Her total work experience is 18 years, eight of them at the Narva Kesklinna Gymnasium, and the rest at the school that raised her. She is now a homeroom teacher for ninth-graders, whom she has taught since first grade, when she was their language immersion teacher.

When asked by NG how she decided to become a teacher, Evgenia, smiling, recalls that she decided on her profession very early – in kindergarten, and never later regretted her choice. “This is a dream that is really worth working hard for, learning, moving and developing for,” she says.

It is generally accepted that it is in principle impossible for Narvite residents, unless they have friends or relatives among Estonians, to master the Estonian language at a high level due to the lack of a linguistic environment. How did Evgeniya cope? “I don’t have relatives who speak Estonian, but I believe that Estonian and any other language can be mastered, provided there is desire and motivation. Even when I was in college, I devoted a lot of time to studying the Estonian language. Then I constantly participated in various projects, programs, courses for teachers – precisely with the goal of constantly improving my Estonian,” she says.

So, for example, Evgenia Kirsanova is one of the Estonian teachers who is introducing into school life the innovative educational program Liikuma Kutsuv Kool (“School Calling to Movement”), which is based on research developments from the laboratory of the University of Tartu. Communication with Estonian colleagues participating in the program was also excellent language practice for her, says Teacher of the Year.

How exactly is Liikuma Kutsuv Kool implemented in practice? “This program has a model that includes a ride to school, an active lesson, an active recess, a physical education lesson. I don’t have lessons where children just sit. For example, I can hang educational texts on the walls of the classroom: go, read. I also do physical exercises in the middle of class. My ninth-graders, for example, already half an hour after the start of the lesson begin to lose concentration, but as soon as they spend a physical minute, their eyes light up again.

I had such a thing in practice that when I returned to our school, the program was not yet used here. I began to slowly introduce it to seventh graders. And there was such a case that one seventh grader at the end of the lesson said: “Yes, I didn’t move as much in physical education as I did in Estonian!” For me it sounded like a compliment,” says Evgenia.

News from inside

Both the republican and Narva city competitions for the title of “Teacher of the Year” have a common goal: recognizing and supporting the best teachers in their field who serve as examples for others. This year, the regulations for the republican competition emphasize that the selection of Teacher of the Year goes hand in hand with the transition to teaching in Estonian. And this transition is now truly one of the hottest topics in Estonian education as a whole, not to mention Narva, where there are a lot of fears associated with it among both parents and teachers themselves. And, taking advantage of the opportunity, NG discussed this topic with Evgenia.

In the spring, NG attended several meetings that the Ministry of Education organized to discuss the transition to the Estonian language of instruction with parents and all interested parties. Then, in the questions that Narva parents asked specialists and officials, there were notes of despair, and even now many parents doubt that their children will understand what is said in class and will be able to receive a quality education.

“I, too, was at all these meetings and saw that parents have this huge fear of the transition. Not all parents are aware that there is an immersion method that is here to stay, and this method can also be used when switching to Estonian as the language of instruction. I myself have had three of my own children go through a language immersion kindergarten, and the results are excellent.

This year at school we planned that we would go to kindergarten to meet with parents and explain to them that there is nothing wrong. And we organize school for preschool children in the same way. For example, I will talk about my ninth-graders who studied in the language immersion program: they cope absolutely fine. And they passed the Estonian exam with a score above 90 points, and their knowledge of the subjects was absolutely not affected.

It is possible to get a good education using the language immersion method, but it is very important to have support at home. Because the fear coming from parents – “oh, you can’t handle it” – can also get in the way. My third son is now in second grade, and this transition will affect him in fourth grade. What do I do as a mother? For example, from time to time I turn on cartoons in Estonian. I don’t require him to watch them or play educational games in Estonian, but I try to unobtrusively interest him,” says Evgeniya.

The teachers themselves have a lot of fears: some are worried that they will not be able to pass the C1 exam, others say that the exam is an exam, but how to teach children in Estonian with an accent? “We also talked about this with our Estonian colleagues. They believe that the main thing is to overcome these fears and start talking. Yes, it’s not easy for us teachers now, many go to courses after classes and do extra studying at home. This is a huge burden, and it is very important that the school itself and the leadership support them. Sometimes colleagues who are currently taking courses come to me and start speaking to me in Estonian. I always try to support them in this. It is very important that teachers themselves believe that they will succeed,” says Evgenia.

Another life: four pillars

Evgenia says that her whole family supports her as a teacher: for example, her husband can print out tests for lessons, and the children are understanding when her students come to Evgenia’s home. “I really love my job, but my family comes first,” says Evgenia.

She is the mother of four children, the eldest of whom is 16 years old, and the youngest is only ten months old. It’s even scary to ask such a busy person about a hobby, and yet Evgenia has one – traveling with the whole family around Estonia and European countries. For example, this summer the family, traveling in a motorhome with their eight-month-old youngest daughter, visited Croatia.

In ancient times it was believed that the world rests on three pillars. Evgenia says that her world rests on four pillars: family, work, parents and friends. “And these four pillars make me happy,” she says.

Photo from the personal archive of Evgenia Kirsanova

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