FROM MADRID TO HOLLYWOOD: AN EXPERIENCE AS A VISITING TEACHER IN CALIFORNIA

Abstract

International teacher mobility offers an opportunity to become familiar with other educational systems and, at the same time, to reconsider one’s own teaching practice. This article presents the experience of a secondary school teacher who spent three academic years as a visiting Spanish teacher at Hollywood High School, a school belonging to the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), in California. During this period, different active methodologies and classroom strategies were observed and incorporated into Spanish lessons, including Kagan Cooperative Learning, Station Rotation, Project-Based Learning and Social Emotional Learning, among others. The experience made it possible to analyse not only the potential of these approaches to promote participation, interaction and student autonomy, but also the difficulties involved in their implementation depending on the characteristics of each group and the educational context. Particular attention is paid to the adaptation of these strategies to the communicative approach traditionally associated with foreign language teaching in Spain. Finally, the article reflects on the possibilities and limitations of transferring practices observed in California to the Spanish educational context and on the role of international mobility as an opportunity for professional development.