The Foreign Service Journal, April 2017

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | APRIL 2017 73 had just given, many jumped up in excite- ment, reaching for their cell phones to photographmy newly organized notes. On another occasion, in an effort to encourage our students to apply the rather abstract concepts of trigonometry to their lives, we asked them to research real-life applications that made use of the semester’s worth of formulas they had just learned. With a bit of coaching, they all eventually arrived at the “aha” moment we were looking for and realized that math is all around us. Besides teaching, I went on recruit- ment visits to high schools around UB. I looked forward to these visits at schools that ranged from crumbling Soviet-style institutions tomodern schools with new buildings and technology tomatch. I never knewwhat to expect—some- times I wouldmeet the highest school official and talk with him throughmy interpreter; other times I would arrive to find half-dressed students whose gym class had just dismissed in a classroom that also functioned as a co-ed locker room. One time a loudspeaker suddenly started barking loudMongolianmusic along with a voice counting 1, 2, 3, 4. Unsure of what was happening, I looked around to see classroomdoors fly open and students line up to squat, bend, flex and stretch for this mandatory exercise drill. These visits and my own classroom experiences confirmed my belief that an alternative school like AUMwas neces- sary. After two semesters of classes, our students’ English skills improved tremen- dously, and they were thriving. They gained confidence, held their heads up high when giving a class pre- sentation, and learned to ask questions and apply abstract concepts. They had also figured out that they needed to do their homework or risk a lower grade. And then it all fell apart. As Mongolia’s economy slid deeper into an economic crisis that compelled the newly elected government to enact painful austerity measures, AUM was not alone in suffer- ing financially. Despite tireless efforts by the adminis- tration and board of directors, AUM had insufficient applicants for the upcoming academic year. Two weeks shy of the fall semester, in recognition of the economic realities, the board voted to suspend classes. In the meantime, for unrelated reasons, I had stepped in as acting dean of general education. So after writing university policies and schedules for a semester of classes we would never teach, I had to tell our students that the school we had all come to treasure was forced to close, at least temporarily. The Bigger Picture After the initial shock wore off, I began to appreciate the bigger picture. Yes, AUM closed; but we did achieve something important and completely different for this part of the world. In my view, the American University of Mongolia was five years ahead of its time. The momentum was (and is) grow- ing for this type of educational initiative. Our efforts were not a failure by any means: Our stu- dents learned how to learn, as opposed to just memorizing, and they learned to think critically. Our Mongolian teach- ers developed a richer understanding of student-centered teaching, rather than lecturing students without follow-up or intermittent formative assessments. I, too, have grown substantially in this past year, not just because I was given a job title outside of my comfort zone, but because I learned so much about the nuances of merging Mongo- lian and Western styles of education. Our team-teaching approach allowed me to explore another academic lan- guage, and my co-workers and students enriched my understanding of why things are done the way they are in a country where the bureaucracy and strange customs sometimes fluster me. And in my next job interview, I can say I was once acting dean of a univer- sity—in Mongolia. At the very least I will stand out from the rest of the applicant pool. And, who knows? There is still a possibility that I will be running a university here in UB in a few months or years. This is Mongolia, after all, where anything can change at a moment’s notice. n