Walking into Coppell High School room B227, you are welcomed by a collage of photos from different areas around the globe. You would never guess that they include over 30 different countries, 14 different trips to Italy and are all taken by CHS AP Psychology teacher Nathan Allison, each holding different stories and memories.
Allison is the head of the psychology department and the EF Educational Tours chapter, and runs his own business outside of school, Teachers Traveling Abroad.
Allison’s fervor for travel stemmed from a church missionary trip to Venezuela when he was 17, his first international trip. The experience opened his eyes to the different perspectives that come with seeing a new type of culture and way of living.
“I’ve always loved meeting new cultures. For example, we met with a tribe of Indians that live in Western Mexico who had only had contact with modern humanity for the past 10 years,” Allison said. “Being able to go out and see that firsthand was amazing.”
After spending 18 years at Marcus High School in Flower Mound, Allison’s draw to Coppell coincidentally came from traveling abroad in a EF Educational Tour in Germany with Robotics teacher Grant Garner. The community aspect of CHS piqued Allison’s interest with CHS’s diverse population.
Allison values travel as he thinks it can bring people together, viewing it through a psychological lens of how most xenophobia comes from misinformation and fear of the unknown. He thinks people should explore these perspectives with an open mind, and the best way to do so is through travel.
“When you don’t travel as much, I think it can increase fear of the outside world,” Allison said. “If all you see of a culture is on TV, or a version of it, then you can create this certain bias within your mind of what you think that culture is. Being able to actually get out there and experience it yourself is the best way to overcome bias and even discrimination.”
Allison is personally impacted by travel through not only the different ways people live but their ideas about life as well. In comparison to the work driven culture of the United States, Allison was captivated by the attitudes of people in completely different lifestyles.
“When visiting parts of rural Mexico, I saw the poverty but they were some of the happiest people I’ve met,” Allison said. “You will see the news and see how miserable they seem, but then you meet them and they are happier than most people that you know.”
Though traveling while working full time as a teacher has its challenges, Allison balances travel and teaching by applying each with each other through EF Educational Tours and utilizing his summers to explore new places. He appreciates the balance between both professions with teaching giving him a set routine, and travel adding a sense of thrill to his life.
“Honestly, I think being able to travel in tandem with teaching is probably what has kept me in teaching,” Allison said. “It reminds me of why I became a teacher in the first place because when I see the way travel impacts the students, it reignites my passion for teaching by showing them those new perspectives.”
Having previously taught psychology for two years at Marcus, Allison took on teaching AP Psychology at CHS for the first time, challenging himself by taking on a new course rigor in order to break out of the monotony of his previous courses.
“I’ve always loved psychology as a subject and wanted to get back into it,” Allison said. “When you teach something for too long, it’s easy to get into a groove and feel like you aren’t being challenged anymore.”
Allison’s view of both psychology and teaching are influenced by his travel experiences, prioritizing healthy discussion and making him more receptive to new viewpoints.
“He’s really engaging and likes to involve all of us in whatever he’s teaching,” senior Riddhi Koundinya said. “I like that he understands that most of us have never taken a psychology course before, and is really helpful whenever we are confused.”
He follows a structured classroom model to give students a sense of stability and comfort, the opposite of his global exploration outside of the classroom.
“Our weeks look really similar, which sounds boring but it isn’t,” senior Keeya Rathod said. “[Allison] is really dynamic but still keeps a really calming environment. It’s a nice break from my other classes.”
Allison aims to showcase an open mind through travel and pass it on to his students as well. Although he thinks travel is an optimal way to broaden your worldly viewpoint, cultural awareness can come from where you are standing.
“Part of the problem is people get caught in the cycle where they don’t think they can get out of their town,” Allison said. “You can overcome that when you see anything new, even if it’s 50 miles down the road and you’re like, ‘This is something that’s possible, I am capable of getting here.’ It definitely doesn’t take having to go across the Atlantic.”
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