A few days ago, we came across this online publication written by Charlotte West and published by the international education and exchange organization NAFSA. The document is entitled “Internationalization of Teacher Education” and reviews three case studies of US universities establishing innovative practices in incorporating intercultural learning into their programs.

The article first reviews the Cultural Immersion Programs at Indiana University‘s School of Education, which places students who will become certified teachers in an eight-week or semester program where they teach full-time in a new cultural environment. This environment can be abroad, on Navajo reservations in the Southwest of the United States, or in multicultural urban schools in the U.S. The main purpose of this experience is to immerse the future teachers as active participants of the host culture, working with students and other teachers and completing a project and written assignments that allow them to “dig below the surface of that cultural iceberg.” The School of Leadership and Education Sciences at the University of San Diego requires that all students have an international experience during the course of their program. This requirement, which seemed controversial at the beginning, has been accompanied by a wider offer of international programs that do not necessarily equal studying abroad. International experiences can also occur in the San Diego community, in multicultural environments or courses that allow students to explore the impact of international and intercultural relations in the local context, or working with international scholars or partners in the San Diego area. The objectives of the program are to “develop a deeper understanding of another culture; appreciate its differences and similarities; consider its gifts and challenges; and understand the educational and practical implications of cultural diversity and globalization issues.”

Charlotte West also features the efforts of University of Maryland‘s College of Education in developing an infrastructure that allows students, professors and departments to create international initiatives. A key part of this infrastructure is a university-wide international advisory committee that captures cross-departmental dialogue and acts as a hub to share ideas, resources and best practices to enhance international and intercultural programs across the school. This “think-tank” came along with the creation of an Office of International Initiatives, travel funds for students and professors, and an initiative to create an international experience requirement in certain programs. In their view, this intercultural educational experience should be “integrating, rather than adding on, a global perspective across all course content.” At AFS Intercultural Programs, we also want to foster an intercultural learning experience for our AFS Volunteers and Staff by providing the opportunity to understand international and intercultural challenges in our daily work. We value and admire the initiatives of like-minded professionals and organizations that believe that cultural immersion and exchange can enhance our learning experience, not only that of our participants, and can help us grow as professionals and as individuals.