Teacher Education program to host international educators for fifth year
For the fifth consecutive year, Claremont Graduate University (CGU) will serve as a host university for the Teaching Excellence and Achievement (TEA) program. Eighteen middle- and high school teachers from 17 countries will come to CGU this fall to participate in a six-week residential professional development program.
The TEA program, co-sponsored by the US Department of State and IREX, is designed to help participants enhance their teaching skills, engage in US culture, develop intercultural competencies, cultivate social justice teaching practices, and foster global understanding and goodwill.
“We’re thrilled to host another year of the TEA program,” said DeLacy Ganley, director of the Teacher Education Program in CGU’s School of Educational Studies. “Because Claremont is a small town that is adjacent to the vast cultural laboratory that is Los Angeles, having international educators here allows them to really engage in multicultural training, while also allowing them to connect on a personal level at the local community level.”
Alumni from the past four years of the program have already impacted their communities in positive ways. One alumna is providing educational and emotional support for children affected by major earthquakes in Nepal. Another is building a school for underserved youth in Ghana. Others are writing textbooks that are aimed to best serve their country’s educational needs and hosting online video chats for people around the world who want to learn English.
The program, while focused primarily on the development of teachers from other countries, also benefits students in CGU’s Teacher Education Program.
“The goal all around is to create educators that are global citizens,” Ganley said. “We can’t always take our teachers abroad. The TEA program allows us to bring the world to Claremont.”
The six social studies teachers and 12 EFL/ESL/English teachers coming in the fall hail from Bangladesh, Cameroon, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, India, Nepal, Nicaragua, Niger, Palestine, Senegal, South Africa, Tajikistan, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, and Zambia.
They will arrive on September 18 and depart on November 2.
The fellows will be paired with teachers at local middle- and high-schools and will work in the classroom alongside their American partners, providing instruction, attending faculty meetings, and helping with extracurricular activities. They will also showcase their home countries with interactive presentations at Sycamore Elementary School in Claremont.
In addition, the fellows will take professional development classes at CGU, guest speak at classes and attend events at the other Claremont Colleges, and go on cultural outings—to the Norton Simon Museum, Santa Monica pier, and the LA Fair, among others.