Tanzania recently joined the list of 18 nations to which School of Education students can travel to complete their student teaching under the Global Gateway for Teachers program, according to an IU press release.
The Global Gateway for Teachers program is designed to allow School of Education students to gain multicultural experiences while also fulfilling degree requirements, according to the School of Education website. Because of the rigid structure of education programs, it is often difficult for education students to have multicultural experiences.
School of Education students can choose between three possible programs: the Overseas Program, the Navajo Nation Program and the Urban Program, according to the School of Education website. While the overseas program sends students abroad, the Navajo Nation and Urban programs send students across the United States.
Participants in the Overseas Program can travel to Australia, China, Costa Rica, Ecuador, England, Greece, Ireland, India, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Russia, Scotland, Spain, Turkey, Wales and, now, Tanzania.
The Navajo Nation Program sends students to Navajo reservations in Arizona, New Mexico or Utah, while the Urban program sends students to Chicago.
Participants in the Overseas Program spend at least eight weeks student teaching abroad in addition to the time they spend student teaching locally to complete their teacher certification, according to the release. Participants also take preparatory classes, attend workshops and complete readings.
“They are not tourists, and this is not a typical ‘study abroad’ program,” Global Gateway Director Laura Stachowski said in the release. “It’s student teaching, and they are making a commitment to schools, teachers, pupils, host families and the community.”
Stachowski arranged to add Tanzania after Kenya was removed from the list because of security concerns. According to the release, students still wanted to student teach in Africa.
Deogratias Tungaraza, an instructor in IU’s Swahili Flagship Center, and his wife, Frida, both of whom are from Tanzania, assisted Stachowski in adding Tanzania to the list, according to the release.
“The people there couldn’t have been more excited about this opportunity to collaborate,” Stachowski said in the release. “I met with school administrators, teachers, pupils and host families and, across the board, the reception was positive and enthusiastic.”
The Global Gateway for Teachers program, formerly known as the Cultural Immersion Projects, began at the School of Education in the early 1970s, according to the release.
Between 90 and 120 student teachers participate in the program each year, according to the release. Though the majority of students are from IU-Bloomington, some are from other colleges and universities.
Interested students must meet certain GPA requirements and must have completed all professional course work toward their degree. Students with majors in a foreign language must also receive a passing score on the Foreign Language Proficiency exam.
Ashleigh Sherman
