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By the numbers: local students benefit from exchange teachers

Participate Learning's mission to expand global education includes helping teachers from outside of the United States to share their knowledge, passion and experiences with local students.

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This article was written for our sponsor, Participate Learning

In 1987, Participate Learning, formerly known as Visiting International Faculty (later, VIF International Education), was founded to celebrate and promote the value of international perspectives in U.S. education. Inspired, in part, by the common practice of international professors enriching universities, Participate Learning wanted to offer that beautiful opportunity to younger students. Introducing students to a myriad of cultures through direct education opens their eyes to a global view and helps prepare them for a global economy.

Fast forward 35 years and the impact of that mission has been felt by thousands of educators and countless students. This year alone, 70,000 students are directly impacted and influenced by teachers who have been recruited and matched to schools by Participate Learning.

Jeff Seaby is the Director of International Recruitment for Participate Learning’s global recruiting efforts. Participate Learning annually receives and evaluates thousands of applications from educators around the world who would like to take part in their program and teach in the United States.

When Participate Learning evaluates potential exchange teachers, the mission is always the focus: finding teachers who will provide the best educational experience for local students and then return home to share the great professional and personal experience they had in the U.S. Last year, Participate Learning received 13,000 applications. From those, they discerned the abilities, skills and passions of the applicants, while also understanding the needs of the schools.

With both things in mind, the applicant pool is narrowed dramatically. Currently, more than 1,500 Ambassador Teachers from 32 countries teach in 430 different schools, in 68 school districts located in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia.

Since its inception, Participate Learning has hosted more than 17,000 teachers from 77 countries. Considering the amount of lives a single teacher impacts, the reach that Participate Learning’s programs have is staggering. As far as the number of students' lives that have been influenced, it easily reaches millions.

The program is administered through the U.S. State Department, which provides J1 Visas to teachers to work in the United States. In fact, according to their website, Participate Learning has the distinction of being the largest visiting teacher program in the Department of State Exchange Visitor Program to date.

While it could get easy to get lost in the staggering numbers, whether one student is impacted or a million, the goal is to increase cultural understanding and empathy.

Seaby said, "You get to learn about someone else’s culture through this program. The teachers get exposure to new ideas, new teaching techniques and that all helps them prepare students for a globally competitive workplace."

The majority of the educators teach kindergarten through fifth grade and applications are accepted on an ongoing basis. Candidates go through a rigorous screening process, including two rounds of interviewing.

Seaby is personally invested in the program, as he is a product of it. Living in Canada at the time he heard of Participate Learning, Seaby applied to be a teacher. For Seaby, the chance to live in a new place, meet new people and learn, was incredibly appealing.

"I liked the idea of teaching in a different place and I just loved what the organization stood for after going through the screening process," he said from his office in Ottawa, Canada.

After he taught, he felt called to work within the program to create similar opportunities for others. "I was excited to help find teachers in different places around the world who might be interested in the adventure I got to experience," he said.

"We’re talking to so many people from all over the world that have a real interest in this program," he said. "And these teachers are coming with a wide variety of experiences to share with American students, educators, and communities.

Maria Phillips, from Costa Rica, is a third grade dual language teacher at South Elementary School in Roxboro and is in her fourth year of teaching through Participate Learning.

"The timing was just right," she said. "Once the process started moving forward I didn’t know where I was going to be, just that it was going to be in North Carolina. After interviewing with the principal at my school I just knew that this school would be the best for me."

Phillips remembers the first year being challenging because it was really the first time she was on her own but the school family helped her settle in and make it feel like home. "The teachers worked really hard to make it feel comfortable," she said. "For the students, opening their eyes to different cultures and ideas has been so meaningful for them and me."

"Parents often share how excited their child is to have an international teacher," Seaby said. "The idea that their teacher can point to a country far away on a globe ignites curiosity and imagination," he added.

"Students get to hear first-hand accounts of what life is like in other countries and many parents talk about how that keeps them engaged in learning," Seaby said."Students ask a lot of questions to these teachers. And you’ll sometimes be surprised by what they’re wondering about."

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This article was written for our sponsor, Participate Learning

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