Spring - National Peace Corps Association

Mixing travel and teaching in Morocco by Amy Cohen
In October I was part of a group of educators from St
Louis, Missouri that travelled to Morocco to participate in
a unique professional development opportunity. Through
Maryville University’s certification program in Global Awareness
and Civic Education (GACE) I was partnered with a
school in Casablanca, Morocco. The GACE program helped
me incorporate 21 st century skills and cross cultural collaboration
to improve student learning.
I was one of the first American teachers allowed to teach
in Moroccan schools and it was quite an experience. We were
greeted with media and were given grand receptions at each
of the six schools we visited. In some ways, it reminded me
of teaching while in the Peace Corps; crowded classes with
little resources yet the students were eager to learn from
very dedicated teachers. Though students seemed to know
a lot about American culture, they had a range of questions
for us; everything from, “Is college expensive” to “What
is Prom like” to “Why isn’t Arabic taught in our schools”
Our delegation also met with Ministry of Education officials
as well as staff from the US Embassy. I taught a lesson on endangered
animals to students at Charif Al Idrissi high school
in an English language class.
Upon returning to Parkway West high school, my zoology
classes designed advertisements on endangered animals and
then wrote letters to government officials asking for their support
on conservation laws. The classes from two continents
used various forms of technology to communicate with each
other to get a better understanding of global issues and their
role as citizens. When I asked my students what they liked
about the project one student responded, “It enables you to
be more aware of what’s happening outside the US.” Another
commented, “It’s an incredibly neat opportunity to be able to
communicate with people from the other side of the world; to
see how they perceive Americans and to learn their culture.”
My goal is to develop an ongoing partnership where both
students and teachers can use democratic citizenship as the
basis for preparing globally educated students for the 21st
century.
This Prezi summarizes my teaching in Morocco as well
as my student’s work in St. Louis:
http://prezi.com/lui89reibftq/gace-program/auth_key=
dbda27c784ccfc3d5e4a630d1726d3b9b121a48e&utm_
source=em0shvwpr&utm_campaign=gro&utm_
medium=email&
amp;rc=ex0shvwpr
This video showcases the professional work we did in
Morocco as well as some of the history and culture we experienced
while travelling around the country:
http://www.youtube.com/watchv=EbP5ikt5cU8
Amy Cohen with her partner teacher
Saida Adnane
Moroccan students learning
about endangered animals
Reception at Charif Al Idrissi high school
www.peacecorpsconnect.org
Global Education News, Spring 2013
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