8.1MB - College of Education - Auburn University

I n t e r n at i o n a l
From Tanzania to New Zealand and
Australia, College of Education students
have demonstrated the ability to touch
lives while accumulating an impressive
collection of passport stamps. Dr. James
Witte, associate professor and coordinator
of the college’s Adult and Higher Education
program, said he has seen a shift in
students’ attitudes regarding international
travel.
“For a long time, Alabama looked
into itself,” said Witte, who has lived and
worked in such places as Iran, Egypt,
Pakistan and the Panama Canal Zone.
“The idea of going beyond the borders of
Alabama was a foreign concept for most
of our graduates. Their goals were to
graduate, stay close to home and live happily ever after, which has
merit. I’m not finding that the university has taken a very realistic
global view.
“It’s not just talked about. The idea of maintaining a narrow view
of the world, you don’t fit. You’re passed over [for jobs] if you have
that view.”
Breaking down barriers
Jana Dickey, one
of three school
counseling graduate
students who spent
June 2010 in South
Korea, said travel is
an essential component
in professional
preparation. During their trip to Seoul, Dickey, Erin Carroll
and Elizabeth Osborn took part in classes at Korea University and
provided diversity and multicultural awareness guidance for Korean
students.
“That, for me, was the moment that I truly felt like a school
counselor in training,” Dickey said. “I think one of the main things
I took from the experience was the importance of understanding
different cultures and keeping an open mind regarding different
viewpoints. It is important to see and understand that everyone does
not live the same way. Every culture is different.”
There are, of course, failsafe ways to break down cultural barriers.
In Tanzania, for example, Auburn students found that their
pupils were eager to return the time and energy invested in them.
They absorbed lessons quickly since, typically, their instructions are
compressed into 15-minute increments. They were also more than
happy to make use of the paper, pencils, books and sporting goods
sent from Auburn.
Kelly Bradford, a fall 2010 exercise science graduate, became
popular as the result of her status as caretaker of the soccer balls,
Frisbees and Twister mat donated by the Department of Kinesiology.
She taught groups of children, as many as 80 at a time, how to play
a quintessential American playground game — kickball. Because
there’s no easy Swahili translation for the sport, the children came
up with an appropriate name: “The Kelly Game.’’
“That’s one of the best experiences I’ve ever had,” Bradford said.
“It definitely changed my perspective.”
McAlpin, who taught math to third- and fourth-graders and
English to second-graders, said she and her classmates couldn’t help
but be transformed by their time teaching in Tanzania.
“I enjoyed teaching these students and they will forever hold a
special place in my heart and be my little angels,” she said.
A K e y s t o n e i n B u i l d i n g a B e t t e r F u t u r e f o r A l l 15