TIEs (Two-way Intercultural Exchanges) with Teachers
We aim to bring a group of American educators to Nepal in Summer 2015 for a two-way exchange of teaching methods and cultural insight with Nepali teachers.
Our Vision
Around the world, there are teachers using unique and innovative methods in their classrooms, but many educators never get the opportunity to step outside their own cultural backgrounds and see the great work their global colleagues are doing.
What if new approaches to daily classroom challenges could be learned by collaborating with peers abroad?
TIEs with Teachers envisions an interconnected world where educators from different cultural backgrounds come together to exchange insight and learn new strategies to meet the diverse needs of their classrooms.
We aim to shed a new light on educators in developing countries.
Too often, “Teach Abroad” programs in developing countries focus on how much the local educators need Western help, yet rarely consider what Westerners might learn from the local people. In our program, American and foreign teachers
meet as equals for a two-way exchange of teaching ideas and cultural insight.
Why Nepal?
We’ve chosen a school in Lalitpur, Nepal (Grades K-10) where the teachers are interested to learn American teaching strategies and eager to share the exciting things they are doing:
Meditation to build the mind’s capacity for learning and improve student attentiveness
Character development courses that can help address bullying in U.S. schools
Bilingual education beginning in early elementary, including academic subjects like math and science taught in a second language
How It Works
Our pilot program aims to bring a group of four American teachers of varying grades/subjects to our partner school in Nepal for three weeks in Summer 2015. American and Nepali teachers will partner to do the following:
What Makes Us Unique?
• We only recruit skilled participants who are current K-12 teachers (find out how to apply on our website).
• We emphasize professional development for teachers, rather than direct instruction of students in the host country.
• We view neither the American nor foreign teachers as having superior expertise; both parties
meet as equals to learn and grow from each other.
• We offer a three-week summer program so that American teachers can come to Nepal without having to take time off from their teaching positions (our Nepali partner school is in session during this time).
• We provide a structured itinerary of daily activities, so participants can ensure that their time will be spent efficiently (available
here).
• We have activities to build teachers’ intercultural competence: the ability to successfully interact with people of backgrounds different from their own.
Be a Part of Our Campaign
If we don’t reach our Tipping Point goal of $8,000 before the campaign ends, we won’t see any of the donations. Your pledge will only be processed if we reach this goal. Check out the sidebar to see the unique rewards we offer to show our appreciation for
your contributions.
And please share us with you networks!
Facebook:
www.facebook.com/tieswithteachers
Twitter (@TiesWith): www.twitter.com/tieswith
Website: www.tieswithteachers.org
Be a part of our campaign and help improve teaching in the U.S. and Nepal!
Better teachers means better education for kids across the world!
Thank you all!
