In carrying out Mary Lyon’s principle of purposeful engagement in the world, students from Mount Holyoke and other colleges will now be able to participate in a month-long course here on campus to earn their Global Teaching Certificate.
The four-credit program, which will last from June 28 to July 23, will be open to students on graduate or undergraduate tracks, and both men and women. The program costs $2,700 and applications are being accepted through the spring, with housing available.
Assistant Professor of Psychology and Education Lenore Reilly Carlisle developed the program because she was noticing how “more and more of our students are interested in being global citizens, living, working and especially teaching around the world,” she said. Carlisle decided that they would need adequate preparation. Drawing from wisdom and overseas experiences of the community, Carlisle developed the program in collaboration with Assistant to the President Jesse Lytle and Director of the Language Resource Center Daryl Beres.
Citing Mount Holyoke’s “astonishing track record in international education, from teaching, to missionary work, to founding new schools and colleges,” Lytle said he believes that the program will reflect the College’s sense of internationalism. Carlisle also stressed the College’s continual dedication to the field of education.
“Nearly twenty percent of students graduating from Mount Holyoke go into education,” she said. She explained that the certificate would help students teach not only in the U.S., but worldwide.
The purpose of the course is to impart unto the students the knowledge they need to have worthwhile experiences in teaching in other countries.
“Students participating in the course will gain insight into cultural differences in pedagogies of teaching and learning,” especially in an international context, according to Carlisle. Moreover, students will have to be able to make their teaching applicable to vastly different cultures.
To address this issue, Lytle’s goal is to prepare students to be able to “read their new environment in a way that will help them meet the needs of their students within the framework of their new organization, and in the context of a different culture.”
Aside from learning how to develop lesson plans for a variety of age groups and abilities, Carlisle is excited for the students to be able to “speak with both alums who have taught abroad and agencies that hire graduates to teach abroad,” and to be able to “draft a Fulbright teaching proposal and get feedback on it from staff and faculty,” while in close contact with experts in the field of international education.
Ultimately, the vision of the program is to help students “find good and meaningful work as educators out in the world,” said Lytle. “[It should] provide a bridge to help students get from South Hadley to the world.”
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