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International Education Exchange Program offers the world
Stories by Carolyn Freed, Coordinator, International Education Exchange Program
Have you ever had a desire to visit Germany?
If you answered yes, then this is a good time to apply to the International Education Exchange Program (IEEP). At present, IEEP has more German applicants than Canadian.
This year, six matches were made between Alberta and German educators. For a week in August, Canadian teachers shadowed their German hosts in the state of Hesse. This October, Alberta teachers reciprocated, hosting their German counterparts.
The exchange program offers an opportunity to exchange information and gain insight into teaching methods practised elsewhere. The exchange also provides a view of one’s own educational system through the eyes of a stranger. Collaborative international initiatives build programs that benefit Alberta’s students, administrators and teachers, and help foster understanding between peoples and countries.
Many Alberta schools and their communities benefited from this year’s short-term exchanges: Edmonton, Consort, Pincher Creek, Lethbridge and Edson, just to name a few.
Canadian participants commented that they look forward to continued relationships with their German counterparts. But not only teachers benefited from the exchange; participants said that students also benefited from the German exchange teachers’ contributions.
IEEP’s current demand for Canadian teachers to go to Germany is high, as Canada is the country featured in the German curriculum for the next two years.
IEEP also has openings for short-term educator exchanges with Denmark.
More information on this professional development opportunity is available on the IEEP website at www.ieep.ca. The deadline to apply for the 2012 program is March 31, 2012.
Photos by Yuet Chan
