The Alberta Teachers’ Association

 
Australian teachers participating in Alberta Education’s educator exchange program visited Barnett House in January as part of their introduction to teaching in Alberta.—Photo by Koni Macdonald

Exchange teachers will spend one year teaching for various Alberta school jurisdictions while their Alberta counterparts take up their teaching duties in Australia.

"We have learned so much along this journey, about the country, naturally, but also about people and especially about ourselves," writes a recent exchange program participant. Teachers’ new learning experiences spill over into classrooms, schools and communities as teachers share the richness of another culture and new ways of teaching.

Alberta Education’s educator exchange program has exchanges with Australia, New Zealand, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Denmark, Switzerland and other provinces in Canada. This year, Switzerland is a new destination for participants, and one Grande Prairie teacher swapped her home and classroom for six months with a teacher in the French-speaking region of Switzerland. One central Alberta teacher is on exchange in the UK, and another 50 applicants are anxiously waiting to see if they will find exchange placements for 2007.

Alberta Education offers short-term exchanges with Germany and Denmark during spring and summer breaks. For information about exchange programs, visit Alberta Education’s website (www.education.gov.ab.ca/nie/exchange) or phone Sara Coumantarakis, educator exchange coordinator, at (780) 422-5047.

What’s it like being an exchange teacher? Following is Andrew Attwell-Gill’s impression of Alberta and Canada.