International Educators Experience Community-Based Learning Through Partnerships with DC-Area Museums

After participating in a semester-long, in-service teacher training program at various US universities, a group of international teachers selected to participate in the International Leadership in Education Program (ILEP) concluded their program in Washington, DC, where they received additional training on teacher leadership and how their indiviudal professional development experiences could be transformed and applied in their classrooms, schools, and communities back home.

To encourage more substantive engagement between schools and their communities, one component of this workshop focused on how educators can tap into community resources for educational purposes—thereby establishing linkages between youth and their communities while also providing students with practical, hands-on knowledge and skills. As part of this component, the international teachers engaged in a talk-show style discussion with representatives of the Smithsonian’s Center for Education and Museum Studies and George Washington University’s Museum Education Program, as well as with a DC public school teacher. The discussion focused on best practices in developing educational field trips and corresponding lesson plans, the impact of these types of trips on student motivation, and the resulting bond established between students and their communities. Next, through partnerships with DC-area museums and other institutions, ILEP trainees attended a number of different field trips, which included a short course for the teachers on how to plan lessons around such out-of-classroom activities.

At the National Air and Space Museum, teachers explored the use of primary sources as an approach to teaching history. ILEP fellows were given documents, including advertisements, letters, maps, and books, to help lead into a discussion about the history of aviation in the United States. This was followed by an interactive visit to the 'America by Air' exhibit where several of the original documents were on display as well as many other objects such as period clothing, airplanes, globes, maps, and interactive learning displays.

Another group of teachers visiting the Air and Space Museum had the opportunity to experiment with hands-on, inquiry-based activities that addressed force, motion, and energy transfer and how these concepts apply to flight as part of the museum’s “How Things Fly” course.

At the Newseum, teachers participated in a course on "Media Ethics," a case-study curriculum where participants had the opportunity to tackle real-world media ethics cases and learn how journalists make the tough calls while on deadline. They were also able to engage in a lively discussion on the protection of freedom of speech and how the US experience compares and contrasts with that of their own countries.

Other DC-area frield trip themes included "Interactive Technology Beyond the Classroom," at Mount Vernon; “Developing Interdisciplinary Curriculum Units,” at the National Zoo; “Teaching History through Portraiture,” at the National Portrait Gallery; and "Volunteerism and Service Learning," at Martha's Table. Overall, fellows were impressed to see how these out-of-classroom activities could provide substantive and meaningful learning experiences to their students.

ILEP, a program of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the US Department of State and implemented by IREX, brings outstanding secondary teachers from the Near East, South Asia, and Southeast Asia to the United States for a five-month professional development program to further develop expertise in their subject areas, enhance their teaching skills, and increase their knowledge about the United States.