Four years after participating in the International Leaders in Education Program [3] (ILEP), Bouchra Arrif is working to bridge cultures and break down stereotypes across borders. Arrif was recently featured in the Euronews story “Building Bridges through Education [4]” as a participant in the Crossing Borders Education [5] program. The Crossing Borders Education program has brought together thousands of American and Moroccan students since its founding in 2005.
Arrif, an English teacher at a secondary school in Casablanca, Morocco, completed a professional development program through ILEP at Drexel University [6] in 2007. In 2008, Arrif was awarded an IREX grant to increase innovation among teaching and learning in Morocco as an “educational ambassador.” Collaborating with an American teacher, Arrif brought together American and Moroccan teachers for mutual understanding, in the same spirit of Crossing Borders. “I believe the best benefit I could have achieved is mutual understanding through education, at a time when stereotypes, clichés, and value judgments prevail,” Arrif said.
The International Leaders in Education Program [3] (ILEP) is funded by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs [7] of the U.S. Department of State and implemented by IREX.