Education Without Borders - Participant Story - Fulbright Classroom Teacher Exchange Angela Kemp, a Gilbert, Arizona, high school English teacher, took part in the Fulbright Classroom Teacher Exchange Program to Kolkata, India, for the fall 2011 semester.

“I wanted to experience the reality of another education system,” says Angela. “The Fulbright Teacher Exchange Program allowed me to experience the world as both a teacher and a student.”

Although she prepared for months for the exchange, Angela arrived to an India completely different than the one she had pictured.

“India was far more modernized than I had expected,” says Angela..  “Because their society is still attempting to accommodate its one billion people, the immediate reaction of the traveler is to focus on the extreme poverty.  But when you look beyond that initial layer, there is so much more to India. The country is globalizing day by day.  Educational systems are molding a new generation and the students are eager to learn and compete with their world counterparts.  Most importantly, I came to a shockingly simple realization: kids are kids—regardless of their latitude.”

As Angela picked up on the universal facets of education in India, she also began to notice some differences.  Indian schools incorporate extracurricular activities into the school day, so the daily schedule is different from week to week.  This explains in part why Indian students generally receive more homework: when classes are cancelled for a sports practice, school work must be done at home. 

Angela also noticed that, unlike in U.S. schools, there are no outside substitute teachers.  Indian teachers cover classes for their peers at least one period a day, with little or no advance notice, and the assignment could be in any subject or grade from preschool to 12th grade.

“Instead of being stressed by this unpredictable format,” says Angela, “I chose to engage the Indian children in Sign Language Classes.  This proved to be a great way to engage the students in American English through Total Physical Response (TPR) learning.”

Upon returning to her classroom in Arizona, Angela discovered that she had been stretched and strengthened through her challenges and successes in India.

“In India, I gained a new perspective on classroom realities and the endless possibilities that exist in my profession,” reflects Angela.  “I am now much more competent with the overall learning process and system.” 

Angela plans to incorporate community service and citizenship into her classroom and is developing a training program on classroom management for a professional development workshop required for teachers at her school in the 2012-13 year.  Since returning from India, Angela has “definitely redefined the borders of (her) classroom.”