Fort Worth, TX October 12, 2012
Katie Hall did not know what to expect when she signed up to teach middle school in Gothenburg, Sweden.
As a senior at Texas Christian University, Hall figured it would be a good way to travel the world while learning about education outside the United States. She was right.
“Teaching in Sweden was very different from teaching in a typical American classroom. The whole experience was eye-opening,” Hall said. “You can’t really understand another system without seeing it firsthand.”
Hall is among the scores of students in TCU’s College of Education who have taught abroad as part of the European Teacher Education Network, which TCU joined a decade ago.
Each year, 20 to 25 TCU students travel to Europe to work as student teachers, while roughly the same number from Europe arrives on TCU’s campus to study for one semester.
The exchange program aims to provide college seniors with an in-depth look into an educational system separate from their own, while boosting cultural sensitivity and improving their own teaching.
“This prepares our students to teach in a global world and broadens their horizons,” said Dale Young, TCU’s director of student teaching. “Learning about another culture and another country’s education system will benefit them immensely while searching for a job and throughout their careers.”
Representatives from universities across the world recently gathered at TCU for their annual meeting.
Many said the program has been invaluable to their students, giving them a glimpse of college life in Texas and the United States. They not only learn how our educational systems differ, but also how they are similar.