In the same way field trips transform textbook topics into experiences of true value for learners, international teacher-exchange programmes have the power to add zing to classroom practice.
A number of international exchange programmes are available to South African teachers to gain fresh insight into the subjects that they teach every day.
SchoolNet Africa is one organisation that offers teachers opportunities abroad. With its focus on promoting science, maths and the use of technology in schools, local teachers can broaden their horizons by visiting one of 35 countries in which the organisation operates.
The exchange programme is part of SchoolNet Africas African Teachers Network (ATN) initiative. Typically lasting a week, the programme encourages participants to learn about information and communications technology (ICT) applications in their host country.
Shafika Isaacs, executive director of SchoolNet Africa, says: Even though many schools on the rest of the continent dont have the same level of resources or sponsorships that we have here in South Africa, they are extremely innovative in the way they use technology. So, it would be arrogant to assume that the rest of Africa has nothing to offer on how we can improve our technology and science and maths capacity, she says.
Whats more, Isaacs says the exchange is an opportunity to better understand other nationalities. We try to get our teachers to live with a host teacher — rather than in a hotel — and so get some true insight into the social realities of the country theyre visiting.
In the past three years, the network has sent 15 teachers on exchange programmes across the continent. SchoolNet Africa hopes to expand the programme with additional funding and an increase in the number of teachers meeting the requirement of being involved in ICT training.
We are hoping that once there is a national policy and implementation of ICT in all schools, more teachers will become eligible to be part of the exchange programme, says Isaacs.
Another exchange programme on offer, this time by the Goethe Institute, caters for German-language teachers.
Many teachers who teach German as first or second language subjects in this country have never had the opportunity to travel to Germany and thats the reason why the exchange programme is so beneficial, says Ottilie Ramonat, a language coordinator at the Goethe Institute.
The institutes programme is educational and cultural and is open to all German teachers in South African schools. It usually runs during school holidays and lasts between two and three weeks.
The teachers not only get to brush up on their German but they also get the experience of life in Germany and interact with teachers in Germany. They are also exposed to new thinking and techniques that are being developed around teaching languages to schoolchildren, says Ramonat.
For more information visit SchoolNet Africas website at www.schoolnet.org.za. Contact the Goethe Institute on Tel: (011) 442 3232 www.goethe.de/af/joh