Education training without borders

Issue 18 | November 2006

Since 1997, Faculty of Education students have undertaken their in-service fieldwork placements in the Cook Islands.

Now the program has expanded to Europe and Asia.

In school: Ms Julia Lippold with some friends she made during a visit to a local primary school.

This year, 11 Monash students became the first group of foreign student teachers in South Korea. Thirty fellow students completed their practicum in the Cook Islands and a further eight worked in Hungary.

The students in Hungary spent first semester teaching English in vocational schools as part of a joint Hungary--Australia initiative supported by the Federal Department of Education, Science and Training.

The South Korean group were billeted with families in the town of Jeon-ju as they worked in secondary schools with Korean teachers of English language.

For third-year student Ms Julia Lippold, the trip to South Korea provided valuable professional insights. "I will be working with many students from Asia when I teach English as a second language, so the practicum gave me an insight into the South Korean way of life and their education system, home life and cultural background," she says.

The Monash group made such a good impression that representatives from the South Korean Department of Education have since visited Monash to meet with the Dean, Professor Sue Willis, to ensure that the program continues.

-- Robyn Anns