The Australian Teacher Magazine has several articles online describing educators positive experiences with exchanges. Here are some excerpts and links to the original articles.
With several trips to America and courses at Harvard University under his belt, School principal, Mark Walker says that when you take on these sorts of professional learning journeys, it validates yourself as a leader and as an educator. “But more importantly it connects you to people,”
Dream Denmark exchange for Dapto deputy
Deputy principal Darcy Moore enjoyed a term in Denmark last year as part of a leadership exchange organised by the New South Wales education department. “My trip to Denmark was a truly extraordinary experience to have such an opportunity for personal and professional growth.” He learned about the Danish education system and the nature of Danish democracy.
EDUCATORS Ulla Freihofner and Dr Helen Nicolson Setz of Queensland said their three week trip was a great opportunity.They learned about managing curriculum instruction in a second language and explored opportunities for student exchanges.
Daryl Taylor spent a year in Colorado during a teacher exchange with US counterpart Steph Glaser. Taylor… says they swapped everything from cars and homes to friends, social lives and of course jobs for the year. “We kept our own families but it really is a genuine exchange. It’s an opportunity to be immersed in another culture,” he says.
New South Wales physics teacher Ken Silburn got the chance to work with NASA scientists on a series of experiments in the California desert. “When you travel to another country to look at schools, obviously you are shown the best and get to meet the teachers that are performing great things in their schools. The trip has definitely increased the skills that I will be able to implement at school, especially in the use of web learning tools…”
