What is your school doing the week of November 16-20? Hopefully, you’re all preparing to participate in International Education Week. 2015 marks the fifteenth anniversary for this joint initiative begun in 2000 as a collaboration between the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Education. Join schools around the world, and have your students and faculty try out these easy ways to celebrate cultural and educational exchange!
- Take a field trip to the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C., on November 19th, where the Fund for Education Abroad will be celebrating its fifth anniversary of awarding scholarships to underwrite undergraduate study-abroad programs.
- Offer 15-minute “mini language lessons” during lunch or study periods, during which international students or foreign language teachers can teach interested students key words or phrases in another language.
- Create a fun “quiz” bulletin board featuring interesting, obscure facts about other countries and their schools.
- Start an international pen-pal program with a “sister” classroom or school in another country. (Here’s a list of pen pal programs if you’re looking for a place to start.)
- Have an “International Film Festival” after school, with a different foreign film everyday. Link the films by a theme—family, education, social issues—and have students discuss how different cultures view the same common experiences.
- Ask students to research their heritage and present their ancestral findings to their classmates.
- Create a menu for the week that features cuisine and flavors from different countries, along with descriptions of how and when these foods would be eaten.
- Hold a contest for students, asking them to explain why they believe international education is important. Entries could be essays, creative writing, artwork, or even videos—then share them online with others participating in #IEW2015!
How will your school be celebrating International Education Week? We’d love to hear your plans, either here or on social media like Twitter and LinkedIn. Also, if you’d like to continue the discussion on cultural diversity, plan to attend The Double-Edged Sword of Diversity workshop, running in January and February 2016.
Additional ISM resources:
The Source for School Heads Vol. 8 No. 3 Celebrate International Education Week
The Source for Private School News Vol. 14 No. 3 Defining "Normal:" Double-Edged Diversity Initiatives in Private Schools
The Source for Admission Directors Vol. 14 No. 2 Diversify Your Applicant Pool—The Right Way
Additional ISM resources for Gold Consortium members:
I&P Vol. 39 No. 2 Financial and Cultural Questions About Socioeconomic Diversity
I&P Vol. 38 No. 13 Your School's Statement on Diversity
I&P Vol. 38 No. 12 Defining Diversity in Your School's Culture: Implications for Planning
