by Chu Chin Kwok

Created on: December 03, 2009

What are the pros and cons of sending teachers from developed nations to developing nations for short-term teacher training? Speaking of teacher programs generally, I was the beneficiary of the American Peace Corps Program in the 1960s: in 1967-68 when I was a High School student in Malaysia, my Biology and Advanced Math teachers were American Peace Corps. These were young men and women - mostly fresh graduates from colleges and universities - who volunteered their services in the fields of education. Needless to say, we students of that era were impressed and touched by their zeal and enthusiasm and to this day, my memories of these teachers remain fresh and indelible.

Although we are discussing in this article short-term training programs for teachers from developed nations, it is to my mind still relevant to compare these programs with the Peace Corps, whose tenures were characteristically longer - about 1-2 years.

I list below the pros and cons of sending teachers from advanced countries ( US, UK etc) to developing countries of Africa and Asia such as Kenya, Philippines, China, Cambodia, Laos, etc.

Pros:

1. The training would help the trainee teacher widen his/her horizon: trainees learn about the culture, traditions, customs etc of developing nations. These programs also provide a platform for inter-cultural interactions - trainees would be given an opportunity to experience first-hand the psyche and ethos of the peoples of the developing countries and compare these with that of his/her own country, thus helping them (the trainees) to equip themselves with an international and global outlook as far as possible.

2. It would enable the trainees to learn about how developing nations train teachers. There is always something to be learned, even from so-called backward or less developed nations. Trainees would be able to observe how these developing nations make use of limited human and physical resources to train teachers who are in short supply throughout the world but especially so in developing countries which are trying to eradicate poverty and other hardship in its population through education.

3. The trainee teachers would be able to learn to compare and contrast the training methods and regimens used by the host country and when they get home they could incorporate some of the teaching methodologies into classroom teaching at home, especially when they are sent to serve in the rural or less developed regions of their own countries. They would learn,

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