International Outreach

Here are just a few examples of how our faculty and students touch lives around the world...

Tanzania

Marilyn Kaff, associate professor of special education, counseling and student affairs, has spent the past few years leading a contingent of faculty and students to Lushoto, Tanzania, to work with special needs children, their teachers and parents. The group spends time at the Irente Complex, which includes an orphanage, the Irente Rainbow School and a school for the blind. Preservice teachers and everyone involved make memories for a lifetime. While there, Kaff also teaches professional development classes to a hand-selected group of teachers.

Rusty Earl, video producer for the college, has created a half-hour documentary about Dr. Kaff's work in Tanzania. The documentary trailer can be seen below. To view the whole documentary, please see Humanity Looks Good on Everyone: Outreach for Autism in Africa.

Trailer: Humanity Looks Good on Everyone


Ecuador

The CIMA center hosted 87 teachers from Ecuador who spent the summer at K-State as part of their country’s Go Teacher program. Ecuadorian President Rafael Correra, whose goal was to prepare 3,000 educators to be highly qualified teachers of English and learn the most successful pedagogical practices, heralded the program. The program was so successful that an agreement wass been reached for all 3,000 teachers to be trained through a network of institutions with K-State leading the effort. Another benefit: Many teachers in the first wave of cohorts planned to pursue their master’s degrees through K-State Online.

Please see our Ecuadorian Go Teacher Program highlights video:

Ecuadorian Go Teacher Program


Ethiopia

Dr. Laurie Curtis with children in Ethiopia photoThe Ethiopian people are so hungry for knowledge when word spread about a K-State professor coming to provide professional development, the instructor’s session was televised on Ethiopian National Television (ENT). Dr. Laurie Curtis, retired assistant professor of curriculum and instruction, traveled to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where she provided expertise in literacy instruction for Ethiopian administrators, teachers and librarians. She also served as the keynote speaker for a three- day professional development conference where participants learned new strategies to engage students in literacy instruction that addressed the challenges of the schools’ limited resources and large classes. The typical Ethiopian class has between 50- 100 students. Curtis’ greatest professional challenge of the trip presented itself on the final day of the conference. That’s when the news crew and children – 45 in one class and 60 in the next – arrived. She demonstrated literacy techniques as conference participants observed and a translator repeated her every word all while being filmed for TV.

See more about Ethiopia Reads…

Ethiopia Reads


International Students

Kay Taylor, associate professor of curriculum and instruction, is opening minds and creating learning opportunities for students thanks to a video project she initiated as a result of conversations with Dean Debbie Mercer. “A Walk in My Shoes” is a documentary depicting a glimpse into the lives of international doctoral students and their cultures. Taylor’s committee invited students to participate and students from five countries – Angola, South Korea, India, Saudi Arabia and China – agreed to take part. Their answers to select questions were videotaped and topics included the graduate students’ cultures, educational systems in their home countries, their experiences at K-State and advice for international students planning to come to K-State. “We may be taking on a leadership role here because while there is information for international undergraduates, we couldn’t find much video content dedicated to international graduate students,” Taylor said. “What many Americans may not realize is that these are highly accomplished people who are often here on a strict timeline to complete their graduate studies. Some of them are expected to return to their home countries and begin work in a specific field." Taylor said she hopes this will start a trend where more disciplines will draw on the resources international graduate students bring to K-State.

See more about the A Walk in My Shoes: International Students documentary.

Diversity Initiative

Pedro Espinoza
Diversity Point Person
pedro1@k-state.edu