Being prepared for our ever changing world and being exposed to global education will enhance the lives of our future leaders. Opportunities for educational exchanges can open the eyes and minds to those involved. To learn about another persons cultural values and beliefs and to experience different educational philosophies gives us the chance to be reflective in our daily practices.
I was fortunate enough to have this experience when I was 16 years old. I was offered a total immersion program in France. It was alife-altering experience for me. I had only had two years of French at the time and lived with a host family for 2 months during the summer time. I was able to bring back my experiences to my French classroom that fall and had so many pictures and artifacts, that it made our French classroom a true Francophone!! The following year my family hosted a 14 year old French girl through the same program. My family, friends and my small home town learned so much from Lara (our exchange student). She loved taking part in our everyday activities and experiencing "The American Way of Life". We built a friendship and a bond with our host families and have been able to re-connect over the past 25 years.
The First Lady of the United States, Michelle Obama traveled to China 2 weeks ago and is promoting the importance of cultural and educational exchanges. This link has a great deal of info and videos.
This looks interesting.
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