International Teaching As A Stepping Stone to Development Work: Update

I have arrived safely in Guatemala, and I'm working my way through the orientation process at American School of Guatemala / Colegio Americano de Guatemala. It is an amazing experience to be working at such a beautiful and well-equipped school, particularly for a teacher with a technology focus.

I am especially happy to report that the connections between the work at ASG/CAG and the objectives of Teachers Without Borders are surprisingly compatible. As I discussed in a previous post, working at a fairly exclusive school, for relatively affluent Guatemalans may not appear to offer many opportunities to "close the global education divide" in ways that would satisfy development purists.

Now that I have arrived, however, and am learning more about the structure of the school, and the needs of the Guatemalan public education system, I am confident that there are many opportunities to pursue good work through my efforts here.

First, ASG/CAG has a strong community development focus, with staff and students engaged in a great variety of local projects.

More interestingly, however, this school has a formal relationship (and a neighboring campus) with Universidad del Valle de Guatemala, which provides teacher training and professional development for local Guatemalan teachers. On our first day, we were welcomed to participate in some of their events, and encouraged to pursue opportunities to share our expertise.

Informal conversations lead me to believe that there is a great opportunity here to establish relationships that could lead to future TWB-C projects in Guatemala. Stay tuned, and please get in touch with your thoughts or ideas.

Michael Peters, Guatemala City, Guatemala
http://www.blacklinemaster.ca