If you are a Teacher or are planning on Teaching as your career, studying overseas can be an excellent way to augment your academic career while at the same time increasing your cultural perspective and knowledge. Spending time at another country can help you learn and experience a deeper knowledge about the world, and will enhance your career marketability and lead to personal growth as well.

Schools and your future Employers will view your cultural experience as a plus for Teaching in the classroom. However, studying abroad is not feasible for all and therefore requires planning. It is important to know that there are many programs that assist current and future Teachers and Educators to study and teach abroad. Here some useful programs that may be of interest.

Learn about Student Exchange Programs:
Many countries have Student Exchange Programs with US Universities and Colleges. These relationships between colleges are tailored so that students can reside in a foreign country while studying and learning of other cultures. Research at your school campus the options for Student Exchange Programs. Many colleges have programs that assist students with housing, work and classes abroad.

Teach Abroad Programs:
Teach abroad programs enable people to teach, grow, learn and develop as teachers and students. Teach abroad programs ultimately serve as a cultural exchange: you, as a teacher, contribute your knowledge, skillsets, and perspectives to people in another part of the world. They, in exchange, contribute to you their own knowledge, experiences, and perspectives. In this way, teach abroad programs provide a win-win for teachers and students.

Also, many teach abroad programs offer stipends to teachers. This means that you, as a teacher, are essentially paid to explore, experience, and enjoy another culture. Yes, you will be working, and yes, you will likely be working hard, but your work will be in service of a unique experience that will expand your cultural knowledge.

Teacher Travel Abroad Programs:
The Teacher Travel Abroad Programs promotes opportunities for K-12 educators to travel abroad to build their own background knowledge and gain invaluable experience overseas. Many Liberal Arts programs in Universities provide these travel abroad programs. The University of Austin for example has Hemisphere’s Center Program. This program requires a minimum of 28 days of travel. To meet the demand of educators who still want a quality experience abroad but cannot invest a month abroad. The program is scheduled to complement the school year vacation. The program combines an academic approach with a short, intense travel experience. These programs are tailored so that you can learn about the culture, experience the lifestyle of the country and also visit the classrooms and teach abroad.

Teacher Travel Scholarships:
The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA), U.S. Department of State, or US Department of Education provides information regarding Teacher Travel Scholarship opportunities. These type of scholarships requires you to prepare one year in advance or longer as you must meet requirements and deadlines but with proper planning these types of scholarships may finance your teaching experience abroad. Some of the scholarship options include: Distinguished Fullbright Awards in Teaching Program administered by the Academy for Teaching Development and open to Elementary and Secondary Teachers. Education Seminars for Teachers is administered by the American Councils for International Education for programs in India, Greece, Italy and Uruguay. Fullbright Classroom Teacher Exchange is open to Elementary and school teachers and is administered by the Academy for Educational Development.