Primary Education students visit India and Dubai for international teaching placement experience

Carl Longmore, Course Lead for Primary Education in the Faculty of Education, Health and Wellbeing, with the support of colleagues, organised a trip to India for students studying Primary Education as part of their Alternative Education Setting Week.

The purpose of this trip was to provide an opportunity for our students to complete a Short Term International Teaching Placement. This trip was offered to Year 3 BA Primary Education and PGCE Primary Education students to develop their personal, professional, and intercultural skills during the trips. Students are given the opportunity to step outside of their comfort zones, build resilience, improve their organisation and problem-solving skills as well as immerse into wider cultures to develop skills of Global Citizenship.

Georgia who attended the trip said: “During the India and Dubai trip I have gained independence by navigating new cultures and surroundings, Dubai has also highlighted opportunities about teaching abroad as this has always been something I've considered once becoming an established teacher. Attending the schools has allowed me to speak to teachers who have made the decision to move and to seek their advice which has now provided me with a better understanding of the options available to me. I have had to adapt my explanations until all children understood the task therefore allowed me to develop how to explain tasks in a variety of different ways which will be helpful in all classroom environments and if I were ever to have a child with English as an additional language. It has also provided me with the cultural experiences which I can bring back into my lessons I would fully recommend this international enhancement to other students.”

This was the first trip since before the pandemic and required a huge amount of teamwork from everyone involved to organise the behind the scenes efforts of the trip as well as orchestrating this incredible opportunity for students. Carl Longmore and Marc Smale spent 3 years re-writing business cases and Risk Assessments for a post-COVID return to successful international placements. Carl generated £6000 of CPD income generation outside of workload in order to fund staff costings for the experience, as well as writing a remodelled business case, risk assessment and detailed itinerary to maximise the support, safety and opportunity for students to experience managed challenges and independent. Marc Smale engaged with schools and partnerships that we have developed over a number of previous years to ensure we could factor in experiences and timings to maximise the opportunities for students and the placement providers as well as cultural experiences and costings to students, within the remit of the revised Itinerary.

The team also gathered data from previous cohorts who participated, as part of PhD research, which identified that a significant proportion of students chose the University of Wolverhampton because of the experience it provides. Evidence also adhered that students who engage with the experience are more likely to be deemed very employable at teacher pool interviews. The experience was only possible due to a huge amount of support and effort from a range of staff who go above and beyond workload hours to support this fantastic opportunity. Carl and his team would like to offer special thanks to Compliancy (Sam Waters and Harj Johal), Safeguarding (Clare Dickens), Health and Safety (Leigh Clarke), Finance and Administration (Ann Mulloy), Director of Education (Di Bannister), Head of Primary (Emma Luckhurst), Primary Placements and Trip Support (Lisa Bramwell).

The trip included 5 taught days at Cambridge International Schools in India and 2 days of experience at Victory Heights School in Dubai. Time was also given for transition and cultural visits to immerse in the local communities. This was followed by 3 days in Delhi for the staff and students to immerse in local culture, visit the Lotus Temple and a trip to Agra to visit the Taj Mahal. This was followed by a 6 Hour Train Journey from Delhi to Jalandhar, where students were able to engage with and talk to local people from the community, see the changing landscape of India and transport their luggage on and off the train independently.

The trip then continued with a visit to Jalandhar in the Punjab, to visit and teach in the Cambridge International Schools, students planned and taught lessons, learning from local teachers and sharing practice with differing resources and approaches. The trip finished with 3 days in Dubai for visits to the International School which allowed students to compare and contrast cultures internationally as well as their own positions and experiences whilst also networking for potential international job opportunities.