We’re proud of the work we do connected education, and we’re looking forward to next spring when NAFSA—the National Association of International Educators—brings its national convention to New Orleans. We do a lot of work with universities and their international students and were pleased to see our friends in Rice University’s Office of International Students and Scholars receive the 2023 IIE Andrew Heiskell Awards for Innovation in International Education.
Their “Global Rice Empowers Academics and Training (GREAT) Project” received the award in the “Widening Access for International Education” category. In it, international students at Rice teach local young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities about their home countries, and use those lessons to teach core subject matter.
According to Adria Baker, Association Vice Provost for International Education at Rice,
The program began with the Brazilian student group. While visiting Brazil, I witnessed several examples of how beautifully people with special needs were integrated into families and community. The Brazilian student president and club members embraced the idea and helped create our inaugural immersion Brazilian workshop in early 2019. The learning areas they taught the IDD students were Portuguese, mathematics through making Brazilian candy, biological science with nature and animals, and geography.
The teaching leadership of the Brazilian group then mentored, trained, and befriended the Chinese graduate students. The Chinese immersion class included mathematics through counting stuffed panda bears, Chinese calligraphy, geography, culture, Mandarin, and science. The Brazilian mentors supported and continued to volunteer and help the Chinese students with the classes. The special needs young adults deepened their friendship and admiration for the Brazilian and the Chinese students.
We love hearing stories like that, the kind you get from people who see immigrants and international connections as positive opportunities to explore and not threats to be fought off.
Are you having legal issues with Immigration? Do you need legal representation?
