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Teaching Abroad - Opportunities! Alternatives! Adventures!
With teaching job prospects very uncertain in the short-term in California, UC Irvine undergraduates and credential students packed the Student Resource Center on Tuesday, April 29, to learn about teaching abroad. Anchored by Roger Dupuy, Academic Coordinator of the Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) program at UCI Extension, a panel of seven told of their experiences applying for and experiencing teaching in China, Japan, England, Vietnam, Hong Kong, and the Middle East.
Chair and Teachers of Tomorrow club officer, Melissa Silverman, responding to the need for employment alternatives for students leaving UC Irvine in the next weeks, recruited student teachers Shane Harris, Diana Nguyen, and Abdulrahman Hachache from the Single Subject program; Emily Vandever and Lisa Baggio from Multiple Subject program; UC Irvine Alumna Sunny Kim; and undergraduate Juliana Lee to give members firsthand knowledge about the application process and glimpses into classrooms across the globe.
The availability of international websites has streamlined the search and application process stressed Emily Vandever and Abdulrahman Hachache, the veterans of the panel with five years of combined experience of teaching abroad. The personal reward felt when making a difference in students' lives was mentioned by Sunny Kim and echoed by Roger Dupuy in the second half of the program. They explained that the 200-hour TEFL intensive program is "designed to provide those with little or no teaching experience the practical teaching skills and confidence to transition into an international adventure with ease." Panelists offered their email information and Dupuy urged students to contact him: rdupuy@uci.edu to talk more about the opportunities, alternatives, and cultural experiences awaiting them in classrooms around the world.
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