Global Programs

Given the importance of fostering an educational perspective that goes beyond local and national boundaries, Graduate School of Education (GSE) global efforts facilitate the integration of academic contact and exchange between GSE faculty and students, educators, and learners from schools and universities abroad. These experiences provide the framework for essential cooperation and joint ventures in research, instructional collaboration, cultural immersion, and service. We are committed to educating students for responsible global citizenship in ways that both deepen their learning and have a transformative impact on the local and global community.

Study Programs outside the United States

GSE faculty and staff are committed to providing opportunities for students and educators to experience cultures and educational systems outside of New Jersey classrooms. Educators and graduate students complete seminars with educational experts and engage in hands-on classroom and community-service activities in diverse communities abroad. Participants gain new perspectives and develop curricular innovations and interventions that are brought back for dissemination in their local communities.

South Africa Initiative

Launched in the fall of 2001, the Rutgers Graduate School of Education's South Africa Initiative (SAI) facilitates international contact between the United States and South Africa with the vision of empowering K-12 educators as vital agents and architects of a diverse democracy. Components of SAI include a cultural immersion course, distinguished lecture series, collaborative research, and support for schools and empowerment projects in Johannesburg. We provide experiences for students to increase their cultural awareness and knowledge, cultural empathy, and to better understand their cultural identity while observing and examining the sociopolitical realities of South African communities and schools. The SAI vision is to develop a true exchange of talents and expertise via in-person contact and through distance-education technology, where educators from the United States and South Africa develop strategies and interventions for the improvement of teaching and learning, as well as build community/life-skills learning for greater opportunities in both countries.

Language Learning and Community Engagement in Argentina

The Rutgers Graduate School of Education offers an intensive Language Learning and Community Engagement experience in Argentina. The program includes family stays; service learning in an elementary school; seminars covering language, education, literacy, bilingualism, and multiple cultural events. The program provides an excellent opportunity to live and work in a Spanish-speaking environment in addition to exposure to a South American experience.

Classroom Organization in Yucatan

Graduate School of Education students in most certification programs have the option to take one of their required courses, Classroom Organization, in Mérida, Yucatan, during the winter break. Participants focus on the topic of culturally competent classroom management, while engaging in a collaborative project with Mexican students at the Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán who are studying the same content.The program includes visits to Mexican K-12 classrooms in both public and private settings, and opportunities to learn about the rich culture of Mexico, through exposure to the Mayan culture, the colonial period, and contemporary life in Mérida.