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Living in a foreign country might sound like an unrealistic dream for many, but for eight  seniors, it’s the reality of their final semester. The students will complete their  degree while student teaching in international classrooms from Nepal to the Dominican Republic. 

During their senior year, students majoring in education complete a full semester of student teaching. While most Cedarville students complete their student teaching across the United States, this group of eight seniors decided to teach internationally in Christian schools in in Thailand, Ecuador, Dominican Republic, Spain, Kosovo, Nepal and the Philippines. 

���岹������������&�Բ�����;���Ծ�����������ٲ�’s&�Բ�����;������ǴDZ�&�Բ�����;�Ǵ�&�Բ�����;����ܳ����پ��Dz�&�Բ�����;���Ի�&�Բ�����;���dz�������&�Բ�����;�´ǰ��� partners with (STAGE). This program collaborates with 19 colleges and universities to send education majors overseas for their student teaching.   

Dr. Brenda MacKay, associate professor of education at Cedarville, coordinates the program on campus and sits on STAGE’s advisory board. In her 23 years as program coordinator, she has sent approximately 250 Cedarville students to teach overseas — including this year’s group of eight. 

“We’re not interested in students who just want to travel,” said MacKay. “We’re looking for students who want to be in ministry. We want them to be thinking about teaching overseas as part of either their short-term or long-term educational career.”  

Student teaching abroad provides students a chance to explore living and working in another culture. Although student teachers are placed in English-speaking schools, they work with children from diverse cultural backgrounds who often speak more than one language. Because of this, student teachers must adapt and relearn their teaching strategies to fit these new classroom environments.  

“Every strategy they have learned won’t necessarily work in a different cultural setting,” said MacKay. “But you can't always give them all those new strategies before they get there because you don’t know what students they will have in their classes. Student teachers must get to know their students, their backgrounds, where they have lived, and what languages they speak to be the most effective teacher they can be.”  

Student teachers live and work under the guidance of mentor teachers who are experienced in the host culture and serve at partner schools. Because STAGE’s schools enroll missionary kids, expatriates and local children, classrooms often include children from multiple cultures. While the schools are Christian, students may come from a variety of religious and non-religious backgrounds — presenting Cedarville student teachers with opportunities to share the gospel.  

“I’ve had a number of students who have led children to the Lord,” said MacKay. “Several children have come up to the student teachers and said, ‘I want to ask Jesus into my heart.’ They witness to these children,who then take the gospel back to their families.”   

Despite the distance from friends and family, the language barriers and the relearned teaching strategies, Cedarville student teachers walk away from their international teaching experience with a greater understanding of other cultures and a deeper dependence on God’s word.  

���Ĺ���, an evangelical Christian institution in southwest Ohio, offers undergraduate and graduate residential and online programs across arts, sciences and professional fields. With 7,265 students, it ranks among Ohio's largest private universities and is recognized by The Wall Street Journal as being among the nation’s top three evangelical universities. Cedarville is also known for its vibrant Christian community, challenging academics and high graduation and retention rates. Learn more at cedarville.edu.