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Marshall Islands Teaching Internships for Undergraduates and Graduates
The connection between Dartmouth College and the Republic of the Marshall Islands is based on the belief that cross-cultural educational service is beneficial to both the islands’ students and those who teach them. Hence, it is in the spirit of international cooperation and cultural sensitivity that Dartmouth undergraduates and graduates travel to the Marshall Islands each year to bolster the struggling public education system of that nation. The eventual aim of this program is not for the United States to become a stronger presence in the country but for the Marshallese citizenry to become enabled to wean itself from dependency on the U.S. and international community. On a practical level, the aims of increasing international cooperation and understanding are enacted through dedicated service to the children of the islands. The Dartmouth interns – graduate and undergraduate – provide their students with a high level of classroom engagement and make use of their privileged education to benefit those they teach. For many of the Marshallese students, it is the first time they have been taught by a native English speaker. Such interactions are key to the development of bilingual proficiency necessary for interacting with much of the outside world. In addition, the interns generate original teaching materials to complement the few textbooks that are normally available to the students in the Marshallese public schools. The Marshallese students, above all, gain a sense of hope, a feeling that they can make a major contribution to their country and, indeed, the world. In providing this educational experience to the Marshallese students, the Dartmouth graduate and undergraduate interns likewise benefit immensely. The challenge of living and teaching in a new environment contributes to the interns’ sense of social responsibility and socio-cultural awareness. The context in which they teach – with few or no textbooks and little in the way of curriculum – requires them to develop creativity and adaptability. In addition, the program in the Marshall Islands provides unique opportunities for the study of cross-cultural education and the development of bi-lingual proficiency, both of which are areas of interest to the students and faculty of Dartmouth’s Education Department. It is our hope that a number of the Dartmouth students who participate in the Marshall Islands program will eventually become teachers in U.S. public schools, making use of the lessons they learned and the skills they developed in the central Pacific. We concur with former Yale University Chaplain William Sloan Coffin’s statement that every “first-world” college student needs a “third-world” experience, particularly when such interaction empowers citizens of both nations. Undergraduate The location of the undergraduate teaching internships is the capital of Majuro, an atoll in the southern part of the Islands, which has a population of 25,000, the largest of any island. Thirty miles long and no more than a half mile wide, Majuro is the most developed island in the country. Approximately six undergraduate students are selected each year (the program is entering its 8th year) for the winter term to live on the island of Majuro where they teach in the public schools as well as engage in an extracurricular school activity. Interns are under the supervision and mentorship of a Dartmouth College Department of Education faculty member or an experienced public school teacher. All undergraduate interns have their classes observed and commented on by the mentor in situ. Graduate Currently, the location of the year-long graduate teaching internships are the islands of Ejit, Kili, Majuro, and Wotje. Bikinians, who were forced to flee their island prior to U.S. atomic testing, have settled on the islands of Ejit and Kili. Ejit has a population of approximately 300 and, at low tide, is within walking distance of Majuro, the capital. Kili, with a population of 900, is a mile long and a third of a mile wide and is quite close to Jaluit, one of the major atolls in the Marshall Islands. In both these locations, the Dartmouth graduates work at the elementary school. Wotje, the main island in Wotje Atoll, is known as the “Marshallese garden center” and is replete with relics of World War II. In the capital of Majuro, Dartmouth graduate Kristin Romberg '01, serves as field director of the Dartmouth program. The field director works with the Ministry of Education on developing a bicultural/bilingual teaching model in Marshall Island schools, based on the research of Professor Laura-Ann Petitto. The field director visits the year-long and undergraduate interns in their classrooms and gives them feedback on their teaching. Academic Requirements for Interns Undergraduate Interns must be on campus in the fall to attend a workshop series that aims to prepare them for the internship. Instruction on designing lesson plans and curriculum that draws on Marshallese resources and is culturally relevant to and engaging for the students, child and adolescent development in cross-cultural context, ESL, bilingual development and bicultural awareness, the involvement in the Marshall Islands, and third world educational issues, are topics offered in the workshop by Dartmouth faculty. Upon completion of a daily journal and a research paper, credit will be given in Education 85: Independent Reading and Research at the end of the next term of enrollment following the internship. Participants are required to make presentations in Education 20 and to the community to share their experiences. The prerequisite for application is Education 20: Contemporary Issues in American Education. For the undergraduate program, preference is given to students entering the teacher education program and those who have committed to minoring in Education. Graduate For the graduate program, it is required that applicants in their Senior Spring take either Education 41 or Education 45, the introductory teaching methods courses for the teacher education program and at the same time participate in workshops similar to those given to the undergraduates in the fall term. Funding support for the undergraduate covers accommodation. Food expenses, the expense of the roundtrip flight between Majuro and the U.S. is borne by the undergraduate intern. The dates of the internship are the week before January 1 until mid-March. Graduate applications are available in the Education Department office and are accepted at the start of the winter term of the senior year. Final decisions are made shortly after likely candidates have been interviewed. The graduate students are sponsored by the government of the Republic of the Marshall Islands. These programs are directed by Professor Andrew Garrod of the Education Department. We are particularly interested in attracting as undergraduate teaching interns those who are seriously considering a career in teaching or public service. Proposals should demonstrate an interest in educational issues and experience working with school-aged children. The undergraduate application is available in the Education Department office. Please monitor the Education Department blitz bulletin for specific information about deadlines. A short list of applicants is determined by the Review Committee. This group is invited to interview in late spring. At that time, prospective interns will be notified of their status via blitzmail. A formal letter of acceptance will be sent in the week following the interview. Further information about the Marshall Islands internships is provided at various informational sessions that are held throughout the year and are announced on the Education Department blitz bulletin. |
The
Marshall Islands are located 2100 miles southwest of Hawaii,
spread over 750,000 miles in the west central Pacific Ocean
in northeast Micronesia, and consist of 29 low-lying coral atolls and five
individual islands with a total land mass of 74 square miles. Many of the
world’s
largest and most beautiful lagoons are found here. Approximately
95% of the population are indigenous Marshall Islanders who
have a 90% literacy rate in the Marshallese language. English
is taught as a second language in schools throughout the
nation. With limited resources, little private enterprise,
and a gross national income per capita of $2,190, the Marshallese are dependent
on assistance from the U.S. The Republic of the Marshall Islands receives
from the United States the greatest per capita foreign aid of any nation
in the world. The U.S. takes a leading role in the support of the Marshall
Islands, as the Pacific islands were used as nuclear testing sites by the
Americans in the late 1940s and 1950s, the effects of which have lingered
to the present time.