International Education Week promotes the benefits of international education and enriches the lives of students
Alberta celebrates International Education Week November 14-17
Edmonton...The Alberta government and Alberta’s schools and post-secondary institutions are joining other provinces and countries around the world to celebrate International Education Week from November 14-17. The annual week-long event is seen as an opportunity to celebrate the benefits of international students studying in the province, Alberta students studying abroad, teachers on exchange, and educators who provide a curriculum with an international focus.
“This week is an excellent opportunity to recognize and celebrate the significant contribution that international students make to Alberta and Albertans,” said Denis Herard, Minister of Advanced Education. “It’s also a time to recognize the tremendous strides that the province has made in creating international supports for Alberta students.”
Alberta has established close educational connections with countries such as Germany, Japan, Korea, China and Mexico, and has developed sister-province and other special relationships with states like Saxony, Germany, Kangwon, South Korea; Hokkaido, Japan; Heilongjiang, China; and Jalisco, Mexico to increase opportunities for dialogue, collaboration, and educational exchange. The province also has education offices in Guadalajara, Mexico and in Beijing, China to assist Alberta students wanting to study in these countries, or to assist Mexican or Chinese students who want to study in Alberta.
“Alberta’s education system is internationally recognized – a fact reflected in the number of students who choose to study in Alberta and the number of international programs we administer,” said Education Minister Gene Zwozdesky. “International Education Week helps us profile this work in the context of our province’s International Education Strategy, ensuring Albertans are well-prepared to take their place in an increasingly diverse and interconnected world.”
International education plays an important role in realizing a vision for the future. Alberta’s public and private educational institutions are part of that vision through the unique opportunities they offer such as exchange programs, hands-on training at field schools, as well as cooperative initiatives and teacher training projects.
Various activities and events have also been organized at some of the province’s institutions to promote and celebrate the benefits of international education. The week’s activities also highlight the cooperation and collaboration between the various partners that support international education and promote the value of cultural and educational opportunities. For a listing of planned events in Alberta or other jurisdictions, visit the week’s provincial/national web site located at: iew-sei.ca
Later this month, visiting and exchange teachers from Australia, the United Kingdom, Japan, and Spain will be joined by Alberta teachers who have returned from exchange teaching assignments around the world. These teachers will be recognized by Alberta’s Lieutenant Governor at a reception to celebrate the benefits that international exchange brings to Alberta classrooms.
International education in Alberta
International education helps connect Alberta students with students from around the world and introduces them to other cultures and ways of thinking. As a result, Alberta's students establish important international relationships - the foundation for future educational, political, and economic linkages. In turn, students from other countries are attracted to Alberta through the excellence of the province's world-class education system.International Education Strategies
Alberta's international education strategies are dedicated to increasing opportunities for Alberta's students to develop an understanding of global economic, political and social systems; and to acquire the international and intercultural knowledge, skills and awareness to work and live effectively in a global environment.
A number of government supported activities contribute to the internationalization of Alberta's education system, including student and teacher exchanges, international student programs, school partnerships, visiting teacher and foreign language consultants programs, and agreements and liaison with foreign governments.
Some facts about international education in the K-12 education system include:
- In 2005-2006, Alberta schools welcomed more than 1,300 international students, and over 100 Alberta students participated in an international reciprocal exchange program.
- Currently over 20 exchange teachers from Australia and the United Kingdom are teaching in Alberta classrooms, while their Alberta counterparts are teaching students throughout Australia and in the United Kingdom. There are also 11 visiting language teachers from Japan and Spain presently on assignment in Alberta classrooms.
- There are approximately 50 formal school partnerships between Alberta schools and schools in China, France, Germany, Japan, Mexico, Norway, and Ukraine.
- Alberta Education collaborates with government partners in Japan, China, Germany and Spain to bring language advisors to our province where they help develop second language curriculum and promote second language learning in Alberta.
The post-secondary action plan for international education www.advancededucation.gov.ab.ca/IntlEd/ActionPlan.pdf has five objectives: increased international education opportunities for Albertans; international students will choose Alberta as a study destination; Alberta will be more competitive in educational products and services; strengthened international linkages provincially, nationally, and internationally; and strengthened efforts to raise awareness and understanding on the importance of international education. Several initiatives have been launched over the past year to meet the plan's objectives. For example:
- The Internationalizing the Teaching and Learning Practice Awards of Distinction program was launched to recognize outstanding and innovative teaching practices in international education programs.
- The Alberta-Smithsonian Internship Program was launched to create opportunities for 50 Alberta post-secondary students at one of the 28 Smithsonian centers in the world. The new program offers 10 internships worth up to $6,000 (Cdn.) to eligible students over the next five years.
- The Alberta government participated in the NAFSA 2006 Annual Conference & Expo by uniting all Alberta post-secondary institutions under a 'Study in Alberta' pavilion. This conference is the largest and most important annual gathering of international educators, administrators, policy experts and world leaders in international education.
- Advanced Education launched the Study in Alberta website, http://www.studyinalberta.ca/ , as a tool for providing valuable online information to international students on studying, living, working and playing in Alberta.
- It is estimated there were about 8,300 international students studying in Alberta last year, in full or part-time post-secondary studies. That's about three per cent of the total student population.
