Arizona State University, through its Asia Center, has launched a yearlong teacher training program for displaced university educators in Myanmar, a country affected by ongoing conflict.
The Asia Center’s initiative is a collaboration between ASU’s Learning Enterprise and The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. It is supported by the USAID Diversity and Inclusion Scholarship Program to improve access to higher education for both instructors and students in Myanmar.
Starting in October, 100 Myanmar educators from diverse ethnic colleges, both urban and rural, will take part in the training program. Participants will focus on inclusive education strategies and learn about blended and digital teaching methods.
The project’s sustainable design will also generate open-access resources and provide local cascading training sessions.
Demand for the program is high.
"Within just three weeks, we received twice as many applications as we could accommodate from displaced teachers in Myanmar, Thailand, and IDP camps in Thailand and Bangladesh," said Chan Lwin, program manager and co-principal investigator at ASU’s Asia Center.
Due to the collaborative nature of the project, the team — which also includes co-principal investigator Juliane Schober, director of the Asia Center and professor of religious studies, and Gloria Espinoza Minnihan, director of online curriculum and digital innovation at The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences — says it has potential to serve as a model for global education efforts.
“Career and professional learning, along with universal pathways, are key elements in serving learners at every stage of life,” said Marco Serrato, associate vice president of ASU Learning Enterprise. “Innovative collaborations like this can significantly enhance the impact of higher education both in the U.S. and globally.”
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