So what are you going to do with that?

When I tell people that I recently completed a Master’s in international education, their first comment is, “Oh, cool, so you want to teach abroad?” I try not to make a face as I say no and explain what I actually want to do. It’s not that I’m insulted by their assumption that I would want to teach abroad — I think teachers are superheroes with talents way beyond what I’m capable of — rather, I am discouraged that “education” is still seen in the narrow viewpoint of a school with a teacher and a classroom and a textbook.

Education touches every facet of my life, and I’m surprised that more people don’t recognize this in their own lives. I learn when I’m at work, while watching the news, reading books, talking to friends, walking down the street, and traveling to new places. That last one is key; traveling and learning go hand in hand. Putting the world “international” in front of “education” simply means that I want to be a part of people’s learning abroad.

You may see this area referred to as CIDE: comparative international development education. I like to sum it up as just international ed, because I think that encompasses most of what it accomplishes. So what exactly do I want to do with a degree in international ed? So many things! Here is how I explain the three basic arms of international education:

1. Americans going abroad: I started studying international ed because I wanted to work for a study abroad office. Study abroad, work abroad, intern abroad, and volunteer abroad opportunities all fall into this category of helping Americans learn about different countries and ways of life. Someone has to design and administer these overseas experiences (and leave the teaching to the professors).
2. Visitors coming to the United States: Just the same as above but the other way around. People of all ages come to the United States to study, intern, volunteer, or temporarily work. Helping them with visas, language classes, and whatever other cultural changes they need to face is a great way to encourage international exchange.
3. International collaborations in education: That’s a broad title, I know, but it’s truly a broad area! Advocating for worldwide girls’ education. Organizing international conferences. Funding HIV prevention and education. Developing a bi-lingual curriculum. Building and staffing a school for migrant children. Collecting indigenous methods of environmental sustainability. Establishing temporary schools in emergency and disaster areas. Researching rural educational attainment. Running continuing education programs for women who never worked outside the home. Advising leaders on higher education policy. Promoting global literacy. If it involves connecting people from around the world with the goal of helping each other learn something new, it’s international education.

People may have different ways of explaining international ed. I probably left out some things that others would include. So when you hear the phrase “international education,” keep an open mind. It’s probably something you’d care about.

The most interesting topic in the world

Well, at least to me it is. I love my thesis topic. I love it so much that I don’t actually want to stop working on it. Which is just fine, because my topic translates pretty easily into a career. I’m writing about Western volunteers in China, particularly those who work in education. I’m interviewing people who are current or recently returned volunteer teachers or camp counselors in China. Of course my summer working with educational volunteers in Beijing inspired and helped me develop this topic.

students during their singing and art performance at xiwang zhixing school in outer beijing

There are lots of opportunities to volunteer abroad these days. Most of these are in the form of a paid volunteer vacation. The combination of volunteering and tourism is fascinating. When young Westerners pay thousands of dollars to spend a month or so in a developing country working on a “project” — anything from teaching English, to working with endangered animals, to building houses — countless impacts and concerns arise:

• What are young people really looking to get out of the experience? Is this just glorified tourism? Or worse: poverty tourism?
• Who are the host communities, and do they invite and welcome these projects and visitors?
• How are ethics maintained and for-profit tourism industries monitored to prevent exploitation of volunteers and hosts? Where does all that money go?
• What kinds of relationships are formed between volunteers and hosts? Do these relationships encourage sustainability or dependency?
• How do volunteer-host relationships impact racism, ethnocentrism, and bigotry? Do volunteers become more culturally sensitive and aware?
• What is the ultimate goal of international volunteering? Will it help make our world more socially just?

These are the questions running through my mind as I research Chinese education and the role of foreign volunteers. I’m focusing on the first, fourth, and sixth questions in my thesis. I’m hoping that all this work will be helpful for international volunteer organizations who are concerned about these same issues and dedicated to ethical practice. The potential impacts of volunteer tourism are huge for so many people: for the development aid industry, for educators and students of international issues, and especially for the communities that host foreign volunteers. And in a few months, I hope to have a job that lets me work on this!