Study abroad
Educational Leadership Program aims to strengthen organizations overseas by training teachers here
The English language does not come easily to Huong Nguyen, a Vietnamese nun and teacher of young children at Nhat Hong Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired in Ho Chi Minh City, who traveled to the US in September 2010 to participate in Perkins’ Educational Leadership Program.
But what she struggles to say with words comes pouring from her eyes in the form of love and passion for her life’s work.
“I wanted to come here to help the children I serve in Vietnam,” she said earnestly with the help of a translator. “I want to help the parents take care of their children.”
Nguyen is one of 12 participants in the Educational Leadership Program, a nine-month fellowship that enables educators and related professionals from around the world to come to Perkins’ campus for advanced training. The program combines academic lectures with student-teaching and assisting in residential environments. Participants also have opportunities to travel off campus to observe classrooms in community settings, as well as audit university graduate courses and attend conferences.
Perkins partnered with organizations in Vietnam in 2005. Since then, the country has steadily expanded its services to children who are blind or deafblind, said Nga Hoang, another participant in this year’s Educational Leadership Program class. But as services for that population have grown, the need for even more specialized training – to help children who also have additional disabilities, such as hearing, cognitive, autism and cerebral palsy – has become more pronounced.
“We realize now that there are more and more children with these disabilities,” said Hoang, a lecturer with the Faculty of Special Education at Ho Chi Minh City University who trains special education teachers to work with children who are blind. “(The children need) accessible education and they need highly qualified teachers. We realize that in our curriculum, we should have these subjects.”
Hoang recently spent eight weeks in Lower School teacher Kerri Trainor’s class. The time is a beneficial experience for both Perkins and the international visitor, Trainor said.
“It’s nice to have that fresh pair of eyes. It’s definitely a give and take where we both learn from each other,” she added. “And Nga’s energy is contagious.”
For Nguyen, the fact that Perkins students with all levels of disabilities can learn independence and be participating members of their communities is eye-opening.
“The students are (learning to be) independent,” she said. “They are respected. And the parents here, now they believe their children can do it. They believe in their children.”
While partnering with Perkins was an important step for advancing services in Vietnam, participating in the Educational Leadership Program brings those opportunities to a whole new level, said Hoang.
“When Perkins comes to my country and provides training, they can’t bring everything,” she said. “But when I come here, I can see everything. My eyes are opened a lot.”
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