ROCK HILL, S.C. (CN2 NEWS) – The Lancaster School District looking at Foreign Exchange Teachers to address staffing shortage in the classroom.
The Rock Hill School District is also accepting help from Foreign Exchange Teachers, and currently have around 40 different international educators across their schools.
While these teachers are a huge help in filling classrooms, they do come with some unique struggles that most American teachers don’t such as culture shock, loneliness, and overall adjusting to a new environment.
The District has partnered with United International Ministries to help these teachers with their transition.
United International Ministries Director Ginger Duncan said, “They came together and partnered with us to take donations from the community so that they could provide housing for these teachers. We had a lot of international teachers sleeping on the floor with absolutely no furniture in their apartments, so meeting the needs of these teachers emotionally, mentally, physically, allows them to be not only healthier in a holistic way but allows them to be better teachers in the classroom.”
The non-profit, United International Ministries, has also assisted the district in offering cross-cultural training that gives foreign teachers a better understanding of schooling and culture in the U.S.
The International Ministries have found their work leads to more quality teaching from the foreign educators, and it also gives students a chance to learn about other cultures and world experiences.
