ASU Renews Teacher Education Partnership with Korean University

Angelo State University renewed its partnership agreement with Gongju National University of Education in South Korea, continuing the program that brings 40 GNUE teacher education students to ASU’s campus each year. 

ASU hosted a leadership group from GNUE at a signing ceremony on Monday, Feb. 5 to renew the agreement titled the GNUE/ASU International Teaching Practicum Program. "The common goal to expand teacher preparation through shared cultural experiences has enriched public school classrooms and communities throughout the Concho Valley,” said Dr. Scarlet Clouse, dean of the College of Education. “The GNUE students provide cultural lessons and experiences to local elementary students and forge relationships that endure a lifetime." 

The program begins with the chosen GNUE student-teachers undergoing two weeks of virtual training conducted by ASU’s teacher education faculty. The virtual training works with ASU's English Language Learners' Institute, includes immersive Texas Examinations of Educator Standards and U.S. history education and is run through ASU’s Center for International Studies.

Afterward, GNUE’s student-teachers complete an in-person teaching practicum lasting three weeks at elementary schools in partner public school districts in San Angelo, Irion County and Miles. Elementary education in the U.S. is roughly the same as primary education in South Korea.

When the student-teachers have been in the U.S. for three weeks, each individual is assigned to a public elementary classroom. Each GNUE student-teacher observes, analyzes and participates in classrooms as instructed by their assigned school’s faculty and staff during the program. In addition, they participate in cultural trips and group activities that provide an immersive experience for the student-teachers. For example, they may visit museums, try new foods and watch basketball games.

Through classroom lessons and student interaction, they also have opportunities to introduce Korean culture to elementary school students. The student-teachers prepare their Korean culture lessons well in advance, and the teaching practicum will order the supplies they’ll need to conduct their lessons. Each student-teacher’s cultural lesson is prepared alongside their professors at GNUE. 

The program agreement was originally signed in 2015 and then renewed in 2019. When the program first piloted, student-teachers stayed with host families, but now the student-teachers stay in campus dorms. On Feb. 5, ASU President Ronnie Hawkins Jr. and Acting GNUE President Dr. Beom-Ung Lee signed the latest renewal contract, continuing the program for another five years.

The program is offered through ASU’s College of Education, which started it with eight GNUE student participants in the spring of 2016. It has since expanded to include around 40 GNUE student-teachers each year. The program’s future goals include making new agreements that will enable ASU and GNUE to develop an international training program for the summer with South Korean teachers selected by the Chungcheongnam Province Office of Education.

“It’s definitely trying to address the teacher shortage – global teacher shortage,” Clouse said. “More so the goal is to expose Angelo State students, expose our public school students and expose our students from Korea to a global perspective. The elementary students get cultural lessons from teachers from Korea that they would not normally ever get, so they get exposed to this kind of global cultural education.”