A group of Aggies recently spent two weeks working in Fiji schools, providing special education professional development to teachers and instruction to the children in the classrooms. Weese and Lyman partnered with YouthLinc, a nonprofit that integrates academic and community-engaged study abroad programs. Youthlinc facilitated translations, accommodations, meals and transportation around the island so the USU contingent could focus on their work in the schools.
Because most of the CEHS students who travelled to Fiji will begin their senior year this fall or graduated in May, about half of them had already completed their student teaching requirement. USU students visited one inclusive school and two special schools on the island, one in the city of Suva, the former capital of Fiji, and two in Rakiraki, a rural area on the coast in the northern part of the island.
Their primary focus was on providing special professional development to the teachers. Once the student is at a mastery level, the student completes the task independently.
This method can include academic instruction, self-care skills, vocational skills, etc. They could adapt to fit the needs of the class on the fly. Our students were very prepared to model explicit instruction and to co-teach with the Fijian teacher. Our students were modeling it in any setting β completing a math problem, reading a word, performing a skill with multiple steps β so teachers could see how it really works.
Not only did I feel like I had an impact, but my heart was touched by each student I interacted with. A generous donation from Nucor, a steel manufacturer located in Northern Utah, enabled the group to bring suitcases full of school supplies, leveled readers and other items, which the students used in the classrooms and then gifted to the schools.
