DC Teacher's Travel To Ghana Fosters Cross-Cultural Understanding

DOUGLAS COUNTY, GA — According to Factory Shoals Elementary School teacher Dr. Sherry Sutton, traveling abroad equips students and educators with self-confidence, context, curiosity, and real-world connections to abstract problems.

Sutton, an English to Speakers of Other Languages teacher, found new ways to prove this sentiment this summer as a 2018 Fulbright Hays Group Project Abroad Scholarship recipient administered by the Atlanta Institute for Research and Human Development. Sutton, along with 14 other educators from the southeast United States, traveled to Ghana for five weeks of study, curriculum comparison, and education-based observation at various cities within the country.

Sutton is one of three Douglas County employees and affiliates who made the trip abroad. Other educators include Dr. Dorothy Williams and Board member Michelle Simmons.

Sutton said, “This was an eye-opening experience. The Africa that I saw was nothing like the Africa I expected to see. I had such a wonderful educational experience. The more I learned, the less I felt I knew. I will cherish this experience for a lifetime. It has changed the way I think about education, family, resources, traditions, and food.”

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One of the main objectives of the trip was to establish an ongoing, online resource for collaborative opportunities for American and Ghanaian educators to engage in cross-cultural understandings. All three of the women plan on continuing work in Ghana in local schools. Another objective of the program is “to acquire relevant teaching materials (artifacts, publications, personal experiences) that only an in-country experience can provide.” To that end, Sutton and Williams presented their artifacts, publications and personal experiences at the annual TESOL conference in Atlanta, Georgia in September.

“As an English to Speakers of Other Languages teacher at Factory Shoals, my whole day is spent helping children master the English language. It was nice to switch places with them, even if it was just for five weeks. I know, I could never truly understand what it is like for my students, I think this study abroad brings me one step closer. I have a renewed commitment to first realizing that there are others and secondly, realizing that the resources that I have may be able to help others.”

The American Institute of Research and Human Development does an annual trip for educators to study abroad and is planning a similar trip to Tanzania during the summer of 2019.

Photos courtesy Douglas County School System