2006 Programs & Events
Chargé Inaugurates New Teachers-in-Training Exchange Program
December 19, 2006
On December 19, Chargé Karl Hofmann represented the Embassy at the pre-departure orientation for French teachers-in training participating in the inaugural year of the Franco-American Teachers-in Training Exchange Program administered by the Fulbright Commission in Paris. This exchange program, formalized by US Assistant Secretary Dina H. Powell and French Minister of Education Gilles de Robien last October, was designed to provide future French and U.S. teachers a better understanding of each other’s society and culture. It is also intended to provide opportunities for schools in France and the U.S. to develop long-lasting ties and share educational best practices. This year a first group of 22 French teachers-in-training will go to the University of Akron’s College of Education in Ohio. Their US program includes a four-week academic session focused on U.S. society and culture and a three-month internship in US schools. Approximately 20 American student teachers will subsequently come to France in the fall of 2007 for a similar program to be organized by the French Instituts Universitaires de Formation de Maitres (IUFMs) and the Fulbright Commission in France.