Mobility Newsletter March 2022
Director’s Message
Greetings from Warrnambool, home of the Gundjitmara people in Victoria’s south-west, and located on the Great Southern Ocean. After 2 years and 2 months I finally have made it home to reunite with my family, And after a very emotional homecoming with my daughter Alicia, have in the past few days enjoyed the cooler weather, some familiar local foods and have slept really well snuggled under a doona!
While the primary purpose of coming home is to spend time with the family, when not working from my mother’s dining room table I will be meeting with partners and getting to know new teams in some cases, and working on enabling the NCP grants that have lain dormant in recent years. Planning for 2022 is well underway with some partners, with the option of in-country and remote programs side by side in Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand. Please drop me a line should you wish to slot a face-to-face meeting into the schedule or set up a call in the same/similar time zone.
With Vietnam set to reopen it’s borders on March 15, and with Malaysia not too far behind them, the time is ripe to begin planning travel to the region. It is exciting to see some universities allowing students to travel in semester one, and we were very pleased to welcome the first of the five NCP scholars to Malaysia last week. Adelaide Pope from the University of
Melbourne begins her semester at the University of Malaya this week. TGS has worked ‘backwards’ through the IEAA Managing Risk and Travel document to ensure all relevant documents have been reviewed and revised where necessary to assist partners to facilitate their outbound mobility.
We have also been busy over the summer developing new programs outbound from Malaysia to the USA, short-term summer programs with Monash Malaysia, the development of the Malaysian Innovation Challenge with partners in-country, and working with consortium members of the Global Education Practicum to determine ways of keeping pre-service teachers connected between the two countries. We have also delivered 4 remote internship programs, the remote teaching in Korea program for Latrobe and updated the TGS website.
Looking forward to catching up with as many as possible while in-country, including a farewell coffee with those who have moved on during the upheaval, and looking forward to getting your students back to SE Asia.
Jan Drew
Remote Global Internships
A further three remote internships programs ran over summer with students undertaking internships in tourism and hospitality, human resources, law, criminal justice, community development and within a variety of NGOs that work with communities across Malaysia. While we hope to welcome students in-country soon, remote internships will continue to run side by side to ensure that those students not able to or unwilling to travel still have access to an international experience. We have numerous hosts constantly seeking remote interns as word has spread about the success of recent programs and the quality of the interns, so get in touch to learn how to access the opportunities for your students.
Remote Teaching in South Korea
In semester 2, 2021 TGS welcomed our first cohort of La Trobe pre-service teachers (PSTs) who undertook their teaching practicum remotely in South Korea. The program run with partner Global L2 Education saw 6 students complete their practicum over 10 weeks, teaching 2 classes per week to 2 different cohorts of Korean students. The final presentations provided mature reflection into the challenges and learnings of the unique program that students undertook alongside their regular scheduled subjects, with all recommending the opportunity to other students.
The Korean education departments in a number of prefectures have overwhelmingly endorsed the program and are keen to expand it to include more schools, and eventually include in-country practicums. For the PST's, each expressed pleasure and even surprise about how deeply they were immersed in culture through their engagement with the Korean students and their mentors. For more information on the program, contact Jan Drew.
The new TGS website: A fresh look, a better experience
The TGS marketing team has been working behind the scenes to create a crisp design for our website that promises the best user experience. This fresh aesthetic ties in perfectly with our branding and hopes to please both our stakeholders and students, while providing all important, necessary, and relevant information about the internship opportunities, study programs, and volunteering programs we have to offer.
We hope you like the new look and feel of the website and have an easy time finding the information relevant to you. Take a look here and feel free to feedback your impressions or suggestions to improve the user experience!
Borders re-opening very soon!
Covid 19: We are very excited at the announcement that Malaysia will open it's borders on april 1... More Info
Vietnam is also to open it's borders on March 15 and we're looking forward to the prospect of getting student back to in-country internships, study programs, and volunteering experiences!
Coffee with Jan
As mentioned, Jan will be spending some time in Australia over the next two months, and is scheduling in-person meetings for the first time in 2 and a half years!
Get in touch to schedule a meeting with your team, or for a casual coffee - her shout!
