A World of Possibilities
The rewards and challenges of teaching abroad with a disability
Written by Michele Scheib. Adapted for Abroad View by Liz Granger. Information for this article was excerpted from previously solicited articles by the National Clearinghouse on Disability and Exchange and was published in A World Awaits You journals and Transitions Abroad magazine.
Opportunities abound for people with disabilities who want to teach English abroad. Searching for a program that fits each individual’s needs takes time and persistence, and those with disabilities may need to educate the exchange program about his or her qualifications in order to dispel preconceived notions that may become barriers to finding a placement. In the end, however, teaching a language can prove to be an incredibly rewarding experience.
In some locations, it may be necessary for disabled teachers to bring equipment with them in order to function most successfully as a teacher. Sarah Presley, who is blind, had the Peace Corps ship her Perkins Brailler to Morocco for her teaching assignment. She brought a Closed Circuit Television for magnifying print and a laptop computer with built-in printer and speech access software, which, she says, turned out to be invaluable.
Presley didn’t initially want to be placed at a school teaching blind children, as she found such placements presumptive and she had been used to working in mainstream environments. However, the experience changed her perspective. “I now know how important it is for those of us with disabilities to share our experiences, especially in the areas of education. As Americans, we have much to share with others about what we have tried in these areas, about what has and has not worked. People with disabilities in other countries have just as much to share with us.”
Marie Sharp, a wheelchair user, found a job with VENUSA, an American-based exchange program for students in Venezuela that also provides English classes to Venezuelans. She was hired as an English teacher at the Universidad del Momboy in Valera, a small city located in the state of Trujillo.
To get to work, Sharp and the other teachers took a buseta, which is like a small bus or big van. These busetas aren’t equipped with lifts, but Sharp is ambulatory, so she could get out of her wheelchair and walk on while friends lifted her wheelchair onto the bus. Sharp learned to expand her definition of independence to include rallying the people around her for assistance. In the classroom, she focused on rallying her students to get excited about learning English.
But even outside the classroom, Sharp says she feels that she had an impact. “The people of Valera [saw] me living and loving my life everyday, and I [could] break the stereotypes that people in wheelchairs are poor, uneducated, or helpless. I think maybe the Venezuelans with disabilities that I [met] have begun to look at their own lives differently because of me. I think I’ve had a positive impact—at the end of each day that is a good feeling!”
The complete version of this article and many resources are available at www.miusa.org. Type “Teaching One’s Native Language Overseas” in the search field.