Undergraduate Degree
Truman State University’s undergraduate programs focus on liberal arts and sciences perspective with dialogues. The students who enter the MAE program (99%) attend TSU as undergraduate students and therefore, possess skills in international and global perspectives throughout their courses and experiences at the undergraduate level, specifically the Intercultural Interconnecting Perspective requirement.
MAE Completer Survey
The majority of MAE completers who participated in the Completer Survey feel that they are able to teach students using international and global perspectives, with 83% of the 2018-2019 completers and 75% of the 2017-2018 completers reporting that they felt either prepared or thoroughly prepared in this area.
School Partnership and Outreach
Kirksville has experienced an influx of families from the Congo, which has increased the diversity of the NEMO area, as well as created an even more urgent need for an international/global perspective when working with families in the local community. Our students volunteer, substitute teach and have official clinical placements in Kirksville and another district, Milan, which has a high number of Latino students. Consequently, the immediate need to possess the skills to work with non-native speakers has increased in recent years. Truman candidates have responded to these needs with students interested in earning ESOL certification often volunteering in the schools and providing needed services, such as the MAE French students and faculty translating the Kirksville Parent/Student Handbook. Further, the student group United Speakers offers free English courses in the NEMO community for Latino and Congolese immigrants.
ESOL Add-on Certification
The number of students who are interested in our ESOL add-on certification is 34–without freshman. We have had 8 students complete the ESOL add-on certification in the last three years. Students who are interested in this add-on certification are enthusiastic about working with non-native speakers and generally tend to exhibit characteristics that embrace international perspectives.