Hooked on International Education

Joe Bishop (MA ’89/MA ’95/PhD ’99) has been intrigued by other cultures since childhood. But working as a University of Iowa graduate assistant on civic education projects in Eastern Europe really “hooked” him on the importance of cross-cultural understanding.

Bishop, now an assistant professor in the Social Foundations of Education program at Eastern Michigan University (EMU), has conducted research and directed educational programs in the Czech and Slovak Republics and Ukraine.

“It is of utmost importance for all students to study other languages and cultures, and participate in international activities,” Bishop says. “By studying other cultures and languages, we learn more about ourselves and our backgrounds. That wouldn’t be possible if we never left our ‘comfort zones.’”

Bishop’s courses encourage beginning and experienced teachers to stretch themselves beyond the familiar. He discusses international education, schools in multicultural societies, the history of education, dominated cultures, and American education. He also organized and led international exchange trips for education students and teachers.

Currently, he is directing a U.S. Department of State-funded project that brought a group of Eastern European educators to the United States. The group studied American schools and developed curricular materials to promote democratic citizenship in their native schools. As part of the project, Bishop spent a week in Kyiv, Ukraine, last summer working with seven teachers who then spent five weeks last fall visiting classrooms and attending conferences and cultural events in Ypsilanti, Michigan.

The Ukrainian teachers returned home with lessons they developed while in Michigan. After the lessons have been pilot tested, Bishop will visit Ukraine next summer to assist in two weeks of workshops for 24 local teachers.

“Joe is an energetic and effective teacher,” says Alane Starko, head of EMU’s Department of Teacher Education. “His interest in international education—in particular the grant that brought the Ukranian educators here—has had an important influence on the culture of our department. The opportunity to interact professionally and personally with international educators helps expand our thinking to more global perspectives.”

In addition to his research, Bishop also serves on EMU’s ad hoc International Education Committee, which has sponsored exchange visits by pre-service education students to American and Canadian classrooms.

Bishop says that he was bitten by the travel bug as a child. This interest eventually led to research focused on the conceptions of democracy and civic education in the Czech Republic. Even though he just recently launched his academic career, he has already put his beliefs about multicultural education and cross-cultural teaching into practice.

“The more international experience teachers have,” Bishop said, “the more comparative material they can use to help understand the similarities and differences between individuals and groups among various peoples and cultures.” – by Jean Florman