CIEE (Council on International Educational Exchange) is the program through which I'll be working and traveling to Spain this September. It's been around since 1947 and its mission is "to help people gain understanding, acquire knowledge and develop skills for living in a globally interdependent and culturally diverse world." Currently, CIEE has teach-abroad programs in Chile, China, the Dominican Republic, South Korea, Spain and Thailand.
I can't take credit for stumbling upon CIEE; I only discovered the company thanks to one of my Stonehill friends, Stephanie Kudlate. Steph graduated one year before I did and spent this past year living and teaching abroad with CIEE in... and here's the kicker... Armilla, Granada! (Yup, that's right... Steph taught English at the exact same school at which I'll be teaching! I couldn't believe it when I found out... such a small world, really!) Anyways, Steph's a lot like me in the fact that as soon as she returned to the U.S. after studying abroad in Granada, she, too, began looking for ways to go back to Spain after graduation. She discovered CIEE and has had a great experience teaching through their program. When I told her about my plans to return to Granada, possibly as a graduate student at the University there, she suggested that I look into CIEE for a more economical way of getting back to Andalusia. Long story short, I researched CIEE and really liked what I saw. The program in Spain only offers placements in Andalusia, and while there was no guarantee of getting a teaching position in Granada, I thought that being placed anywhere in Andalusia would be better than not returning to Spain at all. And as you all already know, luck was on my side- while Armilla technically isn't in Granada-central, it's basically as close as I could have hoped for!
CIEE's teach abroad programs vary depending upon a few factors. All of the programs have differing lengths that span from five months up to a full year. CIEE's program in Spain spans eight months with teaching assignments starting on October 1st and ending on May 31st. However, I'll be in Spain a little longer because I'm heading over in mid-September and plan on staying until mid-June... mid-July... mid-August? (While I'd love to spend next summer abroad, I'll just have to wait and see what my a) Dad and b) finances have to say about my length of stay, haha.)
Furthermore, a lot of the programs differ in aid provided by CIEE and actual teaching responsibilities. Technically, I am going to be working abroad as a "Language and Culture Assistant." Here's a quick snip-it of what exactly that job title means: "As native speakers and experts on the U.S., assistants stimulate the students' interests and greatly improve their oral communication abilities. Program participants may work with entire classes or with small groups of students to develop speaking, listening, reading, writing skills, and cultural understanding. In many schools the teaching assistant also teaches English to members of the school staff." I've found a lot of great online resources and books that will help me prepare for the teaching position this summer, and right now I'm weighing the pros and cons of taking an online TESL course.
If you're interested in learning more about teaching abroad with CIEE, check out its website!
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