Institute for International Education

Marie Celeste, Ed.D.
Director, Institute for International Education

The purpose of the Loyola University's Institute on International Education (IIE) is to foster intellectual exchange on issues related to comparative and international education. The IIE is dedicated to preparing educators who can work effectively in today's linguistically, ethnically and socially diverse classrooms. Preparing students with the knowledge and perspectives needed to teach in international and multinational settings, it provides students with a rigorous foundation with which they may go forth and make a difference in the world.

The Institute utilizes an interdisciplinary approach, drawing upon faculty from the Schools of Education, Liberal Arts and Business who apply the theoretical, conceptual and methodological advances in their specific disciplines to the analysis of international educational policies and institutions. The multidisciplinary nature of the institute enables students from different programs to learn the perspectives, techniques and methodologies of comparative and international education, while maintaining a close association with their program areas of application. Through a combination of rigorous coursework, international educational tours, service experiences, colloquia and research opportunities, students acquire a thorough understanding of how the processes of schooling and learning vary across societies and what implications these variations have for education in the world today.

Education in Italy Program

A current initiative of the Institute, the Education in Italy Program, provides students with opportunities to become directly involved with the educational system in Italy at a variety of levels. Students at all levels are asked to examine the effects of culture upon the decisions a society makes about the care and education of its children. Students participate in graduate and undergraduate coursework on Loyola’s campus which provide multiple online and distance opportunities to interact and exchange ideas in their professional capacity with teachers and specialists in a school system in Camerano, a small hill town in the Marche region of Italy.

Undergraduate students work directly in the Kids Connect: I Bambini Collegano project, a global learning experience which facilitates children in an elementary school in Baltimore to participate in language and cultural experiences with children in the Scuola Elementare (Elementary school) in Camerano through distance learning technologies.

Graduate students in the Early Childhood Special Education program participate in Service-Learning experiences embedded into courses which facilitate their professional collaboration with early childhood teachers and specialists at the Scuola Materna (preschool) in Camerano. Past experiences have included synchronous online collaboration as well as asynchronous pursuit of shared research topics.

A summer study abroad opportunity in Camerano provides a cultural immersion program for undergraduate and graduate students. The program provides students with opportunities to teach abroad - first through an organized program which facilitates their teaching English at the Scuola Elementare. Students are asked to put theoretical pedagogical constructs as well as highly valued collaborative and consultative skills into practical application, as they work closely with one another and the English teachers at the school. Students then design and implement a 2-week English-Language Enrichment Program for local Camerano elementary aged children which takes place at the close of the regular school year. The Enrichment Program incorporates a variety of activities including games, arts and crafts and athletic activities, which culminate in a widely attended theatrical production at the elementary school.

Latin American Program

A Latin American Program is currently under development which would provide for additional specialized interdisciplinary coursework, educational tours, local service-learning experiences and an international service project to be conducted on site. (Note: This is currently under development. Additional, more specific content will become available in the coming months).

Future Initiatives

Future initiatives may include projects in the African/African-Carribean region, the Middle East and Central Asia, Central and Latin America, Central and Eastern Europe. While some projects will be developed within the IIE, others will be collaborative pursuits between faculty of the Institute and existing study abroad programs with the shared intension to incorporate service components aligned closely with the pedagogical and human development competencies identified with programs of study within the School of Education. (Note: This is currently under development. Additional, more specific content will become available in the coming months).