Kylee Winkert spent time playing with felt tangrams on a wall display during a November open house at Missouri State University’s Global Education Lab.
During that open house, Winkert knew she would be returning, with the intent of borrowing books.
“I’m in one of Dr. Wright’s classes, so we might even be meeting in here,” said Winkert, a senior elementary education major. “I saw she has a lot of multicultural books, and we have an emphasis on using multicultural literature in a lot of our classes, so I’ll definitely ask her before a buy a book myself.”
A group of educators from the Missouri State University College of Education were joined on Nov. 13 by President Clif Smart, students, families and others to hold a ribbon cutting for the new lab. The lab’s goal is to spotlight learning about other cultures across the world, with a special focus on educational strategies.
Nestled in the top floor of Hill Hall, the lab occupies what was a rarely used computer lab with high-demand resources, such as a broadcasting corner for hosting virtual sessions. It also offers a selection of books, games, activities and crafts intended for children.
A plentiful collection of globes and maps are stocked inside, as well.
“It has resources that our students can use when they are in their practicums in area schools,” said Jennice McCafferty-Wright, an assistant professor in the College of Education. “It also has the kinds of things that a teacher could use to engage with the rest of the world through literacy and art.”
McCafferty-Wright said the lab goes hand-in-hand with an emphasis on working with families from other countries living in the Ozarks. Graduates this year are working with peers from Morocco in a teacher training program, and have been reaching out to people new to the United States.
It houses several grant-funded projects, including Removing Barriers, Global Teacher Education Exchange, World Teacher Makerspace and Global Teacher Talks. Smart said the college pursued and obtained more than $300,000 in grants for programs that can now operate from the lab.
The broadcast station in the corner is one of the grant-funded amenities. McCafferty-Wright said it has been particularly helpful in a virtual exchange that has been used to help more than 900 new and future teachers from Missouri State, Morocco, Libya and other countries form a professional learning community.
“It’s a great opportunity to learn that our field is global, and we’re working on global issues together,” McCafferty-Wright said. “Whether we are in Missouri or Morocco.”
That’s something Winkert appreciates. She knows she won’t be teaching in Missouri — her immediate plans call for a move to a state immersed in different cultures, and she appreciates the emphasis her degree program placed on cultural needs of students.
“I think I’m going to be living in Texas, eventually, so that is going to be a variety of different cultures down there,” Winkert said. “Definitely my dream job is to teach abroad. I would love to teach in another country and embrace another culture.”
