Australia–ASEAN BRIDGE School Partnerships Program
This immersive and blended model of professional learning supports school communities across Australia to build an international school partnership with a sister school from Southeast Asia.
BRIDGE includes reciprocal visits for teachers in both countries to visit their partner schools and learn first-hand about each others’ culture, community and education practies.
Asian language ability is not a requirement to take part in this program, although it can offer added learning outcomes.
Through pre-departure training, online and face-to-face professional learning in Australia and abroad, educators will develop:
- a deep knowledge and understanding of the diverse cultures of their partner country
- intercultural understanding and an understanding of how to implement it in the Australian Curriculum;
- new approaches to using digital technologies in the classroom to enable global collaboration;
- establish an international school partnership that will provide unique student learning opportunities; and
- contribute to a community of learners across ASEAN member states.
In 2019, teachers from Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam will be invited to travel to Australia to take part in a four-day professional learning program with their sister school representatives from across Australia to establish new partner relationships, plan for sustainable collaboration through intercultural understanding and explore the use of new technologies in teaching and learning.
Both the Australian and Asian country home-stay visits for BRIDGE teachers are designed to develop and share professional best practice and provide opportunities such as:
- partnership planning
- classroom observation
- team teaching
- participation at staff meetings
- curriculum team meetings
- parental engagement
- school excursions
- incursions for teachers to form an understanding of their partner countries education context
* ASEAN – Association of South East Asian Nations.
For any further enquiries about the Australia-ASEAN BRIDGE Program, please contact bridge@asialink.unimelb.edu.au or (03) 8344 4800.
Acknowledgements:
The Australia-ASEAN BRIDGE School Partnerships Program is funded by the Commonwealth through the Australia-ASEAN Council, which is part of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.