The Indiana University Indianapolis campus is forging a new international partnership with Angola, leading to student and faculty exchanges and providing online access to Angolan students, thanks to a groundbreaking initiative by IU Indianapolis School of Education professors. This will create opportunities for master's degrees.
Roberto Swazo, coordinator of the school counseling program in the IU School of Education, was the first Fulbright expert to visit Angola, spending five weeks in the southwestern African country in fall 2023. He introduced the concept at the Oscar Rivas University in the capital of Luanda. As part of your graduate study experience, you will study social-emotional learning, student-centered education, and school counseling.
As a result, the two schools signed a memorandum of understanding to build a relationship and create learning opportunities for faculty and students from both universities. These schools are creating a group of Angolan students to earn master's degrees online through IU Indianapolis' School Counseling Program.
“The College of Education is committed to expanding our network beyond Indiana, beyond our state, and to expanding internationally,” Swazo said. “Dean Tambra Jackson is very passionate about this.”
The U.S. Department of State's Fulbright Specialist Program sends U.S. teachers and experts overseas as consultants to engage in education and training activities. Swazo has lectured on school counseling internationally, including in Russia, Mexico, Guatemala, and Spain. He previously worked at the University of Palermo in Sicily, Italy as a Fulbright Specialist in 2017. His background and ability to communicate in Spanish, Portuguese, and English helped him secure an opportunity in Angola.
“We are extremely proud of Dr. Swazo’s leadership and accomplishments in contributing to the School of Education’s international efforts,” Jackson said. “The world is becoming increasingly urban, and this initiative is important to the school's mission and its focus on urban education and community. Dr. Swazo's Fulbright experience in his specialist program is unique to will guide our innovative international partnerships.”
Swazo said Angola had been isolated from other countries, especially Western countries such as the United States, due to a long civil war. Since then, the country has opened up and invited experts from other countries to introduce new concepts and disciplines.
“I had the privilege of being the first Fulbright expert in the history of this country,” Swazo said. “The idea was to create a foundation for future scholars to come from Europe as well as America to influence and change the way universities teach.”
Social-emotional learning focuses on understanding the needs of learners apart from intellectual effort, Swazo said. A learner may come to class one day suffering from anxiety, depression, isolation, sadness, or a family crisis.
“If you can understand the needs of your learners and address their needs on an emotional level, you will be able to impact them in a more holistic way,” he said.
School counseling is an American concept and does not exist in Angola, Swazo said. The history of education in most African countries is rooted in European colonial models of top-down instruction and students repeating what they were taught, Swazo said.
“What was needed was to expand faculty awareness of how to be more sensitive to student needs,” he says.
Swazo conducted workshops and consulted with faculty at the university's Psychology Guidance Center. He also met with Angolan government officials and education leaders, including from the U.S. Embassy in Luanda. The training took place on Oscar Rivas' campus but was also relayed to other universities across the country.
“The faculty were enthusiastic and hungry for knowledge, and so were the students,” Swazo said.
As a result of a memorandum of understanding between the universities, Oscar Rivas University could lead to the creation of a master's degree program modeled on the online master's degree being created at IU's Indianapolis campus to benefit Angolan students. He said he has started a pilot program. Arnaldo Faustino is Professor of Educational Sciences and Mathematics and Director of the Oscar Rivas University Center for Scientific Research.
Additionally, Faustino said the program is designed to:
- Instruct teachers on techniques for resolving interpersonal conflicts.
- Teach effective study strategies, techniques, and resources for academic success.
- Train teachers and students with personalized instruction.
Faustino said Swazo's support helped lay the foundation for these changes.
“He can encourage educators to exchange experiences, dialogue about different methodologies, study socio-emotional skills, and the ability to resolve conflicts between other behaviors through sharing plans and exchanging experiences. ,” Faustino said.
Since Swazo visited Angola, Oscar Rivas' counseling system is being reorganized based on the model he shared, said Professor of Educational Sciences at the university and researcher at the university's Center for Scientific Research. said Inidia Rubio Vargas, coordinator of the project. Psychological and psychoeducational care. This includes providing services for emotional issues, changing educational models to be student-centered, fostering critical thinking, and raising awareness of diversity.
“Dr. Roberto's professional performance model is designed to transform the vision of teachers as facilitators who focus their activities on the integrated development of students, taking into account cognitive, social and emotional aspects from organizational aspects. “It was very beneficial in terms of raising the participants' awareness that relationships are fundamental to learning and development,” Vargas said.