Do's, Don'ts, And Ideas That Really Work In ISSE Partnerships

CREDITS

The first edition of this manual was organized and written by Marcia Balmut Ward in 1981. The second edition is a revision edited by Stanwood Kenyon. Suggestions for changes for future editions are eagerly solicited and should be sent to the ISSE International Office. The third edition was completed in January 2002, by Bev Campbell and Sue Bolduc.

I - INTRODUCTION

International School-to-School Experience (ISSE) was founded in 1971 by Dr. Doris T. Allen, who had started children's International Summer Villages (CISV) twenty years before. Both programs have the goal of contributing to international understanding and world peace by offering children opportunities to actually meet and make friendships with young people from other nations. In CSIV, delegations of four 11-year-olds from each of 10-12 countries meet at summer camps throughout the world; in ISSE, a team of six to eight 11-year-olds from one elementary school visits all the classes of an elementary school in another country. In both programs the visits are for about one month. During it's first thirteen years (1972 - 1985), ISSE arranged 95 partnerships involving 73 elementary schools in 15 countries.

II - SCHOOL COORDINATOR

The most important person in a school's ISSE program is the school's ISSE coordinator. The Coordinator may be the principal, a teacher, or an interested parent. She/he must keep track of all aspects of the program: getting a partner school through the ISSE International Office, making arrangements with the partner school, selection of children (and the Adult) who will Visit and Host, planning with all faculty and host families, etc... The last page of this manual contains a checklist of the main items which need to be done. It is a good idea to have one or more ISSE Committees working on various aspects of the planning. Teachers, parents, former Adult chaperones, and former student participants might be on the committees.

III - SELECTION

The first thing a school's ISSE Coordinator must do is to communicate with the partner school to decide upon visiting dates and the number of Visitors each school wants to invite. (It is assumed each Visiting Team will consist of six to eight children unless otherwise arranged. See 3rd paragraph this section) After those details have been agreed upon both the Visiting Team and the Host families should be selected. The selection should take place promptly (at least five months prior to the first visit, if possible) to ensure maximum preparation. Correspondence should start as soon as possible between teachers in both schools, between Visiting children and their Host families and between the Visiting Adult and the Host Coordinator.

IV - ORIENTATION FOR DELEGATES AND FAMILIES

After the Host families and Visiting children and Adult have been selected, a basic orientation meeting should be held for these children, their parents, and the most involved teachers. The key message to each; the ISSE program is organized as part of the school curriculum, for the benefit of the entire student body in both partner schools, so each Visitor and Host has the responsibility to help make the partnership as meaningful as possible. The Visitors' goal is to have friendly relationships with as many as possible of the children in the partner school. The challenge to the Hosts is to make the "home life" of their guests as warm and supportive as they can so that their guests can be able to do their ambassadorial job as easily and happily as possible. Of course, both Visitors and Hosts will have wonderful experience as they perform their ISSE duties; these are enviable rewards for doing an important job! And, it must be pointed out, because human nature is not always what we hope it will be, that "important job" may not always be easy.

V - COMMUNICATION

Communication between partner schools is imperative and should be started as soon as possible (no less than one month prior to travel). Don't hesitate to make meetings at which the adult and the Visiting Team prepare for their trip to be scheduled by the Adult in consultation with parents. These meetings are important and perfect attendance by all must be stressed. At these meetings the Team will

1. prepare the various classroom and assembly programs
2. get to know each other
3. plan scrapbooks and gifts for the Host school and Host families, etc... (Simplicity and thoughtfulness are the keys for these gifts).

The most important program the Team must plan is for one or more assemblies at the Host school. This event should be enjoyable, informative and simple. It should not be over-loaded with facts which can be better learned by the Host school children in class study. Length should be no longer than 20-30 minutes, with lots of action. Singing, games, stories, slides, skits, dance make for a nice mixture. Keep it simple, but practice so it runs smoothly. (If you plan to use a slide projector or a tape recorder, do not assume that the Host school has this equipment available. It might not, so you must check ahead of time.) The Adult should carry all money and forms, passports and visas, tickets, baggage checks, etc., during travel. Money should not be in cash but in travelers checks. The families of all Team members should contribute equally to an emergency fund which will be carried by the Adult. If not used, the money is returned to the families upon return home.

VI - THE ADULT DELEGATE

After being selected, the Adult chosen to lead the Visiting Team should meet with past Adults and ISSE Committee members. A full explanation of duties and responsibilities should be given. Also, the adult should study carefully ISSE Guidelines and this manual, Do's and Don'ts.

It is important that the adult establish from the beginning that he/she is the leader of the delegation and gain the respect and confidence of the children and their parents. The Adult will need to brief his Team's parents about: luggage, clothing, travel plans, passports and visas, health forms (see ISSE forms #8 and 9), etc...

VII - RESPONSIBILITIES OF HOST CHILD AND FAMILY

As Dr. Doris Allen, ISSE founder, has said, "The whole purpose of ISSE is to help children make friendships with children of other countries." Host children and their families should follow an ISSE basic recommendation: Don't plan too much, be flexible, enjoy your visitors! After the joint meeting with the Visiting Team has taken place, a Host Family orientation meeting should be held for all members of Host families, including brothers, sisters and relatives who live with them. The Child Data forms can be distributed so they can be filled out and, with a family-description welcome letter for their guests, sent to the guests assigned to each family. The Child Data forms for each Visitor will have come from the partner school, and the Host School will do the matching Hosts and Visitors. Responsibilities of the Host families should be outlined at this meeting and reviewed at a later meeting, at which time final plans will be confirmed.

VIII - USE OF VISITORS BY HOST SCHOOL

IX - VISITING TEAM RESPONSIBILITIES

Members of the Visiting Team should understand that their selection as ISSE representatives holds great responsibility. Good behavior is expected at school as well as in their Host home. It might be useful to consider this behavior in class discussion before leaving home. Visitors should not be shy about showing their appreciation to their Host families. They should be able to make their own bed, wash out clothing if necessary, and help around the host's home. Adaptability, humility and willingness to participate are very important.

X - PUBLIC RELATIONS

Press reports and radio and TV coverage are important means of letting people in the community know about the ISSE program. Some schools put newspaper clippings, snapshots and memorabilia from each partnership into scrapbooks which can be available for others to look through and thus share one aspect of "international school-to-school experience". Because the purpose of ISSE is to help people all over the world, while they are still children, to become aware of and to better understand their peers in other countries, it is important that more and more schools, in one's own and in other countries, hear about and join the ISSE network. One of the best and easiest ways for participating schools to help spread word about the ISSE program is through magazines, newspapers, radio, and TV. The media should be contacted before and after your team of ambassadors visits your partner school, and while the partner school's Visiting Team is at your school. If ISSE is well presented in the media reports, parents and other schools will become interested in having a part in the international experiences. Important word of caution: In talking with the media representatives, emphasize that the purpose of ISSE is to provide international contacts and experiences for all the children in your school. Otherwise reporters and photographers are likely to devote their attention primarily to the few children who are selected to be Hosts and Visitors. This misplaced emphasis can cause people in your school, as well as the community, to assume that the ISSE program is organized for the primary benefit of only a few, and therefore they may well hesitate to support it. For instance, be sure to have a photograph taken of the Visiting Team in classrooms with younger children, and of their assembly program for the entire school. A photo showing only the Visitors and their Hosts is "a natural", but it gives a misleading impression.

XI - FOLLOW-UP

Evaluations of each ISSE partnership are valuable to an ISSE school. Questionnaires can be given to home-room teachers in each class, to members of the parent body (whose children may or may not have brought home reports of the children from the partner school), to the Visitors and Hosts and to their parents, to any local group to which the Visitors may have presented their program, etc... The broader the group polled, the more useful. These feedbacks help us realize how the program is working, what we are doing effectively and what improvements are needed. Many schools compile an on-going list of all children and families actively involved in ISSE. These people may not be active in ISSE on a continuing basis, but the can give advice and support in various ways. Some schools have annual social reunions (in the U.S., perhaps a pot-luck supper) to hear reports on the current partnership and its visits. This is an excellent time to renew ISSE friendships and continue the life-line of ISSE.

XII - FUNDING

The funding of ISSE programs should be, ideally, included in each school's budget because it is a part of the curriculum of the entire school. That day will come. Meanwhile the money for airfare, ISSE fees and other costs comes from various sources. Depending on the situation in the particular school, we find various alternatives:

Enough funds are raised in the community to pay all costs, so that any child of 11 or 12 can apply to be a Visitor, regardless of parental ability to pay. Some fund-raising methods have been: selling candy, flowers or food; having a bike-a-thon; yard or parch sales; selling old newspapers for recycling; a skating party; a raffle, etc..

XIII - ISSE GUIDELINES AND FORMS

There's a seperate ISSE booklet available to ISSE corrdinators up request. Master copies of all "Required ISSE Forms" can be found on the Forms Page, by hitting the Forms button at the top of this page.