When Nalini Rhambarath was deciding on a discipline for her post-graduate studies, she was adamant about investing in something that would feed her desire to explore different ways of teaching. She never regretted doing a master’s degree in education with specialisation in curriculum and instruction, which qualifies her to assess the effectiveness of a school's curriculum and design teaching materials and curricula to meet required educational standards.
In fact, even before she had officially graduated, she was already in the US working under the Participate Learning programme, a US-based global professional development initiative that invests in early childhood and primary school teachers. Rhambarath credits her post-graduate degree and her love for the classroom for that opportunity.
“That master’s degree did it for me. It opened up this opportunity that is aligned with what I wanted to achieve,” Rhambarath told WMN.
She said she stumbled upon the programme (Participate Learning) while she was scrolling through sites on education, and after going through the application process, she arrived in the US in August 2018 to teach, months before her graduation.
[caption id="attachment_941832" align="alignnone" width="769"] TT-born teacher Nalini Rambharath with a Trinidad and Tobaog flag at her US school marquee. Photo courtesy Nalini Rambharath -[/caption]
“I returned home for my graduation because that’s something you want to cross the stage for,” she said.
With over 14 years of experience in the classroom, Rhambarath teaches grade two at College Lakes Elementary in North Carolina, where she is absorbing and practising all the new teaching techniques to which she is exposed. So much so, that she is also mentoring new international teachers and was voted teacher of the year for February 2022 and in May 2021.
“So far, it has been a tremendous experience because this is a whole lot different to what I was used to in TT. The children here are versed in technology because you teach with technology. So when we had to switch to virtual school because of the pandemic, it was not difficult because the kids all have their own laptops. A clear touch was set up in front of my smart board, and I am learning a lot in technology.”
But she is not the only one benefitting from the programme. Because it is a cultural exchange, she is allowed to incorporate her culture in the lessons, as are the other teachers from other countries. In addition to the dishing out TT in theory, she said she sometimes gives her students and co-workers a real taste of the culture.
“For example, Divali is a big thing for me, so I make all the sweets and food and share at school. I also dress up in full East Indian regalia. The first time I did it the kids had never seen anything like it before and started calling me the Trinidad princess.”
[caption id="attachment_941834" align="alignnone" width="795"] TT-born teacher Nalini Rambharath in the snow. Photo courtesy Nalini Rambharath -[/caption]
Rhambarath said although there are a lot o
