What does it mean to be an international education professional in France?

One of the most rewarding aspects of Team France was the opportunity to meet with and learn from a wide variety of organizations that generously invited us into their centers and offices. During our short 20 days in Paris, we had the privilege of meeting with over 15 organizations. These organizations included French public universities, various American programs, and education abroad providers.

While meeting with these organizations, we learned about the daily operations of the organization, daily job tasks, challenges and rewards of their jobs, and how the organization fit into the larger picture of International Education in the French context.

Through our visits, we noticed a few commonalities among the organizations in terms of what being an international educator entails in the realm of education abroad in France.

Being an international educator in France means…

Wearing many hats

Depending on the organization, la vie quotidienne, or daily life,  of an international educator, can vary greatly. However, in many of the organizations, there was one similarity we noticed that rang true for all of the jobs: being an international educator means that you are probably wearing many hats at once; you have many roles and responsibilities.

For Campus France, an agency that supports student mobility in and out of France, being an international educator can entail:

• assisting with Student Visa Applications
• managing scholarships and grants
• hosting foreign delegations

To find out more you can check out this resource or Campus France’s website.

For small programs such as Middlebury Schools Abroad, the Brown in France Paris, Program, The Vassar-Wesleyan Program in Paris (VWPP), being an international educator means:

On any given day, an on-site staff member of an American study abroad program in Paris must fill a myriad of different roles.

These roles include but are not limited to teacher, authority figure, guide, parent, and friend. What do these roles entail?

Some responsibilities include (but are not limited to):

• conducting on-site orientations
• managing student group dynamics
• helping students set realistic goals for their time off-campus
• assisting students through the stages of cultural adjustment
• making time for students to come in and ask questions or  voice concerns and needs
• resolving student disciplinary problems
• responding to on-site emergencies
• managing on-site funds within the pre-set budgets

At organizations such as IES Abroad and CEA being an international educator means:

Often, the on-site staff at program providers organizations such as CEA and IES Abroad have similar responsibilities to those listed above for small programs. However, organizations like IES Abroad and CEA also run short-term programs (ranging from 10 days to 6 weeks) as well. Managing short programs means that these organizations see a quick turnaround of students. With such a quick turnaround of students, the frequency of some tasks, such as finding housing and giving on-site orientations need to occur more frequently.

Designing cultural activities such as:

Visits to the Louvre

and…

Visits to Bakeries to learn how baguettes and croissants are made!

But… it’s not all fun and games.

Being an international educator in France also means facing challenges such as:

Changing student demographics

Education Abroad professionals are thinking about how they can be
more inclusive of more diverse students. We learned from IES Abroad, Middlebury School in Paris and Vassar Wesleyan Program in Paris (VWPP) that over the years, education abroad professionals have had to adjust to changing student demographics in a few ways:

1. fewer students are coming in as French majors, and if they are French majors, they usually have a double major in another subject as well.
2. Generation Z!
3. More international students (not just Americans)

For some organizations, being inclusive of a more diverse student population means adapting their structure and programming to match a new demographic of students’ needs and goals. For IES Abroad this change in student demographics led to changes in programming such as offering internships and summer options.  

Additionally, Directors at CEA and VWPP both mentioned their interest in seeking out professional development opportunities in the area of diversity in education abroad to learn to better support the broader range of students participating in their programs.

And… Protests!

According to an article from the Guardian, this movement began as a response to “a planned rise in the tax on diesel and petrol, which Emmanuel Macron insisted would aid the country’s transition to green energy. […] But what began as a fuel tax protest has now morphed into a wider anti-government movement” (Chrisafis, 2018).

Though the protests have been losing momentum, while we were in Paris, many of the on-site administrators still reminded their students to take caution and avoid the protests, as they have become violent in the past.

Staff reminded students to practice situational awareness, avoid heavily trafficked areas where the demonstrations are known to take place and keep their families back home updated on their well-being.

We hope that this webpage has helped shed some light on the many roles that an international educator can have in the French context.

My last question is:

What does being an international educator mean for you?