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Introduction to LATTICE

LATTICE (Linking all Types of Teachers to International Cross-cultural Education) is a professional development model and an institutional partnership between MSU and Lansing area school districts, which for nine years has worked to internationalize K-12 education in mid-Michigan. The goal of LATTICE is to change teachers' perspectives and ways of thinking through collective study and discussion. It assumes that teachers can learn from getting to know international students well and thereby vicariously experience the life and cultures of the countries in question. Overall, over 450 persons have participated, about half being teachers from 13 districts and half international students from 54 countries. Former participants keep in touch through technology.

The participants meet once a month for 4 hours; costs of substitutes are paid by the districts. The sessions consist of presentations, small group discussions, personal accounts from participants, spontaneous reports of events in Lansing area schools and the international students' home countries, and a break with food brought by participants. A wide range of social, cultural, economic and political topics have been studied from international perspectives, such as hunger, gender, environment, economic development, family rituals, schooling practices, and intercultural interactions. K-12 teachers report being profoundly affected by sessions and have followed up on many ideas in their classrooms, often in collaboration with international students they have come to know.

International students and K-12 teachers meet for additional sessions in a book club to discuss children's and adolescent literature. Other spin offs include linkages between K-12 educators in Michigan and South African schools and, more recently, opportunities for MSU student teaching in regular South African Schools. LATTICE sessions are planned by a planning team consisting of K-12 teachers, international students, and MSU faculty/staff. The planning team uses evaluation survey data collected at every session and cumulatively at the end of the year. A LATTICE website has been developed by some of the members and is presently being expanded.

ENTER LATTICE WEBSITE