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Auburn alumna brings global education to Loachapoka High School through Fulbright exchange

History alumna and English-Language Arts teacher Laura West Ramkorun '10 sees the world getting smaller every day. To prepare her students to succeed in a multicultural workforce, she spent the summer studying education in India.

Ramkorun applied and was accepted to the Fulbright Teachers for Global Classrooms Program, which trains teachers to create internationally informed learning environments so that their students stand out in the workforce.

Loachapoka High School is a rural school in Auburn that primarily serves minority and low-income students. Ramkorun applied for the program to bring them more opportunities for a well-rounded education.

"My students are growing up in a world that's different than the one that I grew up in. It's increasingly globalized, to a large part, thanks to social media," Ramkorun said. "The likelihood that my students will work with someone who doesn't look like them, who maybe even doesn't speak the same native tongue as them, is really, really high."

After taking an online course on globalized education, Ramkorun connected to a teacher in Ann Arbor, Michigan, for a small cultural exchange and attended a global education symposium in Washington, D.C., to prepare for her field experience.

Ramkorun was placed at St. Joseph's School in Trivandrum, a coastal city in southwest India. She partnered with the St. Joseph's teacher to exchange instructional best practices and learn how each were leveraging culture in the classroom.

"They were doing a lot to empower students in an intellectual way, teaching them to appreciate the beauty of different cultures, but not in a way that diminishes their own culture, but accentuates the strengths of each, which I want to do as a teacher," Ramkorun said. "If one of those students got a job with a bunch of Americans and Brits and Kenyans, they would be well-equipped to navigate relationships with coworkers who are nothing like them."

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Ramkorun shared how she uses skills from the study of history, including critical thinking, researching multiple sources and recognizing connections, to teach her students skills that will benefit them beyond their English-Language Arts class.

She learned from her partner teacher in India that using examples from other parts of the world and engaging the community can help push students to a higher academic level.

"How can I look at the culture that exists at Loachapoka High School in Auburn, Alabama, and leverage that for my students' academic success?" Ramkorun asked. "How can I push them to look at the world around them and help them realize how it would benefit them to engage in the world beyond Loachapoka, beyond Alabama, beyond the United States, and how that's beneficial for their education, and for their development as young humans?"

Fulbright teachers are also cultural ambassadors during their abroad trip. So before leaving for India, Ramkorun requested Auburn University merchandise from the College of Liberal Arts to give to teachers and facilitators.

Ramkorun said sharing Auburn felt like sharing a part of herself, and she hopes those she met in India feel more connected to the Auburn Family every time they see an AU.

"I love Auburn, and I'm very proud to be an Auburn alum, and I want to share that with people," Ramkorun said. "I think it's representative of the culture of Alabama. We take a lot of pride in our universities and in our sports. There's not a lot that I can take that is distinctly Alabama, but that was one thing."

Find out what you can do with a history degree from Auburn.

Tags: History Alumni