Many of the world’s teachers work in educational environments that lack basic infrastructure and materials, safety, living wages, and teacher training. The mission of Teachers Across Borders, Inc (TAB) is to help teachers raise the general level of educational opportunity through professional development. The need is critical.
TAB is committed to the belief that education is the key to reducing poverty and gender inequality, combating child trafficking, and providing children with more life and career choices.
TAB volunteer workshop leaders provide materials and teaching models at their own expense where few exist. Workshop leaders display sound teaching practices as they lead discussions of recent scholarship in content areas and contemporary research on how students learn.
The PEACE Fund is currently supporting the work of TAB in Cambodia. Each program features nine workshops and TAB anticipates 1000 elementary and secondary teachers will participate. Since each Cambodian teacher teaches between 50 and 200 students a day, and the education children acquire lasts a lifetime, investments in good teaching lead to meaningful change. TAB is looking to expand this program into Serbia and Panama.
All personnel work is on a volunteer basis, accomplished by teachers helping teachers. 100% of money donated is spent on TAB Projects.
Teachers Across Borders, Inc. (TAB) is incorporated in Colorado and has 501 (c)(3) status as an educational, non profit corporation.
This is one of the few organizations of teacher volunteers, which provides large numbers of classroom teachers and administrators with in-service programs. The need is critical.
TAB volunteers work closely with classroom teachers, administrators and with the Cambodian Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports (MoEYS) to develop the topics for two week workshops.
TAB started workshops in Phnom Penh, Cambodia in 2005. Each year Cambodian educators, including the Senior Minister of Education, have requested additional workshops. Workshops topics range from ESL and educational leadership to primary and secondary language arts, social studies, science and math. In 2008 TAB will provide 38 workshops in 4 cities, reaching approximately 1000 Cambodian teachers, and through these teachers improving education for more than 150,000 Cambodian students at a cost of 2.5 cents per student.
Cambodians are making valiant efforts to rebuild their educational system from bottom to top. Genocide and civil war effectively eliminated educators, universities, and schools. Like the American frontier, teachers in small villages and cities are frequently young people seeking in-service teacher training, professional development, and improved classroom materials as more children are able to go to school and stay in school longer.
TAB supports the work of teachers through teacher education, honorariums, curriculum development, discussion and networking. To prepare the next generation of educators, the curriculum work of workshop participants is disseminated in Khmer and English to other classroom teachers.
Early 2009 - The PEACE Fund donates a further $10,000
In early 2009 The PEACE Fund donated a further USD $10,000 to enable TAB Australia to run a series of much needed workshops in Cambodia aimed at improving literacy levels amongst schoolchildren. Sue Slater was one of a group of dedicated teachers who volunteered her time to lead a number of workshops and has written a series of letters.
Click on the links on the links below to read seven 'Letters from Battambang' from Sue Slater which highlights the work of the educators as they continue to address the challenges being faced in Cambodia.
Early 2008 - The PEACE Fund donates $10,000
Early in 2008, Annie Christie flew to Denver to present a $10,000 check from The PEACE Fund to Teachers Across Borders. "I was very impressed with the energy and passion of the people I met," said Annie. "What seemed to move them the most was actually seeing at first hand how much it meant to Cambodian teachers to have these learning opportunities."
