Letter from Phil Kirk

VIF Adds International Flavor to Schools

The highly successful Visiting International Faculty Program got its start in North Carolina in 1987.

VIF, an international exchange program that seeks to transform lives through cultural exchange, placed 12 international teachers in 10 North Carolina school systems as foreign language teachers in cooperation with the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction.

Fifteen years later, VIF places 1,700 teachers in North Carolina, Virginia, Colorado, South Carolina, New Jersey, Georgia, California and Kansas.

The Chapel Hill-based program really put its expansion in high gear in 1996 when the N.C. Department of Public Instruction asked it to provide high-quality teachers in other subjects.

Participating teachers are required to be fluent in English, have a university degree or teaching diploma equivalent to a U.S. bachelor’s degree and have teacher training and experience at the elementary or secondary level. Teachers are selected from more than 40 countries.

The selection process is extremely competitive — only one in 10 applicants is selected for the program. The selection process includes an application, verification of credentials, references and personal interviews.

VIF teachers instruct students in a variety of subjects, including foreign languages, math, science, special education, English as a second language and elementary education.

The lucky students who have VIF teachers receive both high-quality instruction and intensive interaction with another culture. The teachers also work as cultural ambassadors in the communities where they live. Seventy counties in North Carolina have enjoyed the services of VIF teachers. Alamance-Burlington, Charlotte-Mecklenburg, Guilford, Cumberland and Wake systems enjoyed the services of VIF teachers in the highest numbers last year. More than half of the N.C. teachers are in low-wealth districts.

Heading the competent, experienced VIF staff are executive directors Alan Young and David Young. They are the sons of Dr. Fred Young, retired Elon University president. The staff includes many longtime educators with expertise in teaching a variety of subjects.

Program participants are full-time teachers and fulfill the same job requirements as their local peers. VIF provides logistical and follow-up support in at least 40 different areas, including travel plans, housing and transportation assistance, health coverage and other fringe benefits, tax and budget workshops, peer assistance, newsletters, cultural exchange activities and much more.

Fran Hoch of the N.C. Department of Public Instruction says, “The quality of VIF teachers always amazes me.” She also says that 90 to 95 percent of the districts initially signed up for the program because of the teacher shortage. “But the reason they keep at it is because their teachers have been so successful.”

Local school districts say that VIF teachers have enjoyed more than a 90 percent approval rating over the history of the program. Further, more than 80 percent of VIF teachers have received “outstanding/superior” or “above average” ratings from past districts.

VIF is constantly changing and improving its services to school systems in more states. Last year, VIF began placing teachers from the U.S. in schools in the United Kingdom.

To learn more, visit www.vifprogram.com.

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