Isolated is not a synonym of rural area.�How VE’s bring socially isolated students into a more inclusive learning environment – a personal experience

Rural / remote area = isolated? NOT QUITE! ���

Personal Challenges:

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• Filling out the application form and justifying why I felt isolated while working at a school with over 150 teachers, 1300 students, located in the 4^th most densely populated city in Portugal;
• Making people understand why city children were completely isolated from the society they are living in;
• Explaining to student teachers that creating the same materials in 4 different “degrees of difficulty” is not suitable for a class of 24 students from 15 different nationalities…
• Guiding student teachers preparing materials for 24 students whose English proficiency levels ranged from A1 to C1 in the same class.�

How VE’s opened windows into the future and provided real life experience for student teachers and middle-schoolers alike.

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• VE’s should be part of all Bachelor’s degrees for future teachers. Not only do they give student teachers the opportunity to teach a class in a different country, without travelling, they also provide them with real life experience in different contexts, not always available in their own countries.
• VE’s give students who live in socially isolated contexts the opportunity to dream about a better future. A glimpse into another country’s academic context may motivate them to push themselves forward.
• Despite studying at the school of 50 shades of chocolate, the segregated neighbourhood is their limit within the city. School must be the magical place where doors and windows are opened widely so they can see a shiny light ahead, ready to guide them and give them some hope.

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�The cultural impact during the first online class – the struggle was real!��The outcome – I still do it to this day! Every school year, my new students demand to have the same opportunities my former students did!�Our network is growing!!!