The School for New Learning (SNL) at DePaul University is expanding its impact by offering its Master of Arts in Applied Professional Studies (MAAPS) program to teachers at a Catholic elementary and secondary school in Southeast Asia. The program, which is taught onsite, affords teachers at St. Gabriel’s College in Bangkok the opportunity to design and implement strategies to enable adults and youth to learn well in an intercontinental context.

SNL has earned an international reputation for its imaginative educational options, such as allowing students to fashion individualized curricula based on their particularized needs, onsite degree programs and credit for learning through experience. The MAAPS Program—Bangkok builds upon the SNL model and integrates multiple approaches to education that bridge—rather than neutralize—cultural differences.

SNL first offered its MAAPS program at DePaul in 1984 to help leaders and professionals more effectively respond dynamically to changing conditions at work and in their communities. Following that same example, the Bangkok program has been customized for teachers in Thailand who want to be education leaders in a world that is becoming increasingly interdependent in its global exchanges.

There are 32 students in the maiden class of the Bangkok program. All of them have an aptitude for English and between five and 25 years of teaching experience. The students will work as a cluster. All will be teachers by day and students in the evening. The group is expected to complete the program in October of 2006.

“When we looked at customizing SNL’s MAAPS program for students in Southeast Asia, we incorporated the best teaching practices and learning theories for both America and Bangkok,” said Gabriele Strohschen, who directs graduate programs for SNL and who traveled to Bangkok to teach the first courses. “The program is guided by a committee of professional educators with experience in international and bilingual education. The committee is actively involved in course design and identifying best practices for the program.”

Courses taught in the MAAPS Program—Bangkok include select offerings that give students a treasure chest of skills that they can then translate into success in a bilingual educational setting. They learn such things as how the origins, dynamics and impact of prejudice can raise barriers in today’s increasingly diverse, global society; what challenges practitioners face in social, cultural and international contexts; and how they can build integrated, bilingual curricula and how they can discern the appropriate use of technology-based media for effective learning.

The MAAPS Program—Bangkok is the second SNL-modeled program available in Asia. An onsite Bachelor of Arts degree program has been offered to employees at the International Bank of Asia in Hong Kong. It, like the MAAPS Program—Bangkok, integrates the theoretical and practical components of learning and specifically targets the needs of adult learners.

“Our work with the adult learners in South Asia has been important,” said Susanne Dumbleton, dean of SNL. “We at DePaul have been able to offer opportunities that would not otherwise have been available. At the same time, we have learned a great deal about different approaches to education. This mutual exchange makes me confident that the partnership will last for many years to come.”

For more information about the MAAPS Program—Bangkok, contact Gabriele Strohschen at 312/362-5122.