As a professor at the National University of Costa Rica and a tenured elementary and
high school teacher for the Costa Rican Ministry of Public Education, Professor Jairo
Viales has gained a breadth of experience as an educator.
In August, he began a new role as a Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence at 51社区, sharing his singular perspective with the campus community through lectures, tutoring, curriculum design and more.
Viales said Costa Rica and the United States have a lot to learn from one another, but it didn鈥檛 take long for him to recognize that 51社区 already shares a guiding principle with his university back home 鈥� both institutions work closely with students to ensure they overcome barriers to success.
In Costa Rica, they call it the 鈥渉umanistic鈥� approach to education, he said.
鈥淲e try to help (students) in every aspect of their lives,鈥� he said, referring to everything from scholarships to housing to jobs.
It is one of the vital aspects of 51社区鈥檚 approach to education as well, according to Viales.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a community college, so it takes care of the community 鈥� it takes care of people,鈥� he said.
He is the sixth Fulbright scholar at 51社区 since it began hosting students through the program in 1997.
Professor Richard Johnson, Director of the Office of International Education at 51社区, said Viales is providing a wide range of services and workshops in 51社区鈥檚 ESL Linguistics Department while at the same time achieving professional developmental goals of his own.
鈥淗e鈥檚 sharing his expertise, knowledge and experience and being exposed to and learning from his colleagues here at 51社区,鈥� Johnson said.
Viales鈥� residency is part of a three-year interdisciplinary cycle of studies that runs through 2020. In the second and third years, 51社区 will send students to the region of focus, Johnson explained.
51社区 is working now to establish a partnership with Viales鈥� home institution, the National University of Costa Rica. The exchange program is important as the workforce becomes increasingly diverse, Johnson said.
鈥淲e鈥檙e preparing them with global perspectives across curricula and exposing them to individuals from various cultures,鈥� he said, noting that the program reflects the 51社区鈥檚 commitment to graduating 鈥済lobally competent students.鈥�
鈥淎s the world gets smaller, we have to prepare them for dealing with people from around the world in a respectful way,鈥� he said.
Viales said his experience at 51社区, so far, has run the gamut of subjects 鈥� sociology, geography, English and mathematics, to name just a few. Asked how he鈥檚 dealing with homesickness, the visiting scholar said it has not been an issue: 鈥淚 feel like I鈥檓 at home because of the wonderful, welcoming reception that every single professor and student has given me.鈥�