The Impact of Long-Term International Experiences on Career and Technical Educators: A Phenomenological Examination of the International Agricultural Education Fellowship Program

In 2020, the Norman Borlaug Institute for International Agriculture and Development established the International Agricultural Education Fellowship Program (IAEFP) funded by the U. S. Department of Agriculture, Foreign Agricultural Service. The IAEFP provided an opportunity for nine fellows to live in Ghana and implement the school-based agricultural education system, originally based on the vocational agricultural education model from the 1917 Smith Hughes Act. A phenomenological qualitative approach examined the impact of a 10-month international fellowship experience on the fellows and their perceived impact on the rural communities they served from 2021-2022. This study examined the participants' cultural awareness, agricultural enhancement, and professional formation as a result of participating in a long-term international experience. Through analysis, six themes emerged including programmatic adjustments, international development, challenges, personal and professional growth, and personal positivity's. Recommendations from results include for future like-programs to provide intentional and timely training to match context, increase host community and school communication, use reflection and mental health services, carefully outline emergency protocols to participants, adapt participants' roles and responsibilities to match location, and ensure programmatic location sustainability.