Crossing Borders with Students 5: Choose Team Leaders Carefully

One of the first steps in planning an international trip with students is choosing adult team leaders for the trip. This is an important first step; however, it is sometimes difficult to find individuals who want to give up their vacation time to lead a group of students. Unfortunately, this too often translates into trips being poorly led, i.e., getting stuck with leaders who "are available" rather than the best individual to lead the trip. It is not always the best to settle for those who volunteer, especially if they don't meet certain standards. When I began this series on Crossing Borders with Students, I briefly explained this point in the introduction. Here is the brief summary on the importance of team leaders ...

Choose Team Leaders Carefully. Just as the success in a classroom is closely tied to the strengths of a teacher, the success of an international trip depends on the leaders. Team leaders should have experience with travel to the country (or, at least, region) of the trip and success in working with students outside of the classroom. It is one thing to teach a class to students one hour a day, and it is quite another thing to spend 24 hours a day for a number of weeks in a foreign country with students. Poor team leaders can destroy an otherwise amazing trip for students; effective team leaders can make any trip an amazing learning experience for students.

Many teams will have multiple team leaders, depending on the size of the team. Ideally, each of the team leaders would be fully equipped to lead a team, as they will definitely impact the experience, but at least one of the team leaders should have the following qualities.

Travel Experience -- Team leaders should have travel experience to the specific country before leading. If they have never traveled to the country, then travel to the geographic region would be beneficial; if they haven't traveled to the country or region, they should, at the very least, have international travel experience. Team leaders should not be experiencing the full effects of "culture shock" while trying to lead a group of students through that same "culture shock" experience. I know that there will always be a first time someone travels to a foreign country, and there will be times when the team leaders will be learning right alongside of the students; however, that is not ideal. It would be worth the money to send a team leader on a weekend "vision trip" to help plan the trip. (The importance of this point can be lessened if the trip has excellent cultural guides established.)

Problem-Solving Ability -- Issues arise when you cross borders with students. Someone will get sick, something will get lost/stolen, a scheduled activity will get changed, and each member will experience culture shock (each at a different level). Team leaders must be able to problem solve, think on their feet, counsel students, and adapt to change without stressing out. Team leaders who cannot "roll with the situation" end up stressing out themselves, causing undue angst among the team members, and potentially ruining the trip. To be honest, some teachers (and adults) are wound too tightly to be a team leader on an international trip with students; their anxiety and stress because everything is not going exactly as planned will infect the students and poison the trip (okay ... that may be a little harsh, but I've seen a hyper-sensitive team leader "freak out" and take all the joy out of the experience). Team leaders need to relax, be willing and able to adapt to changing situations, and handle problems with grace and confidence (at least outwardly).

Experience with Students Outside of the Classroom -- Students are different outside of the classroom, and some adults don't like students outside of the classroom. Many teachers go into teaching because they are comfortable with the structured learning and control that they have over students. They don't enjoy spending time outside of school with students, in fact, they spend their nights and weekends avoiding places where they might run into students. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but these teachers probably are not the best candidates to lead a trip to a foreign country. However, the opposite is also true; many teachers love to connect with students outside of the classroom and enjoy spending time just hanging out and visiting with students. Coaches, obviously, have experience with students outside of the classroom in practices and rehearsals and they have experience with them on bus rides and potentially overnight trips. If  coaches enjoy this aspect of their jobs, they have the experience to be excellent team leaders. However, many teachers/professors go into the profession so that they can impact the students outside of the classroom and are excellent mentors and friends to students ... find those individuals to lead your trips.

As I mentioned, the success of the trip depends as much on the team leaders as success in the classroom depends on the quality of the teacher. Don't settle for whoever volunteers; be intentional and choose team leaders carefully.