• Civil Society and Governance
  • Civil Society and Governance Overview
  • Institutional Capacity Building
  • Civic Education
  • Citizen Participation
  • Advocacy
  • Democratic Governance
  • Grants Solicitation and Management Capacity
  • Women's and Minority Rights
  • Disenfranchised Groups
• Education
  • Education Overview
  • Basic Education
  • Higher Education
  • Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages
  • Education for Vulnerable Groups
• HIV/AIDS
  • HIV/AIDS Overview
  • HIV/AIDS Prevention
  • Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC)
  • Grants Solicitation and Management Capacity
  • Institutional Capacity Building
• International Exchanges
  • International Professional, Academic, and Cultural Exchanges Overview
  • Undergraduate and Graduate Academic Exchanges
  • Professional Exchanges
  • Youth Exchanges
• Capacity Development and Training
  • Capacity Development and Training Overview
  • Participant Training
  • Institutional Capacity Building
  • Undergraduate and Graduate Academic Exchanges
  • Grant Solicitation and Management Capacity
  • Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages

International Professional, Academic, and Cultural Exchanges

Youth Exchanges

World Learning's Visitor Exchange Program administers youth exchange programs to foster greater understanding and respect between the youth of the United States and other countries worldwide.  Projects focus on specific themes, ranging from civic participation and volunteerism to leadership development through sports and activism.  Though primarily designed for students, some programs also enable high school teachers, community leaders, and staff of non-governmental organizations to participate as well.  In collaboration with the SIT Graduate Institute, World Learning's institute of higher education, the Visitor Exchange Program has created an effective model that helps participants to gain a stronger sense of civic responsibility; establish relationships with others of different ethnic, religious, and national groups; and develop the skills and knowledge to transform their communities and countries.

Programs are funded through US government sources, including the State Department's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, Office of Citizen Exchanges Youth Division, and US Embassies.

World Learning partners with international local non-governmental organizations or in-country World Learning Field Offices to conduct the recruitment and selection process of youth leadership participants.  In the US, World Learning partners with members of the National Council of International Visitors and local non-governmental organizations who specialize in youth education and programming.

World Learning's youth programs use cross-cultural and experiential education pedagogy to design programs that are:

• Highly interactive, dynamic, interesting, hands-on and action oriented;
• Discussion based, with ample opportunity for students' voices to be heard;
• Sensitive to the group's English abilities;
• Mindful and inclusive of cultural, political, and ethnic identities of the group;
• Appropriately paced for the age group; including length and number of activities; and
• Safe, healthy, fun, relevant and empowering.

Before the program, I didn’t think about myself as a leader, but after this I am self-confident enough to believe that I can change some people's behavior.

Youth Exchange Participant

“I will be active in my community.  I will try to use all skills that I learned here to improve the position of youth in my community”

Youth Exchange Participant

“The most important thing I learned is how to be a leader to yourself, and setting an example to society.”

Youth Exchange Participant

“As a young leader, I would like to implement all I've learned via making projects that will help my community.”

Youth Exchanges Participant