Fourteen students from South Korea’s National University of Education (KNUE) visited the College of Education and Human Development at the University of Nevada, Reno at the start of the Spring 2026 semester. They visited several local schools and institutions to learn about the U.S. educational system and culture during the weeklong program.  These students are studying in teacher preparation programs in South Korea.  

KNUE students learned about the U.S. education system during a visit to Doral Academy.

During the week, the students visited several local public schools, including Doral Academy, Hug High School, Debbie Smith Academy and Herz Middle School. Students had a chance to tour each school and visit classrooms to get a firsthand look at how U.S. students learn. On the University campus, students sat in on several College of Education and Human Development courses throughout the week and visited the Child and Family Research Center. The students also visited the University’s Lake Tahoe campus. 

KNUE students enjoyed s’mores at the University’s Lake Tahoe campus.

For both universities, this program gives students and faculty the opportunity to collaboratively build a global perspective on education. By learning from each other’s ideas, both cultures can strengthen and grow their own education systems. And for KNUE, building this globalized, interconnected culture is a top priority. 

“I want our students to be interconnected with the University of Nevada, Reno,” said Joosang Lee, a KNUE faculty member who accompanied the students on the trip. “And then they will have an open mind about other people, other cultures and other countries.” 

“I went on this trip because I wanted to learn more about diversity around the world,” said Chaeyun Lee, a student studying music education at KNUE. “I wanted to meet people from all over the world and have conversations with them. And I wanted to learn how the U.S. education system works and how students communicate with their teachers and professors.” 

Cultivating connections among students has been an important part of the program. Several events throughout the week were held for both University of Nevada, Reno and KNUE students, where they had a chance to mingle while learning about each other’s cultures. The event organizers wanted to create opportunities for students to learn about each other's broader cultures in a curious, inclusive space. 

“That’s something I really admire about our environment here,” said doctoral student Hanine Haidar, who helped coordinate this year’s program. “The way we don’t minimize people to just food, or singular elements of their culture, but we maximize them by accepting them for who they are.” 

The program was first established by an MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) signed between University of Nevada, Reno President Brian Sandoval and Korea National University of Education President Kim Jongwoo in late 2023, and the first visit by South Korean students was held in January 2024. Each year since, students from both universities have visited each other’s countries and institutions.

In May, several University of Nevada, Reno students will visit KNUE. This program gives an opportunity for this year’s cohort of University of Nevada, Reno students to meet the South Korean students now, so they will already have connections when they visit South Korea in March 2026.  

“This program has provided excellent opportunities for our future teachers to experience diverse educational settings and cultures, enhance their understanding of different educational approaches and build friendships through interactions with pre-service teachers from two different countries,” said Hyun-Joo Jeon, Ph.D., professor of Human Development and Family Science, who developed and led the short-term exchange program.

(From left to right) Mehmet Tosun, Joosang Lee, Man Seob Lee, Mihyun Koh, Hyun-Joo Jeon, Ramya Fernandez and Dean Donald Easton-Brooks.

“It was very important for us to create events where these students would get to interact a lot over this week, so that when our students go to South Korea, they have some connections that they made from their visit here,” said Ramya Fernandez, CPA, MPH, assistant dean of operations, who helped coordinate this year’s program.