Trips and Experiences

Experience Southeast Asia Firsthand: Live and Teach in Indonesia or Malaysia summer 2027

Indonesia, an archipelago nation with 17,000 islands and 700 distinct languages and ethnicities, is a country of beautiful beaches, ancient Hindu and Buddhist Temples, incredibly delicious food, and some of the friendliest and accepting people on this planet.

Malaysia, a land known for its stunning natural diversity, from ancient rainforests to beautiful beaches and historic religious temples influenced by the Malay, Indian and Chinese cultures. A land where you can see monkeys on a regular basis, eat exotic fruit, and taste food from India, China and/or Malaysia.

We are taking applications for our trips to Indonesia and Malaysia. If accepted, you will either be teaching in a K-12 school with Indonesian teachers to Indonesian students or you will be teaching in a combined middle/high school to Malaysian students for three weeks.

Trip Description

The first part of the experience in spring 2027 will include six three-hour face-to-face Saturday morning pre-departure orientations (9 am –12 pm) in Gabel Hall and one Friday night online session where NIU pre-service teachers are paired with Indonesian/Malaysian teachers with whom they will teach while in the respective country. Whatever grade level you are preparing to teach at NIU is the grade level you will be teaching in Indonesia (pre-K through 12) or 6-12 grade in Malaysia. Since both these schools are private Islamic schools, the students are from the local areas and will provide a real-life experience teaching children of all ages, skill levels and socio-economic statuses. NIU pre-service teachers will work with an Indonesian/Malaysian co-teacher to co-plan and co-teach the students.

The second part of the experience will include traveling to and living in the respective country.

For the Malaysia trip, we will be departing from O’Hare International Airport on June 16 and returning on July 11, 2027. NIU pre-service teachers will stay in a guest house on the school’s campus. The school is a boarding school, so the students will be living on campus too.

For the students going to Indonesia, we will be traveling from July 14 and returning Aug. 9, 2027. NIU pre-service teachers will stay in a 'resort' about 20 minutes from the school. The host school will provide transportation to and from school each morning/afternoon.

NIU students will receive at no cost: round trip airfare, housing and food.

NIU students are responsible for a valid passport, immunizations, personal spending money and admission costs to select cultural attractions on weekend excursions (approximately $500). From past experiences, we suggest you take two suitcases, one of them empty to be filled up with gifts for when you return.

James Cohen, Ph.D., professor of ESL/Bilingual and Teresa Wasonga, Ed.D., professor of Educational Administration, will serve as the faculty mentors for the trip to Malaysia. James Cohen, Ph.D., and Lin Zhu, Ph.D., assistant professor of early childhood education, will serve as the faculty mentors for the trip to Indonesia.

Pre-departure Orientation

Selected students will be responsible for attending six three-hour Saturday morning sessions where you will receive instruction on the following:

• An introduction to Indonesian/Malaysian language and culture
• Pedagogical orientation
• Perspectives orientation
• Logistics
• Debriefing of Online Sessions

Online Sessions

NIU pre-service teachers selected for each trip will participate in one online session to introduce themselves to their Indonesian/Malaysian co-teacher and begin making plans for the three weeks of teaching in country. The purpose of these sessions is for you to get to know the Indonesian/Malaysian teacher, their expectations, their English language proficiency and their curriculum needs and interests. The session will take place on a Friday evening from 8 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. These are scheduled to account for the time change as Indonesia is 12 hours ahead of our CST. For the Malaysian trip, we will also meet on Friday nights, for Malaysia is 14 hours ahead of us.

Three-week Summer Session

Malaysian Trip

On Wednesday June 16, 2027, we will travel to Imtiyaz Islamic School, one hour outside of Kuala Lumpur located in the middle of a Palm tree plantation/forest. It will take us two days to arrive to Malaysia (arriving Friday). You will start teaching the following Monday morning and will teach five days a week for a minimum of three hours each day. Your students will be at the middle or high school level.

Return: Friday, July 9, 2027, will be your last day of teaching. We will leave Kuala Lumpur on Sunday, July 11, 2027.

Indonesian Trip

On Wednesday, July 14, 2027, we will travel to Al Azhar Yogyakarta Islamic School in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. It will take approximately two days to arrive (Friday). You will start teaching the following Monday morning and will teach five days a week for approximately three to five hours each day. Your students will be at the grade level you chose to teach (pre-K, elementary, middle school or high school).

Return: Friday, Aug. 6, 2027, will be your last day of teaching. Depending on cost of flights, we may or may not spend one or two nights in Jakarta on our return trip to Chicago, which will be either August 8, 9 or 10.

Application

All applications must be received by 5 p.m. on Friday, October 30, 2026. In your essay, please indicate which country, Indonesia or Malasia, you would like to travel to, or if you are open to participate in either experience.

Apply Today

Funding

We would like to thank the Arthur D. and Florence S. Graffam Fund from the NIU College of Education, the NIU Center for Southeast Asian Studies and DXN (for the Malaysian trip). We would also like to thank Al Azhar World Schools and Imtiyaz for not only their incredible partnership with NIU, but their willingness to provide room, board and local transportation while in country.

Educate Global

Engage Global