The Peace Corps education program is a beacon of light in the international community. Daily, Peace Corps volunteers overcome the challenges of culture shock, scarce instructional resources, and interpersonal relations to teach a wide range of subjects from English to new housing construction. Volunteers insist that they have learned more from their host countries than they themselves have contributed.
The Peace Corps is an agency of the U.S. government. Established in 1961, the Corps has three goals. The first is to provide trained manpower for Third World nations. The second goal is to teach foreign people about American culture, through contact with Americans. And the third goal is to afford volunteers the opportunity to learn about other cultures, again through firsthand contact. The education function of the Peace Corps pertains to all three goals. As one African educator observed, "Peace Corps teachers have been a force for development and change, and they still are" (Rice, 1986, p. 32).
Much of the Peace Corps' current recruitment strategy involves encouraging the participation of college undergraduate students, particularly those with liberal arts backgrounds. The agency maintains recruitment offices in major metropolitan areas of the United States. Recruiters visit colleges, speak at career planning functions, and disseminate literature about the Corps: "College students interested in joining the Peace Corps are tailoring their academic and extracurricular lives to make themselves more competitive in the Peace Corps selection process" (U.S. Congress, 1990, p. 12). Recently, the Peace Corps has focused part of its recruitment efforts on mid-career professionals and retirees.
The Peace Corps volunteer application process is extensive and selective. The process involves essays, letters of recommendation, medical and dental examinations, and interviews. Even if the applicant meets all the requirements, ...