German-Algerian University Exchange from the Perspective of Students and Teachers

Abstract

Academic exchange programs provide students and teachers with the opportunity to study or work temporarily at educational institutions abroad. For exchange programs to be successful in promoting intercultural education, they must be designed with their participants in mind. The present study constitutes an investigation of attitudes and expectations of students and teachers with respect to a German—Algerian university exchange program. Germany and Algeria belong to separate cultural spheres—the Western/European and the Arabic/Islamic—and almost no academic exchange has taken place between them to date. The survey’s four participant groups were German ( n = 270) and Algerian students ( n = 214), and German ( n = 24) and Algerian teachers ( n = 43). The study revealed large differences in the hopes and fears that German and Algerian university students and teachers attach to reciprocal academic exchange. The study’s ramifications for the future planning of a German—Algerian university exchange program are discussed.