13. Questions? Natalie Arsenault, Outreach Director Teresa Lozano Long Institute of Latin American Studies The University of Texas at Austin [email_address] (512) 232-2404 Web site: www.utexas.edu/cola/insts/llilas/outreach/ Hemispheres: www.utexas.edu/orgs/hemispheres/
Notas do Editor
Teacher training is our #1 mandate when funded by Title VI—this can be of great benefit to international studies schools/educators Working with global studies schools: In-depth work with teachers/students at programs already dedicated to international content. Can offer students deeper resources than others get; can continue to train teachers on current trends/thinking. One of the positive things about these programs, in my experience, is that they are much more goal-oriented than most high school programs. They know specifically what they want (graduate profile) and look for ways to create that person. They also have a lot more flexibility in their programming and can integrate us in a more regular, more meaningful way. You have something to offer us: easier evaluation (track students over time), group with consistent interest & innovative teaching techniques. Long-term meaningful impact.
Each of these serves the same purpose, but perhaps to slightly different audiences (those who can come to campus vs. those who have flexibility to travel vs. those who have limited opportunities/time to leave campus/district). In the end, all of it is about giving you resources to which you would not normally have access.
Summer Institutes and academic year workshops for teachers: offered by NRCs around the nation, variety of topics/themes depending on the strengths of the university, geared at various levels of educators, different lengths—essentially, there are a lot of choices if teachers are interested and willing to travel On-campus programs: allow for an intensive period out of your normal environment, larger groups of teachers, focused on one critical theme Goal is to make participants feel like they’re in college again—content-rich programs (there is some attention paid to pedagogy/methodology, but not as strong as content)
These themes all pull on the strengths of a university. For example, upcoming workshop on Joyce Horman & Edmund Horman Papers (The papers document the work by Joyce Horman and Edmund Horman to discover the truth behind the abduction, torture and murder of American journalist Charles Horman during the September 1973 coup d'état in Chile by Augusto Pinochet.) Give you access to something not accessible to most people. – A lot of these workshops are meant to draw your attention to resources that you didn’t know existed.
Study abroad: educational travel, longer period (often), smaller group, often a wider variety of topics but focused on one country (and, possibly, a key theme), opportunity for curriculum development. Story of the photo: who is in it and why
We all know the value of learning abroad—the richness and personal experience that can enhance teaching. This is exactly what we justify when we write grants for teacher travel: there are things you can learn in-country that you simply can’t get in books or online. These are seminars—not vacation. GPAs: competitive application; participant cost ≥$1,000; curriculum project SAs: competitive application in early fall; $400 participant fees; curriculum project NEH: various themes, 4–6 weeks, not all involve international travel Short term: Shorter (10–14 days); may be subsidized or paid fully by participants (more expensive); first-come, first-served. Turkey group.
National networks that will help you attend: CLASP and MEOC—we try to be informed about others’ workshops, so come to us with questions; also other scholarship sources for the study abroad
Call and ask—most universities with outreach programs will be happy to tailor workshops to serve your campus or district needs. Can be an ongoing series of talks. The most personalized form of teacher training. We do them for free, but are limited. If you have funds to pay for travel, will open even more doors. Conducted on-site, so all of your teachers/colleagues can attend—not dependent on ability to travel or pay. Can be part of your required professional development days. Can be combination of content, curriculum, and hands-on activities. Can be an afternoon or a whole day, interactive or lecture-style—you help determine the format. Think about inviting NRCs to school- or district-wide training events—most are happy to do conference-style presentations for these events. One caveat: if you are very far from a university that has an NRC, may be hard to schedule. However, we are located all over the country, and some of us are willing to travel if there is some funding.
Facilitating attendance/professional development : Work with your teachers to determine workshops of interest, strategize ways to cover various on-campus workshops if necessary Help disseminate information that comes through your office (a big one!) Funding. Support with higher administration—this needs to be presented as important. Offer opportunities for educators who have participated to share their experiences in professional development sessions, team planning, etc.—get the biggest bang for you buck by sharing (also helps to promote these programs—gets others excited) Everything—from units to workshops—are planned in consultation with teachers. Story of AISD and migration. Key questions: What standards/objectives do you have problems with? What subject areas do you feel you haven’t had enough training to teach? Our presentation of migration in Arlington ended with that curriculum coordinator saying, “if all our teachers don’t start using this, then we have a serious problem.”
Benefits of these workshops for educators who are dedicated to global learning : expands knowledge of regions with which you are less familiar, exposure to current trends (e.g., Afro-latin—see photos), access to leading scholars and university resources (you get to ask them questions) puts resources in your hands that would take you a lot longer to find on your own—saves you time in curriculum development/resource gathering sometimes, we create curriculum (or may pay you to do so) out of our workshops. Study abroad seminars often set aside time for curriculum planning and brainstorming with the other participants Content, content, content—supplements textbooks and other resources Not every lecture will be relevant to your course, but the background knowledge is helpful. Helps you frame larger questions/issues around the world. Bring back knowledge for your team Challenges for educators (but we can help) : how to take these new ideas and bring them back to your schools/classrooms We see ourselves primarily as content providers—while we may bring some university or master teacher expertise to bear on the topic, most of the responsibility for classroom incorporation still rests on your shoulders.
Lots of resources/handouts can help with curriculum development Think about relevant themes and how information from the workshop can help address them: are there slides from a speaker, an excerpt from a handout that are appropriate to stimulate class discussion? Can the materials be used to create curriculum? Can the organizer help find additional resources that are useful in your classroom? You will never incorporate all of it, but parts will be relevant and you should focus on those. You never know how other topics covered may be relevant one day…
Resources from others who have attended : Be a team—split up among interesting workshops and share info. Check with the organizers—they may have materials to loan from others or may be developing new materials themselves. Go online to outreachworld and various NRC Web sites.