Summary: The U.S. Embassy in Dushanbe is pleased to invite candidate applications for the Summer 2020 Study of the U.S. Institutes for Secondary School Educators.
- Program overview:
The Study of the U.S. Institutes for Secondary Educators are intensive post-graduate level academic programs with integrated study tours whose purpose is to provide foreign secondary educators and administrators the opportunity to deepen their understanding of U.S. society, culture, values, and institutions. The ultimate goal of the Institutes is to strengthen curricula and to enhance the quality of teaching about the United States in secondary schools and other academic institutions abroad. Prospective applicants are encouraged to visit our website to obtain general information about the Institutes. The address is http://exchanges.state.gov/susi.
The Study of the U.S. Institutes for Secondary Educators will take place over the course of five weeks in June 2020. Three Institutes for Secondary Educators will be offered, two with a focus on classroom teachers and the third with a focus on administrators, including teacher trainers, curriculum developers, textbook writers, and ministry of education officials, among others. Each Institute will have 20 participants and will include a four-week academic residency component and a one week integrated study tour.
- Institute description:
The Study of the U.S. Institutes for Secondary Educators will provide a multinational group of experienced secondary school educators (including teachers, administrators, teacher trainers, curriculum developers, textbook writers, ministry of education officials, and others) with a deeper understanding of U.S. society, education, and culture – past and present. The focus of the Institutes will be on providing content and materials for participants to develop high school level curricula about the United States. Two of the Institutes are tailored for secondary school teachers – please note that the Institutes for Teachers focus on content and materials about the United States rather than teaching methods and pedagogy. The third Institute is tailored for experienced administrators including teacher trainers, curriculum developers, textbook writers, ministry of education officials, and others.
Through a combination of traditional, multi-disciplinary, and interdisciplinary approaches, program content will examine the history and evolution of U.S. institutions and values, broadly defined. The programs will also serve to illuminate contemporary political, social, and economic debates in American society. The four-week academic residencies will take place at U.S. university and college campuses and will consist of a balanced series of lectures, panels, seminar discussions, readings, workshops, site visits, meetings with practitioners in the field, and cultural activities. A one-week study tour to a different region of the United States will complement the academic residencies. One goal of the study tours is to showcase the cultural, geographic, and ethnic diversity of the United States. The program features curriculum based on the study of how America’s foundations and historical development have shaped and continue to inform U.S. politics, economics, and society. A key cultural component of the program involves community service activities, which will provide participants with first-hand experience of how volunteerism plays a vital role in U.S. civil society. The program will offer multiple opportunities for follow-on engagement through alumni webinars, grant-funded follow-on projects, social media, and an alumni workshop at the end of the three-year award period in 2021.
- Candidate description and qualifications:
- Study of the U.S. Institutes are highly competitive. Priority will be given to candidates who have firm plans to enhance, update or develop courses and/or educational materials with a U.S. studies focus or component, who have no prior or limited experience in the United States, and who have special interest in the program subject areas as demonstrated through past scholarship, accomplishments, and professional duties.
- Candidates should be mid-career, between the ages of 30 and 50, highly-motivated and experienced secondary school educators. Ideal candidates are secondary school teachers, teacher trainers, curriculum developers, textbook writers, ministry of education officials, secondary school administrators, or other related professionals with responsibility for secondary education.
- Candidates must demonstrate English language fluency. Institutes are rigorous and demanding programs; participants will be expected to handle substantial reading assignments in English and to fully and actively participate in all seminar and panel discussions. English fluency is vital to a successful experience in the Institute.
Questions about the application process, as well as completed applications (Word – 39 KB), should be submitted NO LATER THAN December 16, 2019 at 17:00 to: USAExchangesDushanbe@state.gov
