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Smithsonian Science Education Academy for Teachers: Resilience and STEM Education

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Jacqueline Kolb Jacqueline Kolb 30 Points

For the first time ever, the Smithsonianis bringing together an international cohort of educators to engage in a week-long, in-person professional development on resilience, half of which will be hosted by the Smithsonian Science Education Center (SSEC) in Washington DC, while the other half will be hosted by our partners at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) in Panama. Smithsonian will cover the cost of travel to and within both locations, as well as lodging and most meals throughout the program, which will take place June 8-16, 2024.  

During the professional development academy, SSEC and STRI will provide formal training on transdisciplinary science pedagogy, space for educators to exchange their knowledge and collaborate with their peers and engage in experiential learning on the topics of personal resilience, community and cultural resilience, and resilience in the natural and human-built worlds. 

If you are interested in this program, please submit your application by April 26th.  Due to the design of this program, preference will be given to applicants who are intermediate level Spanish-speakers or above and middle-grade (6-8) science/environmental studies educators, but we welcome you to apply if you don't check all those boxes. More details about the program can be found here, or please feel free to contact Layla Sastry at [email protected] with any questions

Ollie Bogdon Ollie 9350 Points

WOW!  What an opportunity.  The timing was not good for me this summer, but I certainly would be interested in future projects similar to this.  'Back in the day,' I used to take groups of science teachers on international excursions (optional graduate credit for those who were interested) not only to explore and investigate science issues/content they could take back and use with their students, but immerse themselves with locals and their culture and conduct interviews to understand cultural perspectives to issues in science better.  Connecting culture and science was an opening experience for the teachers, and many an evening after dinner, our discussions went well into the night as we shared, compared, challenged, ... each other.  Reading your post brought back many memories.  

I hope your program accomplished your goals this summer, and I look forward to future opportunities.  Your program design seemed spot on.

Peace,

Ollie

 

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