Teacher Leaders Visit AACTE
Last week, members of the Teacher Leader program at the College of Charleston’s School of Education, Health, and Human Performance (SC) visited Washington, DC, and met with government and nonprofit agencies and associations, including AACTE, as well as leaders from educational think tanks and policy makers.
While at AACTE, the 10 Teacher Leaders had an opportunity to meet with AACTE staff as well as with our partners at the American Council on Education, the American Psychological Association, the Coalition for Education Funding, and the STEM Education Coalition. The experience helped the Teacher Leaders expand their understanding of the larger political contexts in which their work is situated and the ways in which those contexts influence teaching at the local level.
Teacher Leader Taylor Fleming said, “It’s been an eye-opening experience to learn about the complex interactions and dynamics happening in Congress and among policy makers in D.C. as they make decisions that will have repercussions for what I will do in my classroom hundreds of miles away.”
Now in its third year, the Teacher Leader program at the College of Charleston is intended to foster the professional development of highly motivated students by providing them with challenging extracurricular opportunities in the education community. According to Dean Frances Welch, “The goal is to help Teacher Leaders fully understand the educational landscape and give them the tools to traverse the landscape as effective communicators, problem solvers, and innovators and to inspire and motivate them to take active roles in education and reform efforts.”
To learn more about the program, contact coordinator Rachel Etchason at etchasonra@cofc.edu.
Tags: AACTE partner organizations, teacher leaders
