Indiana’s ‘Global Gateway for Teachers’ to Be Recognized With AACTE Best Practice Award
AACTE has selected the Global Gateway for Teachers, offered through the School of Education at Indiana University (Bloomington), to receive the 2016 AACTE Best Practice Award in Support of Global and International Perspectives. The award will be presented at the 68th AACTE Annual Meeting Welcoming Session, Tuesday, February 23, at The Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas.
The Gateway program, in existence in various forms for over 40 years, aims to enhance and engage the professional preparation of future educators by offering them experiences in schools, homes, and communities of culturally and linguistic diverse groups in 18 countries and in domestic placements on Navajo reservations and in urban Chicago. Participants are engaged in 18 weeks of student teaching abroad as well as domestically where they immerse themselves in the language, the culture, and the educational system of that nation or community.
The program is directed by Laura L. Stachowski and enjoys strong support from the School of Education’s administration, including Dean Emeritus Gerardo Gonzalez and Interim Dean Terrence Mason.
“Of the many programs that distinguish the Indiana University School of Education, none is more unique and important than the Global Gateway for Teachers,” Mason said. “For decades our undergraduates have benefited from the opportunity to teach in classrooms around the world and in culturally diverse settings in the U.S. We are honored to have received this award as recognition for the outstanding work of the Global Gateway staff. Their efforts have made this one of our signature programs and have contributed to our reputation as one of the leading schools of education in the country.”
The Gateway program has received numerous awards and has been featured in refereed journals, in practitioner magazines, and in book chapters for its effective support of teaching and learning from a global and local perspective. One part of this program, formerly known as the “Overseas Student Teaching Project” component of the Cultural Immersion Projects, received the same AACTE award in 2001. The AACTE Committee on Global Diversity, which oversees the award, found the new Gateway worthy of its own honor this year. Given its expanded programs—including placements for student teachers from several other universities—and new host nations, it was worth another look. The committee praised the Gateway program’s strong record of providing rich and rigorous cultural and language immersion experiences in overseas schools as well as in its domestic programs.
Offered annually, AACTE’s Best Practice Award in Support of Global and International Perspectives recognizes a member institution for exemplary practice in the intercultural, global, cross-cultural, and international arenas. It is sponsored by AACTE’s Committee on Global Diversity as part of its mission to assure that a global/international perspective is brought to policy and programs associated with the preparation of education professionals.
AACTE issued a press release today announcing all of its 2016 award winners. For more information on AACTE’s awards program, visit http://aacte.org/professional-development-and-events/awards. Applications for next year’s awards open in June.
Tags: Annual Meeting, diversity, global issues
