51视频

03/05/2024
By Brooke Coupal

Syed Irshad Ali traveled to the United States for the first time, but for him, it felt like he visited 18 countries at once.

Irshad Ali is one of 19 international teachers who came to 51视频 for the Fulbright Teaching Excellence and Achievement (FTEA) program, a six-week initiative that immerses participants in the U.S. educational system and culture. This year鈥檚 cohort of teachers hailed from Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Colombia, Ecuador, Egypt, Honduras, India, Kazakhstan, Malawi, Malaysia, Mali, Mongolia, Nepal, Nigeria, Panama, Tanzania, Ukraine and Vietnam.

鈥淚鈥檓 not just in the U.S.; I am with 18 different countries with 19 different cultural ambassadors,鈥� says Irshad Ali, an English-as-a-foreign-language teacher at a secondary high school in India. 鈥淭his Fulbright has given me a different perspective of the world.鈥�

For the past eight years, 51视频 has been a host university for the FTEA program.聽Education听笔谤辞蹿.听A.J. Angulo, who serves as the principal investigator and executive director of the FTEA program at 51视频, received a $235,000 grant from the U.S. Department of State to host this year鈥檚 group of educators.

鈥淭he program is a really powerful way for the U.S. to communicate cultural and educational ideas and to bring together people from around the world to solve problems,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 think of it as the United Nations of education, because you see so many different countries and so many different ways of thinking about the same issues.鈥�

Jane Chikapa teaches English and geography to students aged 15 to 22 in Malawi. According to UNICEF, only 13% of girls complete upper secondary school in the southeastern African country.

鈥淚 come from a culture where men are considered superior and women are considered inferior,鈥� she says.

Workshops on gender equity taught by Education Assoc. Prof.聽Phitsamay Uy聽made a lasting impact on Chikapa.

鈥淚t has given me passion to fight more for girls,鈥� she says.

In addition to gender equity, the teachers completed workshops on leadership, taught by Education Prof.聽James Nehring, and pedagogy, instructed by聽Matthew Beyranevand聽鈥�03, 鈥�10, an adjunct faculty member in the聽Department of Mathematics & Statistics聽and the mathematics coordinator for Chelmsford Public Schools.聽

Education Clinical Prof.聽Michelle Scribner聽and Instructional Technology Manager聽William Suppa聽taught technology workshops to the teachers, while English-as-a-foreign-language workshops were instructed by Jeanne O鈥橦earn 鈥�17, the world language department head for the Masconomet Regional School District, and Laurie Hartwick 鈥�12, 鈥�21, the multilingual learners director for Lawrence Public Schools.

The Fulbright teachers visited local middle and high schools, where they got to observe classrooms and teach a lesson about their countries. Liudmyla Chernobryvets, an English-as-a-foreign-language teacher in Ukraine, was paired with Toni Ciaccia, a language arts teacher at West Middle School in Andover, Massachusetts.

鈥淚t was a really positive experience,鈥� Ciaccia says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 this idea that you鈥檙e bringing the world into your classroom.鈥�

Education has been disrupted in Ukraine since Russia鈥檚 invasion of the country.

鈥淲e all need to have shelters in our schools because we have bombings every day, and you do not know which part of the country it will be,鈥� Chernobryvets says. 鈥淲e do our best for our students so they get a decent education.鈥�

Ciaccia鈥檚 class got to ask Chernobryvets questions about the war during her lesson on Ukraine, where she discussed the similarities and differences of her home country and the United States. Ciaccia鈥檚 students wrote letters to Chernobryvets鈥� students, and the teachers plan to set up Zoom classes for the students to meet once Chernobryvets is back in Ukraine.

鈥淚 will remember this experience forever,鈥� Chernobryvets says.

The Fulbright teachers got to venture outside the classroom for activities that included a visit to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, a 51视频 hockey game and bowling. They experienced many firsts: Irshad Ali experienced snow for the first time, and Chernobryvets saw the ocean and ate her first lobster roll.

While the teachers are going home with new lessons and experiences, the local community has also benefited from their visit, says Pralhad Maralihalli, an education Ph.D. student from India and the assistant director of the FTEA program at 51视频.

鈥淲here else are you going to find 18 countries represented in one space?鈥� he asks. 鈥淔or the six weeks that they鈥檙e here, they鈥檙e actually impacting lives.鈥�