WEB NEWS RELEASE
Dean Donna Wiseman (right) confers with attendees of the College's 2009 colloquium on Internationalizing Teacher Education
COLLEGE PARK, MD (December 2009) - Educators, administrators and researchers from across the State were on hand to share information on their current projects, as well as generate ideas for new initiatives and potential collaborations, at the second annual Internationalizing Teacher Education Colloquium, hosted last month by the College's 2009 cohort of GATE (Global Awareness in Teacher Education) Fellows. Keynote speaker Nancy Grasmick, Maryland State Superintendent of Schools, emphasized the increasing importance of the global perspective within Maryland's classrooms. "It is only through teacher education that this can truly happen," she stated.
Jim Greenberg, director of the College's Office of International Initiatives, agreed. "Through internationalizing teacher education, we can broaden the perspectives of our future educators in ways that will help them see global connections in the subjects they teach." He added that the GATE Program is hoping to build a statewide network of people who are working on initiatives related to international education.
GATE Fellow Sherick Hughes explains the new course he's creating entitled, "Global Research, Education & You"
Colloquium attendees listened to presentations from GATE Fellows on their various research projects, with subject areas ranging from mathematics, and language arts, to special education and science. Each of the Fellows' projects demonstrated how international experiences can be incorporated in today's classrooms.
For example, GATE Fellow and assistant professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction, Sherick Hughes, is creating an undergraduate general education course titled, "Global Research, Education & You (G-REDY)." His course not only aims to expose future teachers to a global perspective, but also fulfills his personal mission to connect more of his research, teaching and service to intercultural and intergroup collaboration on campus.
For more information on the GATE Program and/or the GATE Fellows' projects, visit the Office of International Initiatives web site at www.education.umd.edu/international.
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For more information on the College of Education, visit: www.education.umd.edu
or contact Halima Cherif, Assistant Director for Communications, at: hcherif@umd.edu
