Global Learning Fellowship

Bring the World to Your Classroom

Play Video

Overview

Through the NEA Foundation Global Learning Fellowship, public school educators develop the knowledge and skills to integrate global competency into their daily classroom instruction, advocate for global competency in their schools and districts, and help students to thrive in our increasingly interconnected world. Fellows transform their classrooms to give students a global perspective.

Over the course of a year, NEA Foundation Global Learning Fellows immerse themselves in:

Ongoing workshops and webinars with global competency and education
Fellows’ independent study followed by group reflection and discussion
Group mentoring
A two-day in-person conference
Completion of a capstone project incorporating one or more of the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals into classroom instructions
A 10-day international field study to examine another country’s education system, culture, and historical context

Described by many fellows as “transformative,” the international field study experience guides fellows through thoughtful investigation of the historical and cultural contexts of the country visited while they also learn about its education system.

Fellows meet with policymakers, community and nonprofit leaders, educators, students, and school administrators. The NEA Foundation carefully selects field study destinations where fellows can forge fruitful relationships while deeply immersing themselves in a new environment. Previous field study destinations include Peru, China, Brazil, South Africa, and Costa Rica.

Fellows emerge from the Global Learning Fellowship with a deeper appreciation for cultural differences, stronger perspective taking skills, and firsthand experience of another culture’s approach to education. Their experiences throughout the fellowship reinforce the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion in meeting the needs of students and communities.

Fellows also develop an informed understanding of what global competency looks like in the classroom, why it’s critical to incorporate it into their teaching practices, and how they can be advocates for global competency at their schools and districts. They establish meaningful relationships with fellows across the country, many maintained throughout their careers and lifetimes.

Since its inception in 2011, more than 500 public school educators have participated in the Global Learning Fellowship. Fellows have come from all 50 states, teaching every subject, at every grade level, and at all stages of their teaching careers. For many past fellows, participating in the field study was their first time traveling abroad. The Global Learning Fellowship has expanded the horizons of fellows, their students, and their communities.

Olivia Miller

Olivia Miller, 2023 Global Learning Fellow and Michigan art educator

"If you want your students to have a good relationship and learn from you, they have to be seen. Part of seeing them is experiencing or traveling to where they're from or learning about global education so that way everyone has representation."

Kimberly Dickstein-Hughes

Kimberly Dickstein-Hughes, 2022 Global Learning Fellow and New Jersey english and language arts educator

"The NEA Foundation has been integral at empowering all of us as global educators."

Erin Sears

3rd Grade Educator & 2019 Global Learning Fellow, Altoona, IA

"Our purpose in global education is to educate students to grow up to be change-makers. This requires a sense of urgency. We must compel learners to become culturally competent, ready and capable to make lasting, effective change in the world."

Lakeisha Sharpley

Dance Educator & 2020 Global Learning Fellow, Little Rock, AR

"I look forward to teaching dance from a different perspective. Thoughtfulness, world connections, and social issues will infiltrate the young creative mind. The creative process will no longer be confined in the physical space."

Ike Onyema

Ikechukwu Onyema, 2018 Global Learning Fellow and New Jersey chemistry educator

"As one of the forty-six teachers selected for the Global Learning Fellowship in 2018, I enjoyed the camaraderie of meeting the other fellows and sharing our ambitions as global educators."

“If we are to have peace on earth, our loyalties must become ecumenical rather than sectional. Our loyalties must transcend our race, our tribe, our class, and our nation; and this means we must develop a world perspective.”

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.