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Fulbright Distinguished Awards in Teaching
The Fulbright Distinguished Awards in Teaching Programme is for highly accomplished New Zealand teachers in primary or secondary schooling to participate in an intensive professional development programme at the University of Indiana, Bloomington. Two awards are granted each year for this four month programme.
Advice from 2014 grantee Su Mukund
Su Mukund is Papatoetoe High School Head of Biology and Coordinator for Gifted and Talented Education. She researched Innovative Best Practices in Science Teaching and Professional Development of Science Teachers. Read about Su’s experience in the US and research here.
- Concentrate on the research project from day one. Ensure your focus is very clear and narrow down your ideas to specific concepts. 4 months is a very short period and if you want to achieve your goals, it is imperative to concentrate on a few explicit outcomes that you will want to bring back to NZ.
- It is important to understand that the programme is full on and weekends just whiz by. However in saying this I would like to say it depends on how much you want to imbibe on a personal level from the programme. If you are a home bird, you will have plenty of time on your hands however, if you are keen to experience a lot, you will need to be organised. I have attended practically all the performing Arts events offered by the world class Jacobs School of Music and the IU Drama department, a number of sporting events that are amazing and also travelled for both professional development purposes coupled with personal travel. Tickets can be purchased on the student ID issued by IU and varies between $ 10 and $ 15 which is very cheap. If booking for several shows do it together as costs can be saved on the booking fee. These performances are equivalent to Broadway shows as they are of world class standards. However, ensure that none of these clash with other events of academic importance. Use the school calendar/dairy that can be purchased at the school uniform shop. The calendar was immensely helpful as the school follows alternate gold and maroon days and one needs to plan carefully the day of the school visit.
- It is of paramount importance that one stays on top of the work especially the weekly readings and school visit reports. If these are done thoroughly on a weekly basis, the time is well spent as these reports and readings come in very handy during the final writing up of the capstone project and summative report. Do not procrastinate on these specifics.
- If you have any concerns with either the Mentor /adviser or host teacher contact the IU staff and discuss with them your other options. Remember you may not find a 100% match to what you expect. The next best thing is to seek for advice or ideas for your project from other sources that you are able to tap. If you go through depression as we saw some people did in this year’s group, ask for counselling services, you do not have to feel miserable and sad.
- Ensure that you get along well with the group and other people. When you are away for 4 months the people in your group become your mates, especially the ones in your apartments.
- You will find people from other cultures to be very different at times and I think we Kiwis were very comfortable accepting other people. The more you accept the easier it is for you to be happy. Learn to share your food and your feelings. It helps to be social.
- Plan your Professional Development courses that you wish to attend well in advance by looking up for dates on the internet for your preferences. If grant forms are sent out to IIE with correct budgeting the response is very quick from head office.
- Ensure you have both warm clothes for winter and your summer clothes for the start of the programme. Try to travel with just 20 kg as you will love shopping in the U.S.
- Carry small Kiwiana gifts as you will feel the need to say thank you to several people who will go out of their way to make your life very comfortable and the least you can do is say your thank you with something from New Zealand. NZ arts and crafts are well appreciated by Americans. It will make you and your friends both happy.
- Make sure you keep to your time for rides, class and all social events. It can be frustrating to others when you are late and hold up the group.
- Take the opportunity to travel as much as you can during the school/college breaks. You learn a lot more when you meet and talk to people. However, if leaving the U.S. as I did when I went across the border to Canada, ensure that you have your DS form signed by the IIE or else you will not be allowed a re-entry into USA. Ensure that you have enough time to do this and mail these papers using postal services with an “acknowledge receipts” by paying a small extra fee at the post office.
- Ensure that you take with you exemplars of work that you may have completed at your school which can be used as prototypes when you are explaining the education system followed in New Zealand. I had carried special bookmarks made by my students in Science classes to give away to other teachers and participants. I had also taken some innovative projects and school videos of my school to show case what my students were doing in my classes.
- Enjoy the award and your time. Try all the various cuisine at the local restaurants. It is amazing. Make the most of this experience. It sure is life changing, as you get out of your comfort zone and live away from home for quite a considerable amount of your time. If you can, stay on at the end of the program for the additional extra time of 4 weeks, do stay on and enjoy the U.S.A. for the next few weeks after you complete your project.
- Always stay on the lookout for additional Fulbright opportunities that you can avail even after the period of your stay in the USA. I was fortunate to have got a US $5000 Alumni Grant in 2015, following on from my tenure in the USA. This helped me to fruition my innovative ideas of a Problem Based Learning Project that I had presented as a part of my final presentation to IIE.