School of Education

Global Gateway for Teachers Recognized with Best Practice Award

The program was recognized at the 2016 AACTE Annual Meeting with the Best Practice Award in Support of Global and International Perspectives

Thursday, February 25, 2016

For over 40 years, IU School of Education’s Global Gateway for Teachers has given students the opportunity to gain invaluable real-world teaching experience by fully immersing themselves in not just a new classroom culture, but a new community culture as well. The program has enhanced 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.

This work was recognized at the 2016 American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE) Annual Meeting with the Best Practice Award in Support of Global and International Perspectives. The program is directed by Laura L. Stachowski who received the award on behalf of Global Gateway for Teachers at the School of Education.

“Our student teachers are believers in the transformative potential of international immersion experience,” said Stachowski. “When they enter their own elementary and secondary classrooms, they’ll better understand the concepts of global community and interconnectedness. Today’s teachers don’t exist in homogeneous classrooms. We believe having a working understanding of those various backgrounds makes our graduates stronger.”

The Global Gateway program has received numerous awards and recognition for its effective support of teaching and learning from a global and local perspective. The AACTE Committee on Global Diversity, which oversees this award, praised the program’s strong record of providing rich and rigorous cultural and language immersion experiences in overseas schools as well as in its domestic programs.

“Of the many programs that distinguish the Indiana University School of Education, none is more unique and important than the Global Gateway for Teachers,” School of Education Dean Terry 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.”

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.