SUSI for Secondary Educators Notice of Study Opportunity 2022

SUSI for Secondary Educators Notice of Study Opportunity 2022

The Public Affairs Section of the United States Embassy in Cameroon announces an open competition to recruit experienced secondary school educators to participate in the Study of the U.S. Institutes (SUSI) for Secondary Educators. The SUSIs for Secondary Educators will take place over the course of five weeks beginning in [Date TBD] 2022. The goal of the Institutes is to strengthen curricula and to enhance the quality of teaching about the United States in secondary schools in Cameroon. Prospective applicants are encouraged to visit http://exchanges.state.gov/susi to obtain general information about the Institutes. Three Institutes for Secondary Educators will be offered, two with a focus on classroom teachers and the third with a focus on administrators including teacher trainers, curriculum developers, textbook writers, and ministry of education officials. Each Institute will include a four-week academic residency and a one-week integrated study tour. Please note that should health, safety, and travel conditions continue to pose significant challenges, the programs will pivot to a modified virtual format.

Program description

The Study of the U.S. Institutes for Secondary Educators (SUSIs) will provide experienced secondary school educators (including teachers, administrators, teacher trainers, curriculum developers, textbook writers, Ministry of Education officials, and others) with a deeper understanding of U.S. society, education, and culture – past and present. The Institutes focus on providing content and materials for participants to develop high school level curricula about the United States. Two of the Institutes are tailored for secondary school teachers; please note that the Institutes for Teachers focus on content and materials about the United States rather than teaching methods and pedagogy. The third Institute is tailored for experienced administrators including teacher trainers, curriculum developers, textbook writers, Ministry of Education officials, and others. Through a combination of traditional, multi-disciplinary, and interdisciplinary approaches, program content will examine the history and evolution of U.S. institutions and values, broadly defined. The programs will also serve to illuminate contemporary political, social, and economic debates in American society. The four-week academic residencies will take place at U.S. university and college campuses and will consist of a balanced series of lectures, panels, seminar discussions, readings, workshops, site visits, meetings with practitioners in the field, and cultural activities. One-week study tours to a different region will complement the academic residencies and showcase the cultural, geographic, and ethnic diversity of the United States. The program features curriculum based on the study of how America’s foundations and historical development have shaped and continue to inform politics, economics, and society. A key cultural component of the program involves community service activities, which will provide participants with a first-hand experience how volunteerism plays a vital role in U.S. civil society. The program will offer multiple opportunities for follow-on engagement through alumni webinars, grant-funded follow-on projects, social media, and an alumni workshop.

Candidate description and qualifications:

Priority will be given to candidates who have firm plans to enhance, update or develop courses and/or educational materials with a U.S. studies focus or component; who have no prior or limited experience in the United States; and who have special interest in the program subject areas as demonstrated through past scholarship, accomplishments, and professional duties. Candidates should be mid-career, typically between the ages of 30-50, highly motivated, experienced secondary school teachers and administrators.

Candidates must demonstrate English language fluency. Institutes are rigorous and demanding programs. Participants will be expected to read and comprehend substantial reading assignments in English and to fully and actively participate in all seminar and panel discussions.

Submitting Candidatures: Interested applicants must submit in English a curriculum vitae and a statement/personal essay of two pages conveying why the applicant is interested in participating in the selected Institute, what s/he expects to gain from the experience, what s/he will bring to the program, and how s/he will leverage the experience to achieve any of these other potential outcomes:

• Update existing course
• Create new course
• Create new degree program
• School/university curriculum redesign
• National curriculum redesign
• New publication
• Government or ministry policy
• New professional organization
• New institutional linkages
• Professional promotion
• New research project
• Raise institutional profile

To download the application, please visit https://cm.usembassy.gov/education-culture/education-exchange-programs/program-applications/. All applications must be submitted via email to ExchangesYaounde@state.gov, no later than midnight Cameroonian time on January 9, 2022. Late applications will not be considered.