Teacher-Student Initiative 2023-2024

Nourishing Traditions, Nourishing Lives: Where Tradition Meets Progress in South Africa

“The UNC World View Teacher-Student Initiative offered my high school English class the opportunity to learn about a relevant real-world issue. It was learning that my normal content could not have offered.”

Dr. Stephanie McGirt, SandHoke Early College High School

The Teacher-Student Initiative

The Teacher-Student Initiative is a program designed for North Carolina high school teachers who are interested in globalizing their classrooms. As part of the Teacher-Student Initiative, teachers from diverse subject areas, from pre-calculus to fine arts, will work with faculty members and strategic partners to strengthen their understanding of an interdisciplinary global theme and further study the connections to educators’ STEAM specialties. Participants will learn how to integrate global content into their individual classrooms and then work alongside the TSI assistant director, faculty, and peers to design a lesson plan that puts that learning into action in their classrooms. UNC World View Students Day will virtually connect teachers, their students, and faculty members to provide additional content and allow students to engage directly with faculty experts. At the end of the TSI program, teacher-participants will gather in Chapel Hill for a culminating “Collaboration Celebration” and workshop where they will share lesson plans and best practices for teaching the global theme. The Teacher-Student Initiative will thus create a community of students, teachers, and faculty dedicated to tackling global challenges and promoting global education in their North Carolina classrooms.

Meet the 2023-2024 TSI Cohort

The Teacher-Student Initiative – World View Students Day

UNC World View Students Day is designed to cultivate a collaborative classroom experience with high school students, in partnership with their teachers, UNC faculty, and UNC strategic partners in South Africa. On UNC World View Students Day, students will meet virtually with faculty experts to discuss global challenges and brainstorm deeper connections between their prior classroom knowledge and research on the pressing global theme. This year’s World View Students Day will focus on “Nourishing Traditions, Nourishing Lives: Where Tradition Meets Progress in South Africa.”

We are thrilled to be able to host two (2) UNC World View Students Days again, allowing teachers to attend the presentation that closely aligns with their North Carolina Standard Course of Study. This year, UNC World View Students Day will be led by Dr. Gina Chowa and our strategic partner from South Africa. Prof. Gina Chowa and our strategic partner will discuss the interventions made to improve employment, economic security, health, and education in South Africa as well as South Africa’s diverse culture and complex history.

Dr. Gina Chowa first joined the UNC School of Social Work staff in 2008 as an assistant professor and now serves as a full professor and as Associate Dean for Global Engagement. Gina is the founding director of Global Social Development Innovations, which launched in 2017. Informed by more than two decades of experience and practice, Dr. Chowa conducts research at the intersection of economic security, workforce development, social protection, and financial inclusion and its impact on marginalized individuals in the Global South. Gina is an award-winning scholar, and her work has been published in various interdisciplinary and social work journals, including Child and Youth Services, Children and Youth Services Review, International Journal of Educational Development, Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Journal of Socio-Economics, and more. Gina also has faculty appointments at the Center for Social Development at Washington University in St. Louis, Mo. and the Centre for Social Development Africa at the University of Johannesburg, South Africa. Gina received her PhD and MSW from Washington University and her bachelor’s degree from the University of Zambia.

Our strategic in partner in South Africa will speak to South Africa’s diverse culture, complex history, and the ways the rising generation is nourishing South Africa and the global community.

Program Goals:

1. To provide high school educators with professional development opportunities by working virtually with UNC faculty along with UNC strategic partners in South Africa to strengthen their understanding of an interdisciplinary global theme and further study the connections to educators’ STEAM specialties
2. To virtually connect high school students, in partnership with their teacher, UNC, and strategic partners in South Africa
3. To enhance professional breadth for the teacher and greater global awareness for students as they become the world’s next generation of leaders

Program Benefits:

• Participants who complete all program requirements will be offered up to 3.0 CEUS or 30 PDCH for 30 hours of professional learning.
• Participants who complete all program requirements will earn a stipend of $750, in the summer of 2024.
• Participants will receive professional development and UNC resources related to the program, including coaching by UNC World View’s assistant director.
• Participants will collaborate with cohort members at UNC-Chapel Hill on lesson plans developed in reference to the Teacher-Student

Program Eligibility and Conditions of Participation: 

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  • Participants must be high school educators teaching in North Carolina.
  • Participants must have at least one (1) full year of teaching experience.
  • Participants are required to participate in a virtual orientation on Tuesday, September 26, 2023, at 4:00 p.m.
  • Participants are required to attend the in-person K-12 Global Education Symposium: Global Indigeneity: Indigenous Cultures, Peoples and Places held at The Friday Conference Center in Chapel Hill on Thursday, October 5, 2023, from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
  • Participants must identify and submit their content standard via email by Thursday, November 9, 2023.
  • A November Zoom meeting with Prof. Gina Chowa and our strategic partner in South Africa.
  • Participants are required to participate in one of the introductory virtual workshops held on Tuesday, February 6, 2024, from 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., with UNC Professor Dr. Gina Chowa and/or on Wednesday, February 7, 2023, from 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., with our strategic partner in South Africa. Participants must have access to the internet, a webcam, and a microphone.
  • Each participant is required to submit one lesson plan on or before Friday, March 29, 2024. (Additional information on lesson plans will be provided.)
  • Participants are required to host a UNC World View Students Day in their classroom on Tuesday, April 16, 2024, at 9:00 a.m., with Gina Chowa and/or Wednesday, April 17, 2024, at 9:00 a.m., with our strategic partner in South Africa.
  • Participants are required to attend an in-person Collaboration Celebration at UNC-Chapel Hill on Friday, April 26, 2024, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
  • Participants are required to provide the name and contact information of a supportive leader within their building or district.

2023 – 2024 PROGRAM TIMELINE AND KEY DATES

PROGRAM APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS

• Review the program goals, benefits, conditions of participation, and timeline/key dates.
• Complete the UNC World View Teacher-Student Initiative Application Sections I, II, III, IV, and V.
• Click on the “Submit” button at the end of this page to send the application to UNC World View or email the application and any supporting documents directly to worldview@unc.edu.

For additional information, please contact Courtney Harris-Brown at chbrown@unc.eduor visit worldview.unc.ed