Grant provides K-12 foreign language teachers with immersion experience

May 28, 2008

The Center for Latin American Studies was recently awarded a grant from the U.S. Department of Education’s Fulbright Hays Program to provide a four-week curriculum development project in Ecuador and Peru.

The program, “The Andean “HATSS” Project: Reaching High Achievement for Teachers and Students of Spanish in Florida Schools,” is a collaborative endeavor between the Center for Latin American Studies, the University of Florida College of Education and Florida schools, and is designed to implement innovative curricula using new technologies that will help teachers prepare students for an increasingly global and diverse society. The curriculum team consists of two UF faculty members and 12 foreign language K-12 teachers from 11 counties.

The project will take place in three phases. In Phase I, teachers formed an online community and participated in a two day pre-departure orientation program at UF earlier this month. The orientation experience was designed to prepare participants to travel to Latin America by offering sessions on Latin American culture and educational technology. Phase II will consist of on-site experiences in Ecuador and Peru in which participants will acquire knowledge of local languages and cultures, guided by local on-site experts and in conjunction with U.S. project personnel. Finally, in Phase III, participants will utilize knowledge, technologies, materials, and language acquired to create curriculum units. Participants will disseminate their work through local, state and national conferences in addition to making their materials available at no cost to educators and students online.