SUMMER 2007 COURSES

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Study Abroad

Jump to Spring Break in Morocco

Summer in Costa Rica
The Delicate Connection of People and the Biology of the Rainforest: Implications for Curriculum (Grades 2 - 8) TEED648N

We invite you to experience the rainforest in a field-based, 16-day course that explores the Costa Rican rainforest, including its unique environment, and the community and the culture of the people who live there.

Our goal is to learn how to construct a meaningful, unsentimental, and accurate curriculum on the issues surrounding land reform and saving the rainforest. To this end we will meet with local people, such as conservationists, farmers, hotel owners, artists, and teachers and visit two local schools. We will also meet with expert biologists for hands-on experiences with bats, birds, insects, butterflies, monkeys, flowers, and plants.

Most of all, you will learn practical and thoughtful ways of teaching children about nature and social studies through inquiry. You will also learn how to teach children about far-away places, including use of technology, so you can explore and teach about the rainforest through an interdisciplinary perspective in your own classroom or museum setting.

Susan Wu is an environmental educator in the Tiorati Workshop for Environmental Learning at Bank Street College. She uses a science inquiry-based approach on field trips for children in grades K-7 to various nature sites. Susan has a background in biology and has worked in the education department of the Tech Museum of Innovation, an interactive science museum in San Jose, CA.

July 27 through August 11
No credit or 8 CEU, travel, lodging, and most meals $4,000
2 credits, travel, lodging, and most meals $4,550
3 credits, travel, lodging, and most meals $5,375
Space is limited.

Open House: March 7, 5 pm
610 West 112th Street, Room 706
RSVP appreciated.

Click here to download the application form >> [PDF]
Click here for a slideshow from the 2007 class. >>
Click here for video!

For more information, call Joy Ellebbane at 212/875-4707 or by email jellebbane@bankstreet.edu.

Spring Break in Morocco
Cultural Explorations in Morocco: Implications for Educators in Multi-cultural Settings (Grades K - 6) TEED651N
Morocco is a multi-cultural society with a divided educational system that reflects separate Colonial French, Arab, and Berber educational philosophies, systems, and cultures. In our week stay, we will study the Moroccan educational systems and culture as a lens into Arab culture and as a vehicle to explore issues inherent in working in multi-cultural settings in the United States. As part of the study we will pay particular attention to the issue of power and hierarchy within the educational system as well as pedagogical practices. During our week in Morocco, we will visit several elementary schools in both rural and urban settings (Ifrane, Fes, and Marrakech) and meet with authorities from prominent Moroccan universities and institutions who have extensive knowledge of, and backgrounds in, education and culture.

Timothy Lightman has been an early childhood teacher and educator for over 12 years. He has taught Pre-K and Kindergarten at the Bank Street Schoool for Children and has worked as a consultant for curriculum development. He spent four years as researcher in the Teachers for a New Era Project at Bank Street College. Currently, he is currently working on his dissertation on exploring issues of disability in elementary schools, at Teachers College, Columbia University.

Course Dates: March 22 through March 29, 2008*
1 credit, travel, lodging, and most meals $3300
2 credits, travel, lodging, and most meals $4100
Download the application form here >> [PDF]
Click here to view a brief slide show of sites in Morocco >>

Participants will complete an assignment by May 2 for 1 credit and by May 23 for an optional second credit.

*We have accepted the maximum number of students for this class. To be added to our waiting list submit an application form or contact Joy Ellebbane at jellebbane@bankstreet.edu.
Tentative dates for 2009: March 21 - 29.

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