Follow AAE on:

Subscribe to RSS Feed:

Travel as Professional Development
posted by: Melissa | July 11, 2014, 08:30 PM   

What are your plans this summer? Taking a trip can be an integral part of increasing an educator’s professional capacity. If you have some free time this summer break, consider taking a PD-focused trip!

Travel has long been recognized as a way to expand the mind, and for educators it promises a wealth of opportunities. Through travel, educators can connect with their subject area in a way they may not be able to staying close to home. Museums around the world cover every subject area from natural history to art to even math. Language teachers and world history teachers can take trips that immerse themselves in their subject area, keeping knowledge and skills fresh.

Planning an educational trip from scratch can be complicated, but there’s plenty of help available. In fact, there are companies out there - that offer trip planning services specifically for educators - who can cater to a wide variety of themes and subjects. Road Scholar and GEEO are just two of them. These organizations are great for first-time travelers who aren’t sure how to integrate their desire to learn or their passion to teach into their trip.

Educators who have already been on professional development trips may be ready to plan their own. There are plenty of resources to help these experienced teachers as well - for example, the Educators Travel Network helps keep travel affordable by connecting educators with host families to stay with while travelling - either across the country or abroad. And the site Wandering Educators allows teachers to share their travelling experiences as well as find new opportunities. There are also several grants available for educators who want to travel as a form of professional development.

For more about the benefits that travel can have for educators, read this article about Oakland area teachers and their experiences.

Comments (0)Add Comment

Submit a comment
 (not published)
smaller | bigger

security code
Write the displayed characters


busy