The shock is still sinking in for a Botany Downs Secondary College teacher who is about to jet off to the United States as the recipient of a sought-after teaching grant.
History teacher Karen Douglas has been offered a Fulbright Distinguished Awards in Teaching grant which will allow her to travel to the States to carry out a learning inquiry.
Ms Douglas will be looking into how digital and collaborative learning can be used to improve student literacy – an interest sparked by attending a Mind Lab course last year.
Ms Douglas said she had been looking at the application process for a Fulbright Award for a couple of years but dismissed it as “too difficult” until she decided to give it a go last year.
After completing the “very, very detailed” application, Ms Douglas was pleased just to get an interview.
“They ask for your teaching background, then you have to choose an inquiry, what you’re intending to do for that inquiry when you’re in the States and why that would be the best place to go.
“It asks you what you know about America so that you don’t turn up for a huge culture shock…they ask about yourself and what your interests are, both educational and cultural interests.”
After feeling like she “waffled” through the interview, Ms Douglas was even more surprised to be offered the grant.
“They said it [waffling] showed them the real me and that I knew what I was talking about. I basically just spoke and answered their questions.”
Ms Douglas leaves for America on August 7 and will return in early December.
