Banerjee goes global

This website is not an official U.S. Department of State website. The views and information presented are the participant's own and do not represent the Fulbright Teachers for Global Classrooms Program, the U.S. Department of State, or IREX.

malini Banerjee

I am a public school educator from Trenton, New Jersey. I have been teaching since 2009. As a Fulbright Teacher for Global Classroom scholar 2023-24, I traveled to Morocco to teach and learn in April 2024.

I am passionate about children and their rights and love being around them. I believe in the power of education. I also believe that I am only as effective as an educator as the strength of individual connections I create with each one of my students and their families. I learn from students way more than they learn from me. Currently I am pursuing doctorate in Educational leadership and plan to get my Ed.D in May of 2028.

I am originally from Kolkata, India. I came to the US as a graduate student in 1997 and eventually made it my adopted home. I am a foodie. Love to eat as well as cook and entertain. I am an avid music lover. I love to travel. I love to read. In a nutshell, I am a very hyper woman trying to manage (mostly failing) millions of parallel projects all the time. However, if I have ever done anything well in my life, it is all because of my amazing parents, teachers/ mentors and friends !

Through this website, I want to emphasize the importance of Global Education and the ways in which one can become a Global educator.

What is Global Education and why it is crucial ?

I am a strong advocate for our youth to be well prepared to become active contributors in the future. Hence, I believe, as a teacher it is our responsibility to prepare our students to be global citizens with true understanding of diverse perspectives and basic human (global) needs for a better future. I believe in preparing our students through purpose driven education that has meaningful impact both locally and globally. That is why I believe in Global Education and the critically importance of it.

As per definition, Global education is instruction for citizens of the world about the world. It is a curriculum model that provides students with skills to contribute in both local and global efforts.

Fulbright Teacher for Global classroom (TGC) 2023-24!

When I first joined Trenton Public schools in January of 2018, I met a teacher in my building who at the time was about to travel to Morocco as part of the Fulbright TGC and I was immediately inspired by her but thought it was far too high of a goal for me to achieve at the time.

Fast forward to February of 2023: I gathered courage and applied for it and to my utter shock received my acceptance on 30th of June, 2023 when I was in India taking care of my ailing mom!

I am forever grateful for this journey and so glad that I was able to gather courage to apply for it!

My journey as an educator

I have been a classroom teacher since 2009. For the most part I have taught lower elementary grades like Kindergarten, First Grade and Second grade. I love this age group and the energy that they bring in to the classroom.

For the longest time, at the entrance of my classroom I have been using flags to represent the rich diversity my classroom represents. I believe in the power of individual connection with students and their families to create a successful learning environment.