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If you're looking for resources or organizations to globalize learning in your classroom, the following list provides some great places to start!
iEARN-USA provides a platform for K-12 students around the world to participate in virtual exchange. More than 30 languages and 140 countries are represented. Many projects are also aligned with the U.N. SDGs. I used this platform to participate in an exchange between my advisory and students in Taiwan in 2025.
I learned about this resource during a Fulbright symposium in Washington, D.C. This Peace Corps program connects K–12 classrooms and community groups in the U.S. with current and returned Peace Corps Volunteers to foster intercultural exchange.
Interaction with Peace Corps volunteers can take different forms, from letter exchanges to in-person or virtual presentations. The program is aligned with the Peace Corps’ mission to promote cross-cultural understanding.
AFS‑USA offers K–12 educators a wealth of free classroom resources—such as structured classroom activities (e.g. Deconstructing Stereotypes or Critical Listening), Country & Culture resources, and professional development guidance—to integrate global competence and intercultural learning across the curriculum.
I’ve incorporated their classroom activities and culture-specific lesson resources into my teaching, helping students build empathy, challenge assumptions, and gain global perspectives.
I love the Asia Society's resources for educators on global competencies and teaching for global understanding.
In particular, I’ve used Asia Society’s Global Leadership Performance Outcomes to structure learning objectives in my lessons and projects.
They also offer much more, including content to explore the impact and histories of diasporic Asians and to celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.
I’ve used Oxfam’s Citizenship Guides, especially their Teaching Controversial Issues toolkit, which offers strategies and classroom activities to help students engage with sensitive global topics through critical thinking and dialogue.
The broader Global Citizenship Guides introduce Oxfam’s Curriculum for Global Citizenship and offer book recommendations, adaptable activities, classroom case studies, and cross-curricular support for embedding global learning in all subjects.
World Savvy has tools to help schools and educators assess and strengthen global competence.
Through its Global Competence Situation Assessment, for example, districts can evaluate readiness, identify growth areas, and receive tailored recommendations.
Another tool, The Global Competence Matrix, clearly defines skills, values, and behaviors needed for global citizenship—and can guide curriculum design and student feedback.
I learned about ENO during my Fulbright program in Finland, planting a tree alongside one of their representatives.
ENO is a global education network based in Finland, dedicated to sustainable development learning and hands-on environmental action.
While the ENO network is global, representation from the US is currently missing!
I love the Pulitzer Center’s education resources—especially their free journalist visits and lesson plans. I’ve used their lesson on surveys in the past, and this year I’ll be drawing extensively on their Journalism Skill Builder series while teaching a high school journalism class.
Their resources support global awareness, media literacy, and storytelling across subjects, with reporting grounded in real-world issues like climate change, migration, and health.
If you're looking for global professional development opportunities for teachers, check out these programs:
I can’t recommend the Fulbright Teachers for Global Classrooms (TGC) program enough! It’s a fully funded, year-long professional development experience for U.S. K–12 educators that includes:
– a 10-week online course in global education
– a symposium in Washington, D.C., and
– a 2–3 week international field experience.
Participants also create a Global Education Guide to share their learning (you're on it!). Field placements vary by country, so each experience is unique—read my Travel section for a glimpse into mine.
Fulbright also offers longer-term programs for teachers interested in extended exchanges or research opportunities abroad.
I participated in Fulbright-Hays Seminars Abroad in 2024, traveling to Finland for one month as part of a cohort of U.S. educators. This short-term summer program brings teachers and faculty abroad to deepen their understanding of global cultures, histories, and education systems.
It was a transformative experience—both personally and professionally. While the program is paused this year, I hope it returns soon, as it offers a unique opportunity for educators to expand global perspectives and bring richer context back to their classrooms.
Here is the press kit for the program that was supposed to run in 2025 to give you a greater sense of what's involved:
fy-2025-seminars-abroad-press-kit-108174.pdf
I haven't participated in the NOAA Teacher at Sea Program, but I discovered it while exploring Fulbright opportunities. This program offers U.S. educators—from kindergarten through college—the chance to join NOAA scientists aboard ocean research vessels for 2–3 week expeditions.
Participants assist with real-world marine science research, including tasks like deploying equipment, handling marine organisms, and recording data. Since its inception in 1990, over 850 teachers have sailed on NOAA surveys, enriching their classrooms with firsthand oceanographic experiences.
*This program is only available to public school teachers.*
Although I haven’t taken part in it personally, I learned about the NEA Foundation Global Learning Fellowship through other educators involved with Fulbright.
It includes a year‑long professional development program, with workshops and webinars, group mentoring, a capstone project, and an in-person conference. It also includes a 10-day international field experience in South Africa, designed to connect fellows with education and policy abroad.
Here's another organization I stumbled across while researching global teacher exchange programs.
Earthwatch Institute’s Teach Earth Fellowship offers U.S. K–12 educators the chance to participate in fully (or partially funded) field research expeditions (7–14 days), working side by side with scientists.
It seems like a great opportunity for humanities or social studies educators to develop interdisciplinary lesson or project ideas!
Several teacher colleagues enthusiastically recommend the National Geographic Grosvenor Teacher Fellowship for pre‑K–12 educators.
The fellowship combines a Washington, D.C. workshop with an expedition aboard National Geographic‑Lindblad ships to explore regions like Antarctica, Alaska, and the Galápagos. Educators return with rich teaching materials and commit to sharing their experiences as ambassadors over the following year.
Here's one more that comes recommended by some of my colleagues!
These NEH programs span 1 to 4 weeks, including both "Landmarks of American History and Culture" (site-based workshops) and "Institutes" (intensive thematic seminars).
Topics are wide-ranging, from U.S. history and civil rights to environmental humanities and digital culture.
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