Staff members at the University of Eastern Finland School of Applied Educational Science and Teacher Education have been successful at securing Fulbright Foundation grants for conducting research with and visiting US universities. A total of six researchers and/or teachers from UEF have participated in the programme since 2014.
“Since 2013, we’ve also hosted five researchers and teachers from the US, and we’ve had Fulbright scholars in education hosted by other Finnish universities as our guests here in Joensuu. Our Fulbright alumni have also been actively involved in the pre-selection committees assessing and interviewing Finnish Fulbright applicants,” Senior University Lecturer Kari Sormunen says.
This November, the Fulbright Finland Foundation will, for the first time in the framework of the Fulbright Teachers for Global Classrooms programme, bring to Finland a total of 18 carefully selected teachers from junior high schools and high schools in the US. Alongside their work as teachers, they’ve completed a semester-long intensive study programme related to global education in the US, and they’ve been working on a Global Education Guide.
“Their two-week itinerary includes programme in Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa and Joensuu. Thanks to the strong network of Fulbright alumni in teacher education in Joensuu, we have been asked to present teacher education at UEF and in Finland,” Sormunen says, delighted.
On Wednesday, 9 November, the guests will get an introduction to teacher education in eastern Finland from a variety of perspectives. On the following day, they will visit the Tulliportti Teacher Training School to learn about guided teaching practice.
On Thursday evening, representatives of the Fulbright Finland Foundation and the US Embassy will host a happy hour for all Fulbright alumni in Joensuu.
Alumni are actively involved in global collaboration
According to Sormunen, Fulbright grants are an important opportunity for Finnish scholars to become familiar with research and education in the US, and with the country’s cultural diversity.
“Research with great impact is being conducted in the US in a variety of fields, and Fulbright grants are highly competitive and valued. These grants offer an excellent opportunity for networking both while in the host country and afterwards.”
It is easy for Fulbright alumni to approach different actors and other alumni in any country, i.e., being a Fulbright alumna/alumnus lowers the threshold for contacting scholars in one’s field globally.
“Finnish scholars also held in high regard in the US, and our expertise broadens our hosts’ horizons while we are there. Fulbright scholars arriving from the US are very interesting guests, and these visits often serve as a foundation for future collaboration in research and education.”
Through the Fulbright network, it is also possible to invite Fulbright scholars based in other European countries on short-term visits to Finland.
“I myself spent the autumn semester 2016 at the University of Stanford on a Mid-Career Development Project (MCDP) scholarship, learning about inclusive STEM education in the diverse schools of California. This opened up new perspectives to the way I teach STEM pedagogy to future teachers, and also gave a boost for doing research on the topic in Finland,” Sormunen says.
https://www.fulbright.fi/
https://www.fulbright.fi/grants-research-postdoc-and-scholar/asla-fulbright-research-grants-senior-scholars
https://www.fulbright.fi/professional-grants/mid-career-professional-development-grant-FIN
