Professional Development programs for educators have long been the cornerstone of PIER’s outreach effort. Programs range from two hours long to a whole weekend to two- to six-week field studies abroad programs. They are designed for teachers and educators to engage in dialogue about a specific subject area or a theme, to encourage discussion of effective teaching strategies, and integration of new content into the curriculum. They include:
- Summer Institutes: Annually PIER holds one- to two-week summer programs at Yale, the centerpiece of our outreach endeavor, for K-12 teachers and college faculty from across the U.S. with intensive training in international and world areas of study, often including short overseas study tours. PIER Directors lead their Council-specific programming while collaborating on logistics and identifying useful cross-over opportunities for speakers or activities for the participating educators. Learn about the 2015 Summer Institute.
- Field Studies Abroad: PIER provides two- to six-week intensive field studies abroad programs, as part of the summer institutes or as stand-alone programs under the aegis of Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad, other foundation grants, or are self-funded.
- After-school Workshops: PIER organizes after-school “Hot Topics” workshops at Yale on Tuesdays or Thursdays, Council-specific programs, and others held for teachers in their schools upon request.
- Weekend Programs: PIER runs full-day programs such as “Saturday Seminars with PIER” or the “Teach Europe” seminar. PIER also collaborates with other organizations for whole weekend conference.
Yale’s Office of New Haven and State Affairs (ONHSA) and PIER work together to ensure that all PIER-run professional development workshops for educators are free of charge for employed New Haven Public School teachers (with the exception of a small administrative fee for processing CEUs and the non-refundable application fee for summer institutes).
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