The Palaszczuk Government is encouraging Queensland teachers to apply for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to study at one of the world’s most prestigious museums in New York.
Minister for Science Leeanne Enoch said the 2020 Queensland-Cooper Hewitt Fellowship is now open for applications.
“This fellowship is supported by $20,000 from the Palaszczuk Government, and provides our teachers with a career changing opportunity to travel to New York to work at the prestigious Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum,” Ms Enoch said.
“The Cooper Hewitt Design Museum is known around the world for its education design, often working closely with schools across the United States.
“Design education is about guiding students to define problems, generate ideas, prototypes and evaluate their work using a range of learning materials and targeted techniques.
“The successful applicant will spend up to 12 weeks working with experts from the museum learning how design thinking can be used to improve student learning.
“Every year the fellows return home and immediately start sharing the knowledge gained, new experiences lived and also sharing the contacts they have made in the US.”
The aim of the fellowship program is to foster an exchange of knowledge and skills between the Cooper Hewitt Design Museum and Queensland’s teaching communities.
Marsden State High School teacher and 2019 Queensland-Cooper Hewitt Fellow Jasmine Kassulke said the opportunity to study at the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum allowed her to strengthen her skills as an educator and gave her experience in delivering and coordinating school programs using best practice design thinking.
“In New York I worked alongside the Cooper Hewitt Design Education team and got to experience how diverse teams can come together to share skills, collaborate on projects and create learning experiences with impact,” Ms Kassulke said.
“I learned some great strategies for facilitating design in the classroom such as methods to experience and exhibit empathy in relation to understanding human needs, how to run rapid low-stakes prototyping challenges and how to better structure brainstorming sessions.
“I am currently designing a program for teachers in my area to enhance and share their design skills in the hopes of improving the quality of design education in Logan.”
Ms Kassulke said the opportunity to learn from the Cooper Hewitt Design Education team was a life changing experience that left her feeling inspired and empowered.
Details on how to apply for the Queensland-Cooper Hewitt Fellowship can be found on online at https://science.des.qld.gov.au/funding/QCHF.
Applications close 6 April 2020.
