In mid-April, Anita Charles, Senior Lecturer and Director of Teacher Education, traveled to Pune, India, in order to participate in a unique teaching opportunity through the Government of India’s Ministry of Human Resource Development. Global Initiative of Academic Networks (GIAN – a Hindi word of its own that translates to “knowledge”) is a Higher Education program that invites foreign faculty to teach intensive one- or two-week university-level courses which get recorded to become part of a repository of available courses for others. The GIAN program’s goals are “to augment [India’s] existing academic resources, accelerate the pace of quality reform, and elevate India’s scientific and technological capacity for global excellence.”

Anita collaborated with an Indian faculty colleague at the Interdisciplinary School of Science at Savitribai Phule Pune University, to teach a 15-hour, week-long class entitled “Education: Concepts, Pedagogy, and Innovative Practices.” The course participants, in-person and online, included undergraduate and graduate students, as well as faculty from various disciplines across universities. Anita brought an engaging student-centered approach to the Indian context, modeling strategies and concepts that dovetailed with the course content itself. The week’s topics covered: a brief history of Indian and US education, contemporary issues, technology trends, theories of learning, inclusive practices, innovative strategies, lesson planning and assessment. Activities throughout the week included collaborative and competitive quiz-style games, hands-on activities and puzzles, think-pair-share, use of visuals, and small group discussions. She says, “It was a vibrant and fun experience for all!”

As a Fulbright Scholar in India in 2016 and again in 2023, Anita taught undergraduates and explored issues of literacy and inclusion in preK-12 schools and programs. Subsequent to her first Fulbright, she engaged in research on inclusive education for children with disabilities in India. Thanks to a Bates-specific Phillips Fellowship, she recently conducted a study on education nonprofits in Sub-Saharan Africa.