2024年度最佳教师

艾丽西娅·达尔曼·舒梅克

Elkhorn Public Schools, Elkhorn, NE

While attending a one-room schoolhouse on the Nebraskan prairie, I spent much time with my great-grandparents who faced discrimination and property damage for speaking their native languages. 我的曾祖母, 保留地的教育工作者, 我的曾祖父, 1923年的移民, were immensely impacted by the Meyer vs. Nebraska case attempting to prohibit language-minority students from receiving instruction as well as the global conflicts that inspired it.

Learning this history from our family’s matriarch sparked self-directed explorations of international characters and indigenous languages via Willa Cather and Oceti Wakan among many others. The urgency to connect and act appropriately in diverse contexts transformed into my life’s work of facilitating opportunities for linguistic and cultural proficiency.

As a first-generation college student, I found full-immersion exposures expensive and unattainable until professors revealed sponsorship options. It became apparent in my introduction to prestigious fellowships that more efforts should be directed at making such experiences accessible for ALL U.S. 青年, regardless of socioeconomic status, 残疾或能力水平, and other factors that create distinctions essential for synergistic progress. All individuals deserve opportunities to fully engage in and celebrate the diversity of our world.

As a secondary and postsecondary teacher, I not only strive to nurture students’ capacity to be culturally responsive and linguistically adept, but also offer scholarship seminars and seek grants as the Malaika Foundation president to directly fund such pursuits. PreK-16 educators and students should collectively cultivate language proficiency and intercultural competence.

作为前NILA主席, I’ve brought international guests to classrooms, curated professional development for teachers and business leaders, and led inaugural state teams for the Seal of Biliteracy, 世界语言周, and 2019 Nebraska World Language Standards, which focus on proficiency-based targets, so students and teachers have systemic support. In accordance with these efforts, I’ve organized online intercultural competence forums for educators with national participation. Student and stakeholder input augmented both the quality and impact of nearly every initiative. I’ve led student inquiry groups and public discussions welcoming all as well as gathered perception data via multiple methods. The dexterity to view one’s beliefs through other lenses and seek to understand divergent ideals aids in averting strife, 建立社区精神/同理心, and elevates exchanges everywhere from the boardroom to the playground. Language instruction must include cultural inquiry for students to be prepared for exchanges in our interdependent, 复杂的社会.

The benefits of language learning and deep cultural awareness range from long-term physiological and mental health to monetary compensation in an ever-evolving global landscape. 作为家长和教育者, I know that the future wellbeing of our children and the safety of our planet depends on cross-cultural understanding in which language plays a key role. 在美国境内.S. Global Leadership Coalition network, I link my purpose as a language educator to critical needs for prosperity and national security across sundry industries. 最终, mutual understanding among diverse cultures and proficiency in multiple languages have the power to take individuals where they chose to be and emphasize diplomacy, 共生, and solution-oriented action in our world.