BELLOWS FALLS — Craig Divis of Bellows Falls Union High School has been awarded a Distinguished Fulbright Award in Teaching grant to conduct research in South Africa, the United States Department of State and the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board.
Divis will be working with teachers and students in South Africa to learn more about how apartheid is taught in schools and its place in the curriculum, specifically the violent and non-violent anti-apartheid movements.
He says he wants to see if there is any correlation to the schools and communities that put a particular focus on the non-violent anti-apartheid movement in terms of conflict resolution and problem solving. He is hoping to determine if there is more tolerance and less violence in those schools and communities.
Divis plans to bring this back to BFUHS and the community, as well as other schools across Vermont, as a way of connecting history to the broader concepts of conflcit resolution and problem solving, especially around topics like bullying.
Divis is one of approximately 19 U.S. citizens who will travel abroad through the Distinguished Fulbright Awards in Teaching Program in 2011-2012. Named Teacher of the Year in Vermont for 2010, Divis will take a sabbatical from his Social Studies class room next year, but plans on bringing the program research titled: South Africa: Moving Away From Violence and Hatred, back to Bellows Falls in August 2012.
“The purpose of my project is to study and research the non-violent approach of the anti-apartheid movement, led by Nelson Mandela, Steven Biko, and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and how that has led to a progressive, positive nation today.” said Divis. “I plan to be working with schools and organizations in South Africa around this topic, and once back in Vermont, I plan to make this a major unit in my World Cultures and World History classes, as well as using this focus to plan school-wide and state-wide professional development opportunities as it can be a major component of any Social Studies class and community.”
The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries. The primary source of funding for the Fulbright Program is an annual appropriation made by the U.S. Congress to the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.
“As a Social Studies teacher, I am interested in studying the use of non-violent opposition to the apartheid regime, remnants of the apartheid era, and the effectiveness of the policy of reconciliation.” Divis wrote in his project proposal. “South Africa, as a newly democratic country, is trying to figure out who it is and what it wants to be in the future, and as a result, it is a fascinating country and time to be studying and researching in.”
Recipients of Fulbright grants are selected on the basis of academic or professional achievement, as well as demonstrated leadership potential in their fields. The Fulbright Classroom Teacher Exchange Program is administered by the Academy of Educational Development.