In addition to our own teacher travel programs, GEEO is proud to showcase the programs of other organizations that offer opportunities for teachers to travel. Many of these programs are free, and we encourage teachers to explore the possibilities. These programs have no affiliation with GEEO, so please contact them directly if you have any questions.
Fund for Teachers
Fund for Teachers awards fellowships for summer learning experiences to pre K-12 teachers, empowering them to pursue their passions to then pique student engagement. Each fellowship is as unique as the teacher who designed it; and regardless of the destination or discipline, FFT Fellows return to classrooms inspired by their pursuit of ideas, terrains, and cultures and further equipped to transform student learning.
Many GEEO participants in the past have funded their GEEO program with a grant from FFT. In fact, Fund for Teacher’s Executive Director sits on GEEO’s Board of Advisors. Please click here to learn more about applying for a Fund For Teachers grant. If you want some tips on how to submit a strong application, please contact us and we will send you our advice.
You can also visit FFT’s Facebook page for teacher testimonials and photographs.
Qatar Foundation International
Qatar Foundation International (QFI) is offering Teacher Professional Development Grants for K-12 educators in the social sciences/humanities and arts fields to participate in high-quality professional development events that will enhance his/her ability to teach about the Arab world or Arab culture. These grants provide up to $2,000 towards travel and registration costs associated with the attendance of relevant professional development events. GEEO’s trips to Arabic speaking countries (such as Morocco and Egypt) qualify for this grant and we have already seen several of our participants receive this funding.
For more information, click here.
The NEA Foundation
The NEA Foundation’s Learning & Leadership Grants support National Education Association (NEA) members who are public school teachers, public education support professionals, and/or faculty and staff in public institutions of higher education. These $2000 professional development grants can be used on any of GEEO’s programs.
Please click here to learn more about applying for an NEA Foundation grant.
Transatlantic Outreach Program (TOP)
TOP aims to promote education about Modern Germany, to encourage cross-cultural dialogue between American and German classrooms, and to provide the opportunity for social studies educators to experience Germany in person. In order to accomplish these goals, TOP produces an array of K-12 teaching materials that have been “authored for Americans by Americans” and distributes these materials to social studies educators and professional development workshop leaders at no charge. Finally, TOP sends social studies educators to Germany every summer on all-expenses-paid study tours. The study tours are two weeks in length and focus on themes relating to the legacy of the Holocaust, German reunification, and European integration within the context of the German education and political systems, corporate social responsibility, environmental sustainability, and culture. Post-tour requirements include the writing of a Germany-themed unit and leading one professional development workshop.
TOP is a non-profit public/private partnership between the Federal Foreign Office of Germany, the Goethe-Institut, Deutsche Bank, Siemens and the Robert Bosch Stiftung. TOP is operated at the Goethe-Institut in Washington, DC.
Click here for information about TOP teaching materials and study tours.
Institute of International Education (IIE)
IIE, an independent non-profit organization founded in 1919,is a world leader in the exchange of people and ideas. IIE administers over 200 programs serving more than 20,000 individuals each year. Program participants are selected through a competitive, merit-based process.
For information about their Japan-US Teacher exchange, click here.
Travel costs for the teacher programs administered by IIE are paid for by the program sponsors, if you are selected to participate.
Earthwatch Institute’s Teach Earth Program
Earthwatch Institute is an international non-profit whose mission is to engage people worldwide in scientific field research and education to promote the understanding and action necessary for a sustainable environment.
The Teach Earth program is built upon the principle that every individual can contribute to a sustainable planet, regardless of scientific background or skill. Each year, Earthwatch selects talented K-12 U.S. teachers from all subject areas to work side by side with world-class scientists on field research expeditions around the world. From the edge of the Arctic to the coast of Maine, these teachers collect data on climate change, ecology, wildlife, and more. Teachers have the opportunity to learn the scientific process first hand and help to solve some of the world’s most pressing environmental challenges. Teachers return to the classroom with new perspectives and knowledge, invigorated and inspired to share the experience of real discovery with their students.
For more information and applications, visit Earthwatch’s website.
Grosvenor Teacher Fellow Program
The Grosvenor Teacher Fellow program is a professional development opportunity made possible by a partnership between National Geographic Education and Lindblad Expeditions. Through the program, exemplary educators are recognized for their commitment to geographic education and are given the opportunity to be actively engaged in finding new ways to bring geographic awareness to their classrooms or informal learning environments through a field-based experience.
The program takes educators, in small groups of two or three, on an all-expenses paid voyage aboard the Lindblad Expeditions flagship National Geographic Explorer. Expeditions range from 10 days/8 nights to 17 days/15 nights, including travel time and pre-/post-trip stays on shore.
Click here for more information and applications.
IREX TGC Program
The Teachers for Global Classrooms Program (TGC) is a professional development opportunity for middle and high school teachers from the United States. The goal of TGC is to provide teachers with the skills and experience to promote global education in their classrooms and schools. TGC features an online course aimed at globalizing U.S. classrooms (CEU credits available), two Global Education Symposiums in Washington, DC, and international travel. Current countries of travel include Republic of Georgia, Morocco, Senegal, Philippines, India and Colombia. Participants are selected through a national, open competition. TGC is a program of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) administered by IREX.
Please see the program page on the IREX website for more information.
English in Action: Teachers Learning Abroad (TLab)
If you teach 5th-12th grade and want to travel and learn in the U.K, sign up for TLab’s teacher-focused programs at Oxford, the University of Edinburgh, Shakespeare’s Globe, or Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. Our exclusive partnerships with these institutions feature graduate level courses on English literature, creative writing, history, international politics, or drama – all taught on-site by instructors from these academies of higher learning. Scholarships are available for select programs through the English-Speaking Union. Application dates vary by program. Join us on our unique programs and discover a new perspective that will inspire you and reinvigorate your classroom.
For more information please click here.
Keizai Koho Fellowship Program
Since 1980, the Keizai Koho Center (Japan Institute for Social and Economic Affairs) in cooperation with the National Association of Japan-America Societies (NAJAS) has sponsored a Fellowship tour to Japan for educators in the U.S. and Canada. The Fellowship allows teachers to learn first hand about contemporary Japanese society and enhance their classroom teaching of global perspectives. Highlights of the fellowship include visits to Japanese schools, major companies, and industrial facilities. In addition, sightseeing excursions are planned to allow the fellows to learn about Japanese culture and society.
Visit their website to learn more.
Fulbright-Hays Seminars
The Fulbright-Hays Seminars Abroad Program provides opportunities for overseas experience. The program is open to educators and administrators with responsibilities for curriculum development in fields related to humanities, languages, and area studies. Topics and host countries of the seminars vary from year to year.
All seminars are in non-western European countries. Seminars are designed to provide a broad and introductory cultural orientation to a particular country. The program is geared towards those educators with little or no experience in the host country who demonstrate the need to develop and enhance their curriculum through short-term study and travel abroad.
For more information please visit this page.
Ecology Project International (EPI)
EPI’s Teacher Fellowships are 8-day hands-on professional development experiences for high school and college-level educators that take place in Hawaii, Costa Rica, Baja California Sur, and Yellowstone National Park. Educators accepted into the program will collaborate with one another on real-world conservation projects and learn EPI’s experiential education framework in the field.
EPI covers all costs, except a $250-$600 program fee and the participant’s airfare to the program site. EPI is accepting applications now until Sept 1.
Educators can review the programs’ focus areas, watch a promo video, and submit an application via their website which can be found here.