A performance of the Barong Dance in Batubulan Village, which is located on the Indonesian island of Bali. The Barong is a classic Balinese dance representing the fight between good and evil. Photo by Paul Wallace
BOONE, N.C. — During summer 2019, faculty and students in the Appalachian State University’s Reich College of Education (RCOE), along with practicing K–12 teachers in regional schools, will study abroad in Indonesia for four weeks as part of a Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad (GPA) Program funded by the U.S. Department of Education.
The four-week program will allow a group of K–12 teachers and RCOE faculty and students to study in Indonesia in order to develop cross-disciplinary curricula and immersive digital media to be used both in their classrooms and distributed online for all educators to access.
Dr. Paul Wallace, associate professor in the Department of Leadership and Educational Studies at Appalachian, which is housed in the RCOE, was awarded $79,835 for the development of the program.
He said, throughout all phases of the program, participants will be engaged in seminars, workshops and activities that relate to Indonesian history, culture and arts.
Students at the Budi Mulia Dua Elementary School in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, pose for a photo. Photo by Paul Wallace
An exposed Buddha statue at the top of Borobudur Temple in Central Java, Indonesia. Photo by Paul Wallace
“This Appalachian Fulbright-Hays GPA Program is unique in that very few U.S. educators have first-hand knowledge of Indonesia, the world’s fourth most populous country, the third largest democracy and one of our most important political and economic partners,” Wallace said.
He added, “There exists a great need for educators both in the Appalachian region and across this country to access rich and engaging curriculum materials related to Indonesian history, culture and the arts. However, there are no comprehensive teaching and media collections available.”
Ethnically, the country is highly diverse, Wallace explained, with hundreds of ethnic groups, languages and local dialects. Additionally, he said Indonesia has the largest Muslim population in the world, yet maintains a tradition of religious freedom that is upheld in its constitution.
About the Department of Leadership and Educational Studies
The Department of Leadership and Educational Studies at Appalachian State University prepares traditional and nontraditional students to assume educational leadership roles in community colleges, universities, public schools, public libraries and related educational settings through active scholarship, reflection, professional discourse and interdisciplinary programs of study based on the integration of theory and practice. The department offer four graduate certificates, as well as four master’s programs, and educational specialist programs in higher education and administration. Learn more at https://les.appstate.edu/about.
About the Reich College of Education
Appalachian offers one of the largest undergraduate teacher preparation programs in North Carolina, graduating about 500 teachers a year. The Reich College of Education enrolls approximately 2,400 students in its bachelor's, master's, education specialist and doctoral degree programs. With so many teacher education graduates working in the state, there is at least one RCOE graduate teaching in every county in North Carolina. Learn more at https://rcoe.appstate.edu.
About Appalachian State University
Appalachian State University, in North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains, prepares students to lead purposeful lives as global citizens who understand and engage their responsibilities in creating a sustainable future for all. The transformational Appalachian experience promotes a spirit of inclusion that brings people together in inspiring ways to acquire and create knowledge, to grow holistically, to act with passion and determination, and embrace diversity and difference. As one of 17 campuses in the University of North Carolina System, Appalachian enrolls more than 19,000 students, has a low student-to-faculty ratio and offers more than 150 undergraduate and graduate majors.
