Grant Writing for Geography Education

Grant Writing for Geography Education

Paper details

Unit Summary

While the school at which you will teach, or are currently teaching, provides you with the basic necessities for teaching, a great way to supplement those supplies and offer greater opportunities for your students is through the use of outside funding, especially grants, and to make use of continuing educational opportunities for yourself. Many educational agencies, including National Geographic Society, offer grants to practicing teachers and all of the state Geographic Alliances offer training that includes over $1000 worth of supplies and free graduate credits. This unit will familiarize you with these opportunities.

Competency

The student will be able to write an education funding grant and know where to look for professional development opportunities.

Objectives

Upon completion of this unit you will be able to

1. Write a grant
2. Effectively locate continuing education opportunities

Learning Activities

Read the following: Note – it is recommended that you go through the material below in the order in which it is listed.

Salter, C. (1994) The True Engine of Geography reform. Journal of Geography. 93. pp. 162-163.

Cole, D. & Ormrod, J. (1995) Effectiveness of Teaching Pedagogical Content Through Summer Institutes. Journal of Geography. 94. pp. 427-433.

Edelson, D. (2008) Repositioning Geography Education: From Neglect to Necessity. National Geographic Society. pp. 1-4.

Jacobson. D. (1994). Realities and Opportunities for Funding Geography Education. Journal Of Geography. 93. pp. 50-53.

Evaluation Process

Complete the exercise “The Fundamentals of Grant Writing and Professional Development” and submit to instructor.

 
Exercise #10 – “The Fundamentals of Grant Writing and Professional Development”

This final exercise is also in two parts:

First, after reading the Jacobson article above, get on the internet and check out current sources for funding of geography education. I will provide several places to begin looking:

National Foundation for the Improvement of Education
www.nfie.org/programs/grantguides.htm

National Geographic Society Education Foundation

https://www.nationalserviceresources.org/grants/national-geographic-society-education-foundation-teacher-grants

NCSS Grant Program

http://www.socialstudies.org/awards

Elementary School Grants http://www.backtoschoolgrants.com/elementary-school-grants

School Grants Clearinghouse http://www.k12grants.org/

Once you have perused these sites (and certainly others that you can locate with a web search – these are just starter addresses that I have provided) choose one that is of interest to you and actually write a grant proposal. This need not be one of the large ones if you are new to grant writing. Start small with one that is a few hundred or thousand dollars. Think of materials or other items that would enhance the unit you designing and practice writing a grant that would help support your curriculum. Submit a copy of the completed draft grant proposal to your instructor.