Shantel Lynch, a graduate teacher for special education in Barbados (left), poses with Laura Griesmer, the US Embassy’s Deputy Chief of Mission in Bridgetown, before departing on the US Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Programme.
Barbadian special education teacher to participate in US leadership programme
Sat, 01/28/2017 - 12:00am
A Barbadian special education teacher is travelling to the United States to participate in the US Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Programme (IVLP). Shantel Lynch, a graduate teacher employed by the Barbados Ministry of Education, will take part in a three-week project on “Education and Activism for Young Women” from January 29 until February 17.
This project will seek to engage current leaders in enlarging young women’s spheres of possibilities, self-confidence, and visions for change, as well as exploring ways to give them the tools and professional networks they need to launch their ideas into the world. Participants will interact with public, private, academic, religious, and grassroots organisations to learn about best practices in responsible citizen activism and leadership for women.
The programme will also examine ways to cultivate leadership in young women and encourage them to take action to improve communities through developing skills such as critical thinking, overcoming internalised stereotypes, identifying and challenging inequality, public speaking, managerial skills, and team building. It will emphasise the importance of girls’ and women’s leadership through entry into non-traditional fields and careers, and through civic participation and volunteerism.
The project will also expose participants to new ways of effectively designing curricula and utilising differentiated instruction that address special needs children.
The initiative begins on January 29 in Washington DC, and includes travel to at least four cities across the United States, including Louisville; Kentucky; Seattle; Washington; Pensacola; Florida; and San Antonio, Texas.
The IVLP is the Department of State’s premier, professional exchange programme. It brings together emerging leaders in their respective professions to learn how US experts in that profession operate and to share best practices with the other programme candidates who hail from the same region and across the globe.