Field Museum Cultural Teaching Fellowship

We are looking for 20 educators to be part of our latest professional learning cohort!

The Field Museum Cultural Teaching Fellowship is a Professional Learning Community through which Chicago-area educators receive ongoing professional development specifically related to the Museum’s cultural collections and exhibitions in order to connect educators and, as a result, their students with the history as well as cultural and religious beliefs of people around the world and throughout history.

Survey findings from last year's cohort (centered on Native American stories) showed significant growth in educators’ knowledge and comfort teaching with and about Native peoples. Students of cohort educators also entered Field Museum field trip classes with greater prior knowledge and demonstrated greater cultural empathy during their experiences.

For the 2027 Fellowship, learning will center on Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander stories and fulfill requirements of the TEAACH Act. 

See also our Field Museum Connections: AANHPI Stories and the TEAACH Act program page for more AANHPI resources!

Fellowship educators will serve as liaisons between the Museum and their school community by sharing and piloting our resources as well as their own inquiry-lessons that they create with us. In addition, as a result of this program, these educators will be able to model for their peers best practices in using museums and object inquiry to support cultural competency, empathy, and student learning.

Participants will engage in at least 20 hours of training (professional development hours!) on content relevant to the Field Museum's cultural collections as well as best practices in culturally relevant and responsive social science learning. 

Through the Fellowship, Educators will

• Dedicate themselves to lifelong learning in a collaborative professional learning community.
• Improve their ability to teach and learn social sciences through collections and exhibitions.
• Deepen their capacity to build lessons based on inquiry.
• Model best practices for teaching about human history, culture, and religious traditions.
• Develop an inquiry project for use in their classrooms and beyond.

We welcome educators of all levels to apply, but programming for the 2027 Fellowship will prioritize instructional strategies for PreK through Grade 5 educators.

Program Dates and Times

• Saturday, January 9, 2027 (9am-1pm)
• Saturday, February 6, 2027 (9am-1pm)
• Saturday, March 6, 2027 (9am-1pm)
• Saturday, April 10, 2027 (9am-1pm)
• Saturday, May 8, 2027 (9am-1pm)

Participants are expected to

• Attend all five (5) sessions (Jan. 9, Feb. 6, March 6, April 10, and May 8) at the Field Museum.
• Book their class(es) for a field trip and field trip class connected to their learning (AANHPI history) sometime between January and June 2027.
• Attend two (2) scheduled individual or team virtual coaching sessions
• Complete seven (7) brief evaluation surveys and two (2) virtual focus groups/interviews.
• Complete and present a final project. Some participants will have the opportunity to have their project featured on the Field Museum website.
• It is recommended but not required that you apply as a school team or partnership to facilitate collaboration and field trip plans.

Applications are due on or before: Wednesday, November 25, 2026.
Those accepted will be notified by the end of December.

Questions? Reach out to Professional Development Educator Samantha Chapleau, schapleau@fieldmuseum.org.