Teaching Africa Certificate

Teaching Africa Teacher Certificate for Elementary Teachers

Generously funded by the Longview Foundation, the African Studies Center Education Outreach Program is pleased to invite applications from elementary teachers across the United States to apply to participate in our 2026 Teaching Africa Teacher Certificate Program for Elementary Teachers (TATCE).

***The applications for this program are currently closed. We received a quick and large response after we extended the deadline to 6/1/26 and are currently reviewing the applications that have newly come in.

What is the Teaching Africa Teacher Certificate for Elementary Teachers?

This free & virtual program consists of two 7-week online sessions (7 synchronous weeks in Summer 2026, 7 asynchronous weeks in Fall 2026). The goal is for you to gain principles, approaches, and tools to build curricula to engage your students with exciting content related to Africa.

During the two sessions, you will be supported to design relevant curriculum and after doing so, to engage in leadership opportunities to share your learnings with your schools and/or school districts and through public professional development experiences.

• In summer 2026, over the course of seven 2-hour Zoom sessions, you will have opportunities to hear from guest speakers from the continent and become familiar with a wide variety of books available to teach multiple countries and topics.
• In Fall 2026 (October-November), in partnership with the National Humanities Center, you will be enrolled in an asynchronous course titled “Teaching Africa Across the Disciplines for Elementary Teachers” during which you will finalize your curriculum unit.

Upon completion of all program requirements, teachers will receive a Teaching Africa Teacher Certificate from the Boston University African Studies Center, a statement of professional development hours/credits, as well as a stipend in the amount of $800.

Why this program?

In a context where world borders are becoming harder to cross and nationalism is rising world-wide, our larger goal in offering this professional development pathway is to expand borders by building teacher knowledge about African cultures and histories, toward educating generations of students who are globally-minded world citizens who work for peace and intercultural understanding.

Enhancing the teaching of Africa in classrooms is crucial to ensure that our curriculum:

a) reflects our globally interconnected world and equips students with multiple perspectives;

b) reflects the diversity of students’ lives in our classrooms, which is especially affirming for African American and African diasporic students but equally important for all students;

c) expands understanding of the centrality of the continent in world history and across many disciplines; and

d) offers accurate content and built on human dignity, not on stereotypes.

Who can apply?

We welcome all elementary teachers to apply, and it is our hope to receive applications from across the country, from rural and urban districts, as the program values multiple perspectives and is committed to building a supportive and collegial community of practice. To be eligible to apply, teachers:

• must be currently practicing elementary teachers (K-6th grade) in a United States classroom;
• must demonstrate interest in learning about Africa and commitment to bringing learnings to the classroom and a larger educator community;
• have completed a Bachelor’s degree or higher.

How and when do I apply?

***Applications are no longer being accepted.

To apply, follow these steps:

1. Fill out and submit the application form, which requests basic information, as well as a short essay (see #2 below for more details on the essay).
2. In the essay, write about: a) why you are interested in this program; b) what aspects of your background experience have shaped your interest and commitment to such a program; c) any educational leadership experiences you’ve engaged in, if applicable; c) why this program will benefit you and your students. The essay must be a minimum of  750 words but no longer than a 1,100 words.
3. Request that an official transcript of your highest degree conferred be sent electronically to africa@bu.edu. If a paper transcript is requested, please ask for it to be mailed to African Studies Center Education Outreach Program, c/o Dr. Elsa Wiehe, 232 Bay State Rd, Boston, MA 02215. The transcript must be received before the application deadline.
4. Request a short letter of recommendation (1 paragraph) from your school or district supervisor to express their support of your application to this program. The message/letter can be emailed to africa@bu.edu with the header “Recommendation for [your name].” The message/letter must be received before the application deadline.

For any questions about the program or the application, please email africa@bu.edu.

Background on the program

The structure for the TATCE program is informed by the gains and successes developed by the BU ASC for the former, now closed, Teaching Africa Teacher Certificate program whereby K-12 educators engaged in 6 credits of online coursework offered by our educational partners; participated in 10 hours of workshops offered by the African Studies Center and engaged in a curriculum-building capstone, empowering teachers to develop or revise accurate and up-to-date Africa-related curriculum. We are proud of the powerhouse of teachers who have completed this program! Teachers in the network cited their learning, and especially the iterative feedback provided on curriculum design, as transformative to their thinking and practice. Several teachers have presented at national conferences and led advocacy and professional development for expansive curriculum on Africa with their districts.