The Nelson Brooks Award recognizes a language educator who has made significant impact through the teaching of culture in the world language classroom and beyond.
Granted in celebration of the contributions of Nelson Brooks, this award honors a preeminent author and teacher whose work and writings changed the course of our profession. Although best remembered for his writings on the role of culture in world language education, his articles and books on the audiolingual approach to teaching world languages, published during the 1960s, contributed significantly to a movement that dramatically influenced second language instruction.
Proposed by the ACTFL DEI Committee in 2023, the Award for Excellence in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the Classroom recognizes language educators at all levels who have intentionally and effectively created accessible spaces of belonging for their learners and incorporated diverse, equitable and inclusive principles into their classroom curriculum and projects, and in doing so have enabled all students, including those with special needs, to develop linguistic and cultural competence.
We are currently seeking volunteers to serve on the Awards Committee. Committee members review the dossiers of those nominated and rate them on a provided evaluation rubric.
Requirements:
Volunteers should have a background in teaching culture and/or establishing accessible spaces of belonging for their learners and incorporating diverse, equitable, and inclusion principles into their classroom.
Number of hours committed varies depending on the number of nominations received, generally 2-3 hours.
Approximately 2-5 volunteer committee members are selected to serve for the awards cycle each year. They are notified in early June; work begins in late June and is completed online. Nomination materials are posted on the Awards Community for committee members to access, along with a rubric. Deadlines will be set by the committee chair and passed along to the committee.
Volunteers currently serving as Chair on another ACTFL Committee (SIG Officers, Board Committee, etc.) are not eligible to apply. Volunteers must remain an ACTFL member for the duration of their committee term.