TALMA is an ROI Community Project & joint initiative of Schusterman Family Philanthropies,
The Steinhardt Family Foundation in Israel, and the Government of Israel joint initiative of Schusterman Family Philanthropies,
❖ Teaching Fellowships ❖ Trainings ❖ Virtual & School-Based Programs ❖ Curriculum Development ❖ Bridge Building ❖
An Overview
The TALMA Fellowship offers certified teachers with a fully funded summer or year-long fellowship. Both the summer and full-year fellowship focus on serving Israel's social and geographic periphery, with the aim of ensuring educational opportunity for all.
The summer fellowship offers professional educators a short-term, all-expenses-paid (flight, meal, accommodation, PD), 3.5-week service-learning experience. More than 200 educators from around the world join TALMA each summer and, in partnership with local Israeli co-teachers, lead English summer-school for thousands of students across 24 municipalities that span Eilat to the Golan.
Fellows teach by day, then spend alternating afternoons and evenings participating in professional development programming, speaker series, and social events. This is the ideal experience for young professionals looking to grow their toolkit, network, and international education experience in the beautiful and complex classroom that is Israel.
The full-year fellowship, often referred to as 'TALMA 2.0,' offers select alumni of the summer fellowship with a longer term and more immersive 10.5-month teaching and leadership experience. Fellows are divided into cohorts of 5-10 teachers and placed in a 'Community of Teachers' to serve in underserved school communities throughout the country. Past placements have included Mitzpe Ramon, Ben Shemen Youth Village, Ein Gedi (with housing in Jerusalem), and Eilat. In 2021, TALMA will expand to the Druze community in Northern Israel.
Full-Year Fellows get to experience Israel as independent young professionals with TALMA acting as a support system to assist with housing, community, school placement, social programming, professional development, and general guidance for successful integration into the Israeli society - and, more specifically, the education system. TALMA covers all core expenses including flights, private housing, and TALMA programming - plus, teachers receive generous monthly stipends to cover personal expenses such as extracurricular endeavors and food (though many locations offer dining halls or meal options at little to no cost).
Fellows serve in a variety of roles in the community, teaching 4 days a week, volunteering with local organizations, attending weekly ulpan (Hebrew immersion classes), and regular professional development programs. Past offerings have included academic coursework at Ben Gurion University of the Negev, coaching from partners at Relay Graduate School of Education and Leading Educators, speaker-series with Israel's 'Teachers of the State', visits to social initiatives and start-ups, weekend learning retreats, and an 80-hour course on instructional leadership in partnership with One World's Instructional Leadership Institute.
If you're interested in learning more, follow the links below to dive deeper into each aspect of TALMA's fellowship programming.
