is a non-profit institution providing professional and technical services in the education sector. It focuses on the quality and effectiveness of curriculum design, pedagogy, school reform, assessments, school leadership, and research. In GITE, we place the needs, experiences, and interests of students at the forefront of our instructional and curricular designs. We leverage our technical expertis
e and professional experiences in education to maximize educational outcomes for students and the society. We believe in the power of education to transform socioeconomic lives of students and their countries. We also believe in community, government, and institutional partnerships in rethinking, redefining, reassessing the educational needs of a community and a country. We have a pool of experts in various subjects that we tap into to ensure that we provide quality professional and staff development services to effectively tackle societal issues through education. We provide professional assistance to the academic staff of schools that are interested in GITE’s vision and mission and to work with schools as well as community organizations at both national and international levels that are committed to a transformative educational process that is grounded in equity, social justice and environmental sustainability. We believe that teachers need our technical support to break loose from the stranglehold of traditional, teacher-centered pedagogy with little consideration for environmental education. To accomplish this vision, GITE supports meaningful educational experiences that develop the community leaders of tomorrow – leaders who understand how to identify societal problems and utilize just and sustainable methods toward meaningful solutions- we can create lasting change and better the world for everyone. In addition, GITE provides professional support nationally and internationally in the creation of new, just, and equitable schools as well as the transformation of existing traditional schools to reflect the standards of transformative education envisioned by its founding members. In addition to continuing the work GITE is currently doing to support new charter schools based on the transformative education model and organizing the initial WCTE, GITE plans on supporting existing nonprofit transformative schools through leadership, governance, and community engagement trainings, consulting, and research. This work is conducted by the Executive Director and other directors of GITE. We facilitate this work from our offices in Bloomington and Indianapolis, Indiana, as well as on-site at various locations around the world. We believe that this work furthers our tax-exempt purpose because it fulfills our stated mission, as outlined in our Bylaws, as well as supports the work of other 501(c)(3) organizations. As a non-profit organization, we depend on grants and donations to run the activities spelled out in our bylaws. In the near future, this work will also be funded, in part, through consultative fees paid to GITE by other education systems needing our technical expertise. The Global Institute for Transformative Education (GITE) filed its articles of incorporation in late 2014. Since then, it has been organizing the first World Conference on Transformative Education (WCTE). The WCTE promotes the concepts of transformative teaching, learning, leadership, and research in countries whose education systems are incongruous with the current socioeconomic realities of current times. The conference will take place in July 14-16, 2016 at the University of Yaoundé in Cameroon, Africa and the theme of the conference is “Rethinking Curriculum, Pedagogy and Research in Africa.”
As part of the planning for this conference, GITE’s founders have been speaking with the Minister of Higher Education and other stakeholders in the Cameroonian educational community in order to encourage widespread participation in the conference. In addition, the founders have worked on the graphic design for conference publications, applied for grants to organize the conference, conducted a trip to Cameroon to make arrangements for the conference in-person, identified and contacted potential keynote speakers, applied for authorization to organize the conference in Cameroon, contacted potential partners to expand the reach of the conference, and more. Outside of planning for the conference, the founders have also begun to design and develop the curricula guides and other necessary background material for school systems in any country which is interested in more measurable and impactful educational outcomes.
