Woodring's Tim Keiper to Travel to Tanzania on Fulbright Scholarship

Western Washington University Associate Professor of Secondary Education Tim Keiper was selected as a Fulbright Scholar recipient – a prestigious international educational exchange program designed to increase mutual understanding between people from the United States and other countries – for the 2010-11 academic year.

Keiper will travel with his family to Tanzania, where he will work in the teacher- preparation program at Mt. Meru University in Arusha (see photo at left).

While there, Keiper plans to conduct research in remote areas of Tanzania related to the preparation needs of teachers working with orphaned and vulnerable children. His research title is “Assessing the Needs of Pre-Service teachers Preparing to Educate Orphaned and Vulnerable Children in Rural Tanzania.”

“This is a wonderful opportunity to learn from African teachers and share ideas,” Keiper said. “The students I’ve shared this with taught me my first two Swahili words – ‘habari’ and ‘rafiki’, which mean ‘hello’ and ‘friend.’ I have a long way to go but it’s a good start.”