Host City India: Indiana

Nisar Shaikh

Mr. Nisar Shaikh is a teacher and teacher educator with over 17 years of experience in state government schools in Maharashtra. He holds an MA, MEd, and an MA TESOL with Distinction from the University of Leeds, UK, specialising in teacher education, educational technology, and young learners.

Nisar has contributed to teacher education at the state level. As a State Academic Resource Person at the State Institute of English, Maharashtra, he helped design teacher training programs, develop learning materials, and supported statewide English language initiatives such as TEJAS and the Spoken English programme. He also served as a British Council ARMS mentor, guiding government school teachers in conducting classroom-based exploratory action research. His innovative contributions have been recognised through awards, including Best ELT Material Writer and Technology Wizard at successive TEJAS symposia. He has presented his work at national and international conferences, including the MA TESOL Conference at the University of Hull, UK (2023) and the Language in Education Conference in Kathmandu, Nepal (2025).

As an FDAI scholar, Nisar is aiming to master research-backed multilingual pedagogies to support diverse classrooms. Upon his return, he will develop a practical teacher training module with scalable lesson plans to be shared via local workshops, professional learning networks and monthly cluster-level meetings of teachers. This initiative aligns with an NEP 2020 objective to empower rural teachers to bridge the gap between home dialects and standard instruction. Outside the classroom, Nisar is a passionate traveller who loves exploring new cultures.

Kiran

Ms. Kiran is a Vice-Principal in the government school of Delhi. Prior to her posting as a Vice-Principal she worked as a Senior Secondary teacher of sociology. She started her career as a Primary teacher in Kendriya Vidyalaya. She holds a Bachelor of Elementary Education degree and a B.Ed. from the University of Delhi. She also holds a master’s degree in sociology and is currently pursuing a PG diploma in school leadership and management from Indira Gandhi National Open University. She has participated in various trainings and seminars conducted by DoE, CBSE, and SCERT including UTCS trainings and leadership development program at IIM Ahmedabad.

Kiran wants to promote and nurture educational practices that integrate empathy, peaceful conflict resolution, and dialogue into the school culture to mould students into happy, compassionate, and socially responsible citizens.

As an FDAI scholar, Kiran is learning innovative pedagogical approaches that not only promote peace education and social-emotional development but also develop a sense of appreciation. Upon her return, Kiran aims to cultivate and strengthen new learnings and findings within her school system.

Joyeeta Banerjee

Ms. Joyeeta Banerjee is an assistant teacher at Nikunjapur High School teaching English as Second Language (ESL) to the rural learners of secondary and higher secondary grades for the past 23 years. She holds a master’s degree in English from the University of Burdwan and a master’s in education from Rabindra Bharati University.

She is the cultural coordinator of her school and after school hours, actively engages in teaching English to disadvantaged learners. She appeared in the critically acclaimed movie Kalamkathi, screened in the environment category of the 29th Kolkata International Film Festival. She has published many articles. Her book review was featured in the prestigious Bengali quarterly Anustup. She was a recipient of the National Child Rights Research Fellowship in 2012.

As a Fulbright fellow, Joyeeta is exploring theoretical and practical issues related to ESL pedagogy. It will be useful in delineating a plan of action to foster meaningful learning for the first-generation learners in her ESL classrooms. She intends to publish her findings and her experiences both in academic journals and popular magazines and newspapers. She is interested in conducting workshops and seminars at the grassroots for the benefit of her school and community.

Satyam Mishra

Mr. Satyam Mishra is a mathematics teacher at Mount Assisi School, Poreyahat, Jharkhand. He also provides support to the students at Saint Stanislaus School, Mirzacheuki, Bhagalpur. He has a decade of professional experience and holds a bachelor’s in engineering from Manipal Institute of Technology, Karnataka.

Mr. Mishra is the first from Bihar-Jharkhand combined to have made it to the finalists of the UNESCO Global Teacher Prize, Varkey Foundation (2021). He is a Shaper and Impact Officer at the Global Shapers Community (GSC), an initiative of the World Economic Forum. He is a three times TEDx Speaker and a National Geographic Certified Educator by the National Geographic Society. For his contributions across several countries to help children from marginalized communities access an excellent education, he was recognized as a Network Connector by Teach For All. He served as Teach For India Fellow (2015-17) and was one of the finalists at Transformational Impact Journey (TIJ) and Teach For India (2017).

During his Fulbright DAI Project, Mr. Mishra is developing more inclusive teacher-training modules to support teachers in some of eastern India’s remote and underdeveloped regions. He aspires to make his pedagogical innovations more universal in approach based on observations, research, data points, and feedback. Upon his return to India, he plans to share his Fulbright experience and learning with fellow teachers and create better access to education for children with disabilities, first-generation college students, students from tribal communities in eastern India, and adult women resuming their studies.

Ravi Kumar Kola

Dr. Ravi Kumar Kola is Teacher of English at Zilla Parishad High School Panthini, Hanumakonda, Telangana. He has 24 years of teaching experience, master’s in English and zoology, and a Ph.D. in zoology. Dr. Kola was awarded the National ICT Award for School Teachers by the Ministry of Education, Government of India for extensive integration of technology with content and pedagogy. He is also a state resource person for SCERT Telangana. A constant learner, he has completed online courses from prestigious institutes like US Embassy’s Regional English Language Office (RELO), New Delhi, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, and Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai.

Through his participation in the Fulbright DAI program, Dr. Kola is enhancing his teaching skills and gaining insights into innovative pedagogical approaches. Upon returning to India, he intends to utilize his refined English language skills to develop tailored English language programs for rural students in Telangana. By equipping rural students with strong English language abilities, he aims to empower them to access better educational opportunities and improve their employability as well as to bridge the linguistic gap between rural and urban areas in the state. As an active member of various English forums, Dr. Kola wishes to share knowledge gained from his Fulbright project with the English fraternity of Telangana.

Anuja Sudheer

Ms. Anuja Sudheer works as a speech language pathologist and head of the early years program at the Centre for Autism and other Disabilities Rehabilitation Research and Education (CADRRE), Trivandrum, Kerala. CADRRE is a not-for-profit organization that runs a full-day intervention and education program in a school setting for children with autism aged two-18 years by an interdisciplinary team of speech-language pathologists, occupational therapists, psychologists, and special educators. Ms. Sudheer holds a master’s degree in audiology and speech-language pathology from the National Institute of Speech and Hearing, University of Kerala, and has over 13 years of experience in supporting children with special needs.

Ms. Sudheer has obtained certifications in applied behavioral analysis therapy, picture exchange communication system, oral placement therapy, PROMPT therapy, Avaz (an AAC app), comprehensive literacy skills in individuals with complex communication needs from Jane Farrall Consulting, and Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule. She conducts trainings of special educators through Continuing Rehabilitation Education programs by the Rehabilitation Council of India. She participates in outreach programs to raise awareness about autism among grassroots-level healthcare workers and parents in rural India. Additionally, she has given talks at numerous national and international conferences. Through the Fulbright DAI program, Ms. Sudheer hopes to receive training in strategies and methods for teaching young children with complex communication needs, particularly those with autism. She anticipates being able to put her training to use by directly supporting her students and colleagues at CADRRE and through outreach programs in rural India.

Ashima Gupta

Ms. Ashima Gupta is a mentor teacher with the Delhi Directorate of Education. In her present role, she facilitates pre/in-service teacher trainings, develops content for secondary grade classes and observes classes in her mentee schools. She has been teaching English to the students of primary and secondary grades for fifteen years. She has a master’s degree in English from IGNOU and a certificate in TESOL core.

Ms. Gupta is actively involved in the planning of student development programs like student advisory board, sports meet at state level and spoken English project (Project Voices). During weekends, she provides career and spoken English counselling to students from disadvantaged families. She was honored with the Om Foundation’s Excellence in Teaching Award in 2017 for her efforts to provide students from underprivileged backgrounds with access to education.

During Ms. Gupta’s participation in the Fulbright DAI program, she plans to study the strategies to improve soft skills of students through co-scholastic activities. She believes, students’ interest in co-scholastic activities like sports, arts and crafts, and theatre, can be used for developing their overall personality, soft skills, and English communication skills. The findings and learnings from her project will help her transform the teaching learning scenario of government schools of Delhi. She intends to cascade her learnings to the fellow educators through workshops and training programs, hence benefitting her community.