Host City India: TBC

Sonaleeca Das

Ms. Sonaleeca Das is a science teacher at Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya in Tenughat of Bokaro district in the state of Jharkhand. She has been teaching science to middle-school learners for eighteen years. She has an integrated bachelor’s degree in science and education from Regional Institute of Education, Bhubaneswar.

She is actively involved in planning and organizing science exhibitions, exposure visits to science centres, mentor talks, and workshops on nurturing design thinking among the middle-grade learners for their successful participation in national-level science competitions. In 2016 she received the Navodaya National Incentive Award for her contributions in the field of teaching learning in one of the remote north-eastern regions of India.

During her participation in the Fulbright DAI program, Sonaleeca plans to explore methods to nurture, develop, and scaffold reflection as a skill among the middle-school learners in science. She believes that the skill of reflection should help the current generation of learners to listen to their internal voice, to make meaning of their experiences and develop the ability to receive comments, suggestions, evaluations, and feedback. The learning and findings from her project will guide her to redesign the experiential learning process in her school. She plans to disseminate learnings from this project through research publications and workshops with fellow teachers.

Nilam Thakkar

Ms. Nilam Thakkar is an educator with over 15 years of experience at NGO Manav Sadhna. Through its Prathma remedial education program, she has been teaching 4th and 5th graders while serving as Principal, and training 12 teachers on holistic values-based education. She also developed the Prathma curriculum, which includes workbooks, assessments, and teacher training modules.

She holds a Primary Teacher’s Training diploma (PTC), a B.Ed., and an MA from Gujarat University. She has pursued professional development through programs such as Social Emotional Learning (SEL) facilitation, done pedagogy training with Teach for India, and Waldorf Education training. Her dedication to education has been recognized with the Women of Excellence Award (2023) and the Wonder Woman Award (2019).

Since 2016, she has been a member of the selection committee of the Gujarat State Child Care and Protection Department, selecting members for the Child Welfare Committee and Juvenile Justice Board across 33 districts.

As a Fulbright DAI fellow, Nilam aims to explore innovative educational approaches to address the psychological, social, and emotional challenges faced by children from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Her project focuses on creating sustainable interventions to enhance students’ cognitive skills, motivation, and self-confidence. She plans to design a teacher’s guide and training modules to empower teachers and foster supportive learning environments. Her vision is to integrate these strategies into her school system and share her learnings with NGOs and schools, ensuring holistic child development and academic progress for underserved communities.

Mukesh Kumar

Mr. Mukesh Kumar is a School Lecturer with the Government of Rajasthan and has over 18 years of rich teaching experience. As an educator and author, he has written 31 books on English Literature, comprising academic guides and poetry collections. His work includes comprehensive guides on Shakespeare, cultural studies, and preparation materials for UGC−NET and examination for assistant professor. Mr. Kumar holds a master’s degree in English and is dedicated to fostering academic excellence and personal growth in his students.

During his participation in the Fulbright DAI program, Mukesh is exploring innovative approaches to ethical integration of AI with education. He aims to enhance teaching methodologies and develop strategies to improve students’ critical thinking and literary appreciation skills. Upon returning to India, he intends to implement AI-driven educational tools in the classroom, develop new curriculum materials incorporating ethical AI usage, and conduct workshops for fellow educators. He trusts that these efforts will help cascade his learnings to the broader educational community and transform the teaching-learning scenario in government schools across Rajasthan and beyond.

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.