NCTA provides content rich professional development programs for K-12 educators and pre-service teachers in all fields. This includes face-to-face college level seminars, online courses, workshops, book groups, webinars, and among other opportunities. Below are current offerings both locally and nationwide:
Saturday, October 24, 2026
10:30am - 2:00pm (Eastern Time)
In-Person at the China Folk House Retreat, Rolling Ridge Conservancy
Onsite Director: Dr. John Flower is co-Founder of the China Folk House Retreat, retired Director of the Sidwell Friends School Chinese Studies Program, a former associate professor of East Asian History at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and Fellow at the East Asia Center at the University of Virginia. He has thirty-five years of research experience in the Chinese countryside, focusing for the last 15 years on the multi-ethnic regions of northwest Yunnan Province. John has received research grants from the American Council of Learned Societies and the National Endowment for the Humanities, and support for people-to-people exchange programs through the U.S. Department of State.
In Person Program at Saint Vincent College,
Latrobe, PA
Join us for a day of learning, conversation, and hands-on activities with scholars and artists dedicated to bringing East Asian history, cultures, and arts into K–12 classrooms. The workshop will provide participants with classroom-ready teaching resources on the history and cultures of mainland China, Taiwan, and Japan, along with engaging art and cultural activities that can be readily adapted for students. This program is a collaboration with the James and Margaret Tseng Loe Center for China Studies and the Education Department at Saint Vincent College
Participants will receive:
A certificate of participation
8-Act 48 professional development hours
Classroom-ready teaching materials and art activities focusing on Chinese and Japanese cultures
Opportunities to connect and exchange ideas with fellow K–12 educators
Registration deadline: October 21, 2026
The Japanese Postwar Constitution, promulgated during the US Occupation of Japan, was once understood to have been written entirely by a US committee. Scholarship in the past 35 years has complicated that narrative, revealing a complex negotiation with significant input from Japanese stakeholders. Since 1947, the constitution has been a source of ongoing discourse, with the possibility of constitutional revision always on the horizon. Now, at the 80th anniversary of the 1947 "Peace" Constitution, debate and pressure for revision have taken on new momentum under current Prime Minister Sanai Takaichi.
What's the story of this constitution that was widely predicted to fail? How does the 1947 constitution offer windows into Japan's post-1945 history, national identity, economic development, war memory and responsibility, and global relations? What's at stake as the constitution turns 80?
Course schedule and topics:
October 31-November 7: Intro/Reading Week.
November 7-14: Re-examining the origins of the 1947 Constitution
November 14-21:Revision contests in the post Showa-era
Thanksgiving break
November 28-December 6: Revision at 80? Why now?
In this free 3-unit special-topics course for Middle and High School educators, each week features a required recorded or live webinar with a specialist, a modest reading assignment, and an asynchronous discussion forum. Participants have access to a collection of course materials including primary source documents and secondary readings. Full participation in all three units of the course is required to receive a completion certificate for 12 PD hours and a relevant book. Pennsylvania teachers are eligible for Act 48 hours.
Course Limited to 25 Educators & Selection will be made on a rolling basis
Application Deadline: Monday, October 26, 2026
Participants are not required to attend both sessions and you can select which sessions you would like to register.
Illinois teachers can receive up 4.5 Professional Development Hours.
