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:
Mondays, June 8th & June 15, 2026
7:00pm - 9:00pm (Eastern Time)
Online, Synchronous on Zoom
Have you ever wondered what life is like for ordinary North Koreans?
This mini- course will feature presentations by three experts on North Korean culture, offering a variety of perspectives on everyday experience in North Korea. Dr. Bianca Trifoi will present a general overview of life in North Korea and Dr. Peter Moody will discuss his research on North Korean Music. Prof. Immanuel Kim will talk about the process of translating North Korean literature and his experiences traveling in North Korea. Finally, Ms. Lori Snyder will present ideas for incorporating North Korean culture into K-12 classes.
All teachers who attend both sessions will receive a copy of Hidden Heroes: Anthology of North Korean Fiction, translated by Immanuel Kim and Benoit Berthelier. Other benefits include a Certificate of Completion, and Pennsylvania teachers will receive Act 48 hours.
Registration Deadline: Friday, June 5, 2026
People of the Cloth: Attire in East Asia
A Mini-Course for K-12 Educators
June 13 & June 20, 2026
9:00am - 12:00pm (Noon)
Online, Synchronous on Zoom
This free online K-12 educator mini-course will explore traditional outfits worn in East Asia, such as the hanbok (Korea) and the qipao (China). This course, which meets online across two Saturday mornings, gives participants the tools needed to understand, analyze, and teach about garments and their changing roles in East Asian life. It also includes a hands-on demonstration of boro, a form of Japanese stitch work (all registrants will be sent the cloth, the needle, and scissors to participate at home with this hands-on part of the mini-course). The topic of clothes in East Asia can readily be incorporated into numerous K-12 classes, including art, social studies, history, geography, and even STEM classes!
This mini-course will take place entirely online. All educators who fully attend both days of the course and create a suitable, related lesson plan for their own teaching will receive a free copy afterward of Tatsuichi Horikiri’s The Stories Clothes Tell: Voices of Working-Class Japan (2016). Other benefits include a Certificate of Completion, and Pennsylvania teachers will receive Act 48 hours.
This mini-course will be led by Shepherd University professors David Gordon and Jason Allen, with presentations by Lynnanne Chao (Washington State University), Minjee Kim (Fashion History Consulting, Inc.), and Kachina Leigh (NCTA Alumna, Peters Valley School of Craft)
