PHILADELPHIA-- More than two dozen educators in English as a second language from South Africa are participating in a six-week summer training program at the University of Pennsylvania to design curricula and classroom materials that combine the teaching of English with instructional content in areas of critical importance to South Africa: AIDS awareness, entrepreneurship and civic education.  These content areas figure in a national plan for curriculum reform known as Curriculum 2005.  A secondary goal of the Institute is to broaden participants' understanding of the U.S.

The 27 educators include teacher-trainers, subject advisors, curriculum developers and learning facilitators or coordinators.

The South Africans are being trained by 30 American educators and content specialists affiliated with FoundationArts, the Center for Civic Education, the Institute for the Study of Civic Values, the National Constitution Center, the Enterprise Center, the National Liberty Museum, ActionAIDS, the AIDS Library of Philadelphia, BEBASHI, the Institute for Entrepreneurship in Education, the Nationality Services Center, the Philadelphia Commercial Development Corporation, the Women's Business Development Corporation and TESOL.

In its second year, the Institute began June 20 and runs through July 30.  Administered by the English Language Programs of the School of Arts and Sciences at Penn, the Institute was developed under a grant from the U.S. State Department's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.  The first five weeks of the Institute are being held on campus, with the final week held in Washington, D.C.  Additional information is available at www.sas.upenn.edu/elp/