The Indigenous Early Childhood Educators (IECE) Professional Development Program

The Indigenous Early Childhood Educators (IECE) professional development program is for teachers of 3-4 year olds in Head Starts and other preschools serving primarily Indigenous children. It offers a long-term, cohort-model professional development opportunity for preschool teachers serving Native students.

Teachers who are IECE Fellows participate in an 8-month Fellowship that will increase their:

Knowledge of early childhood best practices
Curriculum-development skills
Capacity to deliver culturally responsive lessons
Leadership ability
Writing capacity

Teachers participate in a seminar group that is led by University faculty who are content experts. Teachers learn the seminar material through reading, discussion, and independent research. Each teacher writes a unique curriculum unit for use in their classroom. Curriculum units are then published online so other educators can access, adapt, and use them in their own classrooms. Selected teachers will meet virtually on selected Friday afternoons, and participate in a three-day residency at NAU in June. The program commitment is March – December each calendar year. The program concludes with a conference in December.

Watch this video to learn more about IECE’s 2023 seminar topic.

Increased knowledge of best practices in culturally responsive early childhood curriculum development
Completion of a published, self-authored curriculum unit for use in your classroom
Access to colleague’s self-authored curriculum units for use in your classroom
Networking and learning from other early childhood educators in Native-serving preschools
A stipend provided upon program completion
Graduate course credit available, for a fee

We are no longer accepting applications for our 2024 IECE seminar cohort. If you are interested in INE’s 2025 professional development seminars, please fill out this form and we will contact you when 2025 applications are available.

Educators in the IECE are motivated, intellectually curious teachers who want to improve their content knowledge and have high expectations for their students.

Eligibility criteria

Full-time teacher of 3-4 year olds
Employed by a Head Start or other preschool serving primarily indigenous children
Can drive to Flagstaff, Arizona for a 3-day residency in June
Can obtain written approval by supervisor to teach the curriculum unit that you develop in the program
Committed to culturally responsive teaching approaches

Educators must also commit to remaining in the classroom in their current district or school on the Native Nation for at least three years. Due to the workload, first-year teachers are not typically encouraged to apply for the IECE.

Expectations of accepted applicants

Attend ALL online and in-person meetings, including the final Showcase and Open House on Saturday, December 7, 2024 in Flagstaff. Please see the IECE 2024 Program Calendar to ensure you can attend all online and in-person meetings.
Submit all writing assignments on time, including the final complete curriculum unit that meets program specifications.
Maintain regular communication via email and/or phone with the program staff.
Improve content knowledge in the relevant topic area.
Grow capacity to engage students using the principles of cultural responsiveness.

Application process

Step 1: Get your supervisor’s support.

You will need to confirm that your supervisor supports your application. Please discuss this with your supervisor before you apply.

Step 2: Confirm your eligibility

Please carefully read the “Eligibility criteria” and “Expectations of accepted applicants” sections to confirm your eligibility. This includes ensuring that you can attend ALL in-person and virtual meetings.

Step 3: Submit your application

The application is completed via Google forms, which requires you to complete and submit the entire application at one time. Please be sure you allow sufficient time to do this; we recommend approximately one hour.

The application includes two questions that should be answered in 200-400 words. The questions are:

“Part of our mission is to work with teachers who are leaders in their schools/centers or communities. How do you demonstrate leadership in your role as a teacher?”
“Through this program, you will write a culturally responsive curriculum unit to teach in your classroom. Please describe a topic or theme that you are interested in writing your curriculum unit about.”

It may be helpful to draft your response in a Word/Google Document (or something similar) then copy and paste your response into the application when you are ready to submit.

Step 4: Notification of acceptance

The Institute for Native-serving Educators will inform you of your application status by March 18, 2024.

Ready to get started?

Apply to IECE!

Click the link above or scan the QR Code below with your mobile device to be taken to the application page.

IECE schedule 2024

Download the IECE schedule 2024

Educator standards resources

Preschool teachers in this program will each write a culturally responsive, integrated thematic curriculum unit. Each unit must align to the Arizona Early Learning Standards, and each unit must also demonstrate key principles of culturally responsive schooling.

Arizona Early Learning Standards

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