Africa Education Teachers’ Fellowship 2026: Ten Educators Exploring the Power of Journalism in Classrooms

Educators will spend the next five months exploring how journalism can serve as a bridge between classrooms and the challenges facing our environment and the people.

The Pulitzer Center is excited to announce the selection of 10 Fellows for the Africa Education Teachers’ Fellowship 2026. Selected from the 2,996 applications we received this year, the fellowship brings together a cohort of educators from eight African countries committed to experimenting with innovative approaches to teaching and learning. The fellowship aims to cultivate a continental network of reflective, skilled, and innovative educators who integrate journalism into classroom practice. 

Over the next five months, the Fellows will explore how high-quality journalism can become a practical teaching resource by including Pulitzer Center reporting into their lesson plans—helping students engage more deeply with critical thinking, literacy, civic engagement, and climate and environmental issues. 

The selection process sought teachers actively engaged in primary or secondary education—interested in journalism, literacy, or climate and environmental education—and committed to taking learnings to their classrooms. Together, the Fellows will form a diverse learning community spanning Francophone and Anglophone Africa, creating opportunities for educators to exchange ideas and experiences across linguistic, cultural, and educational contexts.

The Fellowship combines virtual learning with classroom teaching, with Pulitzer Center-supported journalists involved at various points in the fellowship. Going beyond what teachers learn during training sessions organized by Pulitzer Center, the program will give Fellows opportunities to test ideas with their students, reflect on what works, exchange experiences with peers across countries, and adapt approaches to their own educational contexts.

At the heart of the Fellowship is the belief that journalism does more than inform students about what is happening in the world. Carefully selected reporting can provide a starting point for students to ask questions, examine evidence, understand different perspectives, connect global stories to local realities, and think critically about the challenges facing their communities.

This approach will be particularly important as Fellows explore climate and environmental education. Read more about our Fellows in the carousel below

The Fellowship is designed as a learning laboratory.

Fellows will begin with an orientation focused on journalism as a pedagogical tool, the Teachers’ Toolkit, climate and environmental themes, media literacy, critical thinking, and approaches to designing journalism-based lessons.

Over the following months, Fellows will participate in thematic learning modules covering:

• Journalism and critical thinking, including fact versus opinion, questioning sources, and deconstructing narratives;
• Small-group discussions and active pedagogy, with an emphasis on comprehension, student voice, and creating safe spaces for discussion;
• Rainforest, climate, and environmental education, exploring how reporting can be integrated into curriculum and connected to students’ local realities; and
• Innovation and adaptation, including creative development of educational materials, interdisciplinary teaching, and adaptation across languages and contexts.

Instead of providing teachers’ with a fixed formula, the Fellowship will create space for educators to ask: What works in my classroom? Why does it work? What needs to change? And what can other teachers learn from my experience?

A key component of the Fellowship will be the practical use and adaptation of the Africa Teachers’ Toolkit, intended to help educators bridge journalism and environmental learning into classrooms. During the Fellowship, teachers will experiment with its approaches, adapt activities to their students and educational contexts, and provide feedback that can contribute to its further development. By the end of the Fellowship, Fellows are expected to implement journalism-based classroom projects and contribute tested lesson plans and documented classroom experiences. 

The initiative also aims to build relationships that extend beyond the fellowship period, to further the spirit of cross-cultural exchange between Francophone and Anglophone educators. Throughout the Fellowship, educators will participate in peer reflection circles, connect through a WhatsApp community, engage with guest journalists, and share experiences from their classrooms. 

At the conclusion of the program, Fellows will present their projects during a virtual showcase featuring educators, journalists, and education experts. The event will also provide an opportunity to share student work and recognize the Fellows’ achievements through a certificate-awarding ceremony.

Over the coming months, we will follow their learning, experimentation, and classroom experiences—and share what they discover along the way.