Faculty Application Information
Thank you for your interest in working with the Arkansas Governor’s School. It is one of the most exciting educational experiences at the secondary-school level in the nation. The AGS work experience is demanding but it is also enjoyable and very rewarding. Our faculty members are special people who love challenges and believe it is a privilege to help shape the lives of Arkansas’ best and brightest young people.
Faculty are selected prior to each session to teach in various areas. For more information about teaching at AGS, please take a look at the job descriptions in the Faculty Overview and the individual job advertisements below.
Educators in all Arkansas public and private schools as well as all Arkansas institutions of higher education and all state directors of gifted programs are invited to apply for faculty positions.
Area I Faculty will collaborate with the Area I Coordinator in developing curriculum in their fields of special talent according to the general framework described below:
Choral Music (We anticipate that 1-2 positions will be available depending on enrollment).
The Choral Music curriculum will focus on how music brings people together and fosters community in the modern world. Vocalists will have the opportunity to perform and study music from classic and contemporary repertoires. Students will also learn to use cutting-edge software to develop compositional and recording techniques, cultivating their future artistic endeavors. Choral music will examine how music informs individual and collective identity, and students will collaborate with instrumental music, drama, ELA and other areas to explore creative efforts across disciplines.
Required:
Preferred:
Drama (We anticipate that 1-2 positions will be available depending on enrollment).
Drama is one of our oldest art forms, yet it continually evolves in order to meet the needs of our changing society. Students will learn to analyze and create dramatic works that speak to the audiences of today. They will learn about dramatic principles through the analysis of 21st Century dramatic texts, through the practice of performance skills, and through the writing of scripts. This course will touch on a variety of skills relevant to today's theatre-makers including acting, directing, playwriting, and design. Students will also have the opportunity to produce community performance pieces using film, audio, improvisation, and old-school circus skills such as clowning and puppetry.
Required:
Preferred:
English/Language Arts (We anticipate that 2-3 positions will be available depending on enrollment).
English/Language Arts will offer students opportunities to explore the art of rhetoric as writers and readers of classic literature, and as consumers of film and digital communication. Students will balance reading and discussing published works with composing their own writing in order to make their voices heard. Students will examine and compose in traditional genres such as poetry, short fiction, and creative nonfiction. They will also explore creative writing and social media as a means of reflecting and building community identity.
Required:
Preferred:
Instrumental Music (We anticipate that 1-2 positions will be available depending on enrollment).
The Instrumental Music curriculum will focus on connecting people through music and sound. Instrumentalists will have the opportunity to perform and record music, and to learn how to mix and manipulate dynamic soundscapes for live performances. They will also study music from a wide variety of style periods and genres. Additionally, students will focus on interdisciplinary collaboration, not just with other artists but with mathematicians and students in the natural and social sciences as well.
Required:
Preferred:
Mathematics (We anticipate that 2-3 positions will be available depending on enrollment).
Students in Mathematics will explore contemporary mathematical ideas and applications in a variety of areas such as biological science, cryptography, aerospace engineering, and complex numbers. Students will consider the theoretical and philosophical implications of mathematical science and math’s fundamental contribution to solving current social problems such as pandemics, food deserts, and renewable energy. They will also be exposed to the aesthetics of math through the study of things like Julia sets, Mandelbrot sets, conformal maps, and the Koch Snowflake.
Required:
Preferred:
Natural Science (We anticipate that 3-4 positions will be available depending on enrollment).
Students will study a wide range of recent breakthroughs in the natural sciences. They will conduct experiments and have opportunities for hands-on field work in areas such as physics, chemistry, geology, genetics, medicine, wildlife management, and others. They will be exposed to the core principles of the scientific method through lessons in pseudoscience, relativity and dark matter, mineral resources in Arkansas, bioinformatics, DNA, Molecular Phylogenetics, and other areas. Finally, students will discuss the ethical and social implications of the latest technological breakthroughs in the sciences that impact community health and the environment.
Required:
Preferred:
Social Science (We anticipate that 3-4 positions will be available depending on enrollment).
Students in the social sciences will examine the latest breakthroughs in fields of study such as anthropology, sociology, psychology, political science, history, law and others. They will learn how the long and broad arcs of social development have affected the way people communicate, culturally evolve, and resolve conflict. Lessons will include study of cultural symbols, race, class and gender issues, human settlement, legal procedure etc. They will also incorporate discussions of how social science, through access to modern digital data resources, is contributing to and changing the idea of community. Social science students will continue their collaborations with the Clinton Library and Archives as well.
Required:
Preferred:
Visual Arts (We anticipate that 1-2 positions will be available depending on enrollment).
The Visual Arts program of the Arkansas Governor’s School will give students an opportunity to inform and expand their creative vision while providing exposure to classic as well as contemporary digital mediums. The program will explore the power of art to transform communities. This will include the development of community and public art projects for a new AGS permanent collection. Students will participate in discussion, critique and critical examination of their work, the work of their peers and the art world in the larger historical and cultural context.
Required:
Preferred:
Many AGS students will eventually live, work, and raise families in Arkansas. Some will become our state’s future leaders. This course will explicitly present to these future leaders the challenges and opportunities facing the Natural State as it moves forward in the 21st century.
Arkansas is undergoing significant change. The northwest counties are booming, while the Delta continues to lose population. Osceola is becoming a center for the nation’s steel industry, while southern Arkansas appears to be poised for a boom in lithium mining. Arkansas’s lakes, wetlands, and mountains support a huge game and fish industry and bring to the state thousands of tourists, who each year spend millions of dollars on recreational activities, supporting jobs and advancing prosperity.
This course will encourage AGS students to identify current conditions and future trends, and imagine creative ways to grow and improve Arkansas while maintaining its distinctive culture, preserving economic sustainability, and providing livable communities. Participants will identify Arkansas’ natural resources, study the state’s demographics and geography, recognize regions of population and economic growth, and analyze how the state portrays itself and publicizes its best qualities through media campaigns and advertising.
Students will engage in activities such as designing a new state park, creating a city plan to showcase recreational activities, use available GIS (geographic information systems) data to forecast population and demographic trends, and propose economic models to enhance tourism and industry. Guest speakers will be invited to offer their expertise both in person and in online discussion forums.
Required:
Preferred:
Area II Nature of Knowledge – (We anticipate that 10-12 positions will be available depending on enrollment).
Educators in all Arkansas public and private schools as well as all Arkansas institutions of higher education and all state directors of gifted programs are invited to apply for faculty positions.
Area II Faculty will collaborate with the Area II Coordinator in developing and delivering Area II curriculum.
Area II focuses on the nature of knowledge and epistemology. Typically, Area II instructors have backgrounds in philosophy, history, the behavioral sciences, English, Communications, and Education; however, anyone with a background in the traditional arts and sciences is encouraged to apply. Area II instructors will facilitate time-tested Governor’s School discussions, including the Allegory of the Cave, Reality Checklist, Logical Fallacies, Lifeboat Ethics, and The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas. They will also develop student critical thinking skills and lead examinations of subjects introduced by our weekly impact speakers and movies. Area II instructors will also help students develop a deeper, more critical understanding of community. In thinking about human networks and the various layers of interconnection in a new way, students will gain in skill and confidence as they address the philosophical issues impacting their lives.
Required:
Preferred:
Educators in all Arkansas public and private schools as well as all Arkansas institutions of higher education and all state directors of gifted programs are invited to apply for faculty positions.
Area III Faculty will collaborate with the Area III Coordinator in developing and delivering Area III curriculum.
Area III focuses on personal and social development. Typically, Area III instructors have backgrounds in the behavioral sciences, English, and Education; however, anyone with a background in the traditional arts and sciences is encouraged to apply. Area III activities will include individual personality assessments and reflections as well as group projects that address real-world contemporary social challenges. Area III instructors will also facilitate discussions of our weekly impact movies and speakers. Throughout, students will learn through experiential coursework and civic engagement to foster a sense of personal responsibility and responsibility to others, ultimately developing group projects that help resolve problems specific to Arkansas communities.
Required:
Preferred:
Applicants should submit:
Send completed application to:
Or via Email: krystal.nail@ade.arkansas.gov
Important Dates For Faculty:
Important Information:
If you have any questions about any of the teaching positions listed above, please contact the AGS Office.
Arkansas Governor's School
Phone: (479) 356-2037
Email: ags@atu.edu