Bernard John Stuetz III, who earned a Master of Education from Arcadia University in 2020, has been selected by the U.S. Department of State for a virtual fellowship, through which he engaged  with English language learners and teachers online in India at the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC). Stuetz is among the first to be selected for the Virtual English Language Fellow Program, a new initiative created for the 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 academic years. 

Through the fellowship, Stuetz worked with journalists in training to create and teach a six-week English for Journalism course for the IIMC, part of India’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. 

Stuetz is the English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) point person at the Northeast Community Propel Academy in Philadelphia, where he leads a department serving over 400 English learners from more than 24 countries. Previously, Stuetz taught ESOL at the city’s Mayfair Elementary School, where he received the Lindback Distinguished Teaching Award from the School District of Philadelphia in 2019. 

At Arcadia, Stuetz received a master’s degree in Education/Literacy Studies: TESOL (Teacher of Speakers of Other Languages) and Literacy. He served as a graduate assistant for the School of Education, studying cross-cultural literacies and competencies and editing a special issue of Journal of Ethical Educational Leadership. In April 2018, Stuetz traveled to Paris to present research on educating immigrant youth at the American Graduate School’s International Relations conference. 

The English Language Fellow Program offers a premier opportunity for experienced teachers of English to speakers of other languages (TESOL) to enact meaningful and sustainable changes in the way English is taught abroad. It is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA), with funding provided by the U.S. government. Since 1969, the English Language Fellow Program has sent thousands of TESOL scholars and educators abroad to promote English language learning, enhance English teaching capacity, and foster mutual understanding between the U.S. and other countries through cultural exchange. 

Stuetz is the second TESOL from Arcadia to be honored in recent days. Meg Eubank ’05, ’07MEd, a professor at Bucks County Community College, was named 2022 Teacher of Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) Teacher of the Year by TESOL International Association and National Geographic Learning.