exploration || pre-season curriculum advisors

Pre-Season Curriculum Advisors (PCAs) have a different application process than our regular faculty.
PCA candidates should not complete the regular faculty application (unless they are also applying for a summer Curriculum Advisor (CA) position).

Apply Here: 2012 PCA Application

Exploration's online PCA application is hosted by InfoSnap. If you have technical problems with the application process, contact InfoSnap directly for assistance at customerservice@infosnap.com or 866.986.1601 x7095 (or "Option 2")

PCA applications are reviewed by the EXPLO Curriculum Department as they are received. You should hear back from us within two weeks upon submission of your PCA application.

Please note: in the weeks leading up to, during, and immediately following the summer, PCA applications may take longer to process.

If you have questions about the PCA position or the application process, please contact Barb Trainor, Director of Curriculum + Instruction, at btrainor@explo.org or 781.762.7400.

At our booth at The Celebration of Teaching and Learning Conference in New York we showcased hovercrafts used at our programs. Right click (and "Save as") for our Hovercraft Instructions.

In addition to hiring PCAs, EXPLO also hires several Curriculum Advisors (CAs) who live and work on the campuses of our programs during the summer. Summer CAs help coach new teachers in the development of their teaching skills through formal and informal observations, oral and written feedback, goal-setting, reflection, and one-on-one problem-solving sessions. Please complete the regular faculty application to apply for a summer CA position.

Exploration Summer Programs is seeking creative and experienced educators to serve as Pre-Season Curriculum Advisors (PCAs) during the winter and spring for one to six different summer enrichment courses. Over the course of a six-week development cycle, PCAs communicate with course Instructors via phone and email to help them transform their ideas into creative lesson plans for a three-week enrichment course that will be taught during the summer.

Each summer, EXPLO offers more than 150 unique courses and more than 90 unique workshops and mini-courses in a wide array of academic disciplines. (Course examples: grades 10-12, grades 8+9, grades 6+7, grades 4+5.) These enrichment courses are student-centered, activity-based, not-for-credit, and ungraded. They are taught by summer instructors who are passionate about the fields in which they are teaching and who are primarily undergraduate and graduate students with little or no teaching experience. The primary responsibility of the PCA is to mentor these young teachers in the development of activity-based curriculum that will lead them to have a successful summer teaching experience, and will encourage our summer students to challenge themselves, discover the world of people and ideas, and experience the joy of learning.

An online training for PCAs takes place in December. Curriculum advising takes place from January through May. Most PCAs advise between one and six courses. PCAs coordinate an advising schedule with teachers, such that the advising process for a single course or workshop/mini-course is completed in a six-week period (of your choosing). A full course usually takes approximately 15 hours to advise; a workshop/mini-course usually takes approximately 7 hours to advise.

PCAs may elect to receive both monetary compensation and professional development credit for their work as PCAs. PCAs are compensated $200 per course and $100 per workshop/mini-course. A graduate credit option is also available.

Exploration Summer Programs is operated by Exploration School, Inc., a non-profit 501(c)3 educational organization.