Immersive Workshop and Webinar Opportunities Offer Teachers a Summer of Learning Alongside the Smithsonian

Once the last bell rings this school year, teachers can select from a wide range of opportunities to continue to hone their craft with Smithsonian educators and peers across the arts, culture, history, and science

The Smithsonian is not only a favorite field trip destination, but educators across the network of museums, research centers, and National Zoo also regularly offer opportunities for teachers to reignite their passion and plan their next best lesson featuring Smithsonian collections, research, and ideas. Below is a sampling of upcoming teacher professional development opportunities this summer, including virtual, self-paced, and on-site programming.

At the Intersection of Innovation and Addressing Climate Challenges

Interested in supporting youth as they prepare for a sustainable future? Join the Smithsonian Science Education Center on Tuesday, May 19, 2026 at 8:30 a.m., Eastern for a free one-hour webinar to learn about their newest guide from the Smithsonian Science for Global Goals project: Innovation! How can we create new solutions for the changing climate? These guides support youth in turning their ideas into action through activities that allow them to discover, understand, and act on solutions to complex global issues. This one-hour webinar is open to all teachers, educators, community members, and leaders interested in learning how to support young people in making a positive change in their communities! Pre-registration is required prior to Monday, May 18, 2026. 

Fostering Civic Action in Youth

As America turns 250 in 2026, young people are writing its next chapter. Join a group of educators who apply interdisciplinary approaches to learning to engage young people in civic dialogue tied to their communities. Through a range of Smithsonian programs and resources, youth interact with historical and contemporary sources to understand their local histories while also contemplating a future that is shaped in response to present-day priorities. These programs support youth in developing stronger civic identities and encourage them to take active roles in preserving and protecting the rich histories within the communities where they live. 

The online session will explore case studies that model collaboration with students and action planning using historical sources, oral histories, photography, literature, art and more, to encourage youth voice as part of imagining any community's future. You'll leave with access to lesson plans, program models, toolkits, and opportunities to join the Smithsonian as an education partner. This session will be hosted online on Wednesday, June 17, 2026, 4:00 p.m., Eastern as part of the 2025-2026 Cultivating Learning series, "Celebrating America at 250," hosted by the Smithsonian Office of Educational Technology. Pre-registration is required.

Online Sessions, Hands-On Workshops, and a Networking Event 

Now returning in its sixth year, the Smithsonian National Education Summit has quickly become a favorite conference among classroom teachers, librarians, museum educators, and non-profit teams across the education ecosystem. Taking place both virtually and in-person in Washington, D.C. from Tuesday, July 14, 2026 to Thursday, July 16, 2026, this free event brings together leading education experts to explore instructional strategies and resources that empower educators and their learners. As our nation marks 250 years since the signing of the Declaration of Independence, this year's Smithsonian National Education Summit theme—Together We Thrive: Towards a More Perfect Union—invites us to reflect on our shared story and imagine the future we want to build.

The Summit features a comprehensive agenda of over forty sessions led by Smithsonian educator experts and collaborators, including online and in-person sessions, a networking event, and a day of behind-the-scenes and hands-on workshops. Educators can deepen their practice and choose from four dynamic learning strands designed to bridge civics with art, culture, history, and science: Cultivating the Power of Dialogue, Designing STEAM Solutions for Civic Challenges, Leveraging the Arts as Civic Voice, and Placing History in Context. Keynote sessions featuring 2025-2026 National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature and best-selling author, Mac Barnett, and 2025 MacArthur Fellow and political scientist, Hahrie Han, will help educators explore how the next generation learns, creates, and participates in civic life. Pre-registration is required, with some sessions having limited space.

STEAM Schools of Distinction Strategic Planning

This summer, the Smithsonian Science Education Center is launching Smithsonian STEAM Schools of Distinction, a first-of-its-kind Smithsonian program designed to specifically identify, support, and recognize middle and high schools that are taking a whole-school, systemic approach to integrating STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) Education for a more Sustainable Future. Strategic Planning Institute teams should be made up of 5-6 people representing a cross-section of your school and community. The Smithsonian Science Education Center recommends a five-person team that includes: two teachers, one to two administrators with decision-making power, one community member (this could be a community partner, business leader, or parent), and if possible, one recent alum over the age of 18. Please note that Smithsonian can support travel (flight/train and hotel) for teams of five.

This program hosted in Washington, D.C. July 13-17, 2026 invites schools to consider seven key areas, or pillars of their education system that are based on the Smithsonian’s nearly four decades of work supporting systemic transformation in schools:  

1. Implementation of high-quality, research-based instructional materials
2. Professional development for teachers;   
3. Educational Leadership Development;  
4. Cultivation of community partnerships;  
5. Aligned assessment of students;  
6. Program evaluation; and  
7. Tools necessary for success (specifically materials, technology, and accessibility)  

More information about the program and the online application is available on the Smithsonian Science Education Center's website.

Supporting Inquiry through Primary and Secondary Sources

For middle school teachers across the country seeking opportunities to integrate inquiry into their classroom, a dynamic digital book includes video interviews, primary and secondary source documents, maps, and images ready for classroom-use. Join the staff of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian education initiative, Native Knowledge 360° and featured speakers for an in-depth look at the standards-aligned resource, "American Revolution: Haudenosaunee Perseverance," telling the story of how the Haudenosaunee Confederacy (Mohawk, Oneida, Tuscarora, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca nations) persevered during and after the American Revolution. The webinar requires pre-registration and will take place online Tuesday, July 21 and Wednesday, July 22, 2026 at 1:00 p.m., Eastern each day.

Real-World Data Meets Design Thinking

While many teachers may be familiar with educator opportunities led by museums on the National Mall, a unique collaboration between the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center and the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum includes a three-day professional development workshop for middle and high school educators. The workshop will showcase how to make meaning of local environmental data and leverage the design process to envision wasy that data can support action. Participating educators will receive an honorarium of $150 and are able to receive Professional Development Points (PDPs). Interested teachers can complete the following application to apply, no later than Sunday, June 14, 2026. The workshop will take place on site at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center in Edgewater, Maryland on Monday, August 3, 2026 through Wednesday, August 5, 2026 from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. each day.

Self-Paced Learning for Preschool and Head Start Teachers

Some offerings are also designed to be self-paced, including interactive e-courses. Preschool and Head Start teachers can take their professional development to the next level with resources designed by early learning experts from the Smithsonian, with topics ranging from Object-Based Learning in the Early Childhood Classroom and a series focused on STEM in the Early Childhood Classroom (Questions and Observations; Predictions and Experimentation; and Analysis and Conclusions).

Regularly Updated Year-Round Opportunities

Educator professional development doesn't just happen during the summer months though. Teachers can learn more about how to participate in workshops and webinars throughout the school year at each of our museums and spaces by bookmarking this webpage, featuring a calendar of upcoming programming. 

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Editor's Note: Throughout the school year, educators can receive free monthly email updates about upcoming professional development opportunities offered across the Smithsonian via the Smithsonian Education E-Newsletter. Subscribe here. 

Ashley Naranjo | | Read More

Ashley Naranjo is a museum educator, specializing in the use of digital resources for teaching and learning. She currently leads education partnerships as the Assistant Director, Education and Outreach Strategy in the Smithsonian’s Office of the Under Secretary for Education. She has developed and implemented professional development opportunities for teachers, librarians and fellow museum educators since 2011. She holds a B.A. in Human Development from the Lynch School of Education at Boston College and a M.Ed. in Learning Design and Technology from the Rossier School of Education at the University of Southern California. She is a 2019 graduate of the Getty Leadership Institute’s NextGen of Museum Leaders program.