In collaboration with the Regional English Language Office at the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad Peace and Education Foundation (PEF) conducted two-week training workshop in Peshawar. The workshop was conducted on communication and pedagogical skills for English language teachers from non-mainstream institutes from June 5 to June 16, 2023. A total of 38 English language teachers across the Pakistan representing Muslim diversity including Barelvi, Deobandi, Salafi, Shia and Jammat e Islami participated in the workshops.
U.S. English Language Specialist Dr. Salma Waly teamed up with Pakistani English Language Expert Ms. Ismat Bahar to design and conduct the workshop. The workshop was participatory in nature and covered a wide range of topics including effective communication techniques, classroom management, integrated lessons with a variety of materials on the most important topics and content about teaching methodology, interactive activities covering listening, speaking, reading, writing and grammar were conducted. The participants did micro-teaching: they prepared and delivered 15-minute mini-lessons. The trainers and PEF project Manager met one-on-one with the participants to work on lesson plan work/feedback.
In addition to the training sessions, the workshop also featured cultural events. These events provided participants with an opportunity to understand the importance of culture, experience the local culture, and to build relationships with their fellow participants.
This initiative provided professional development opportunity to the teachers, who are educating to the underserved and underprivileged students. The teachers improved their English communication, teaching techniques and improve teaching and pedagogical skills. Our ultimate aim is to equip these teachers in this project to provide quality, modern and impactful English instructions to their students for brighter future. Community of Practice (COP) forum is formed.
Learning Outcomes:
As per participant’s feedback, teachers have:
- Learned how to engage the four language domains and practiced those skills.
- Learned the structure of Bloom’s Taxonomy and applied the structure to show an understanding of the need for a variety of tasks in a language lesson.
- Learned where to find materials on the American English website.
- Learned the structure of Garner’s Multiple Intelligences and demonstrated how to incorporate multiple intelligences to plan lessons.
- Used American English materials.
- Planned a student-centered mini-lesson.
- Received feedback on their mini-lesson.
Participants Quotations
I was immensely honored to be the part of two-week professional development workshop for English language teachers. This workshop had been meticulously designed with innovative techniques and creative materials catering the needs of learners and educators. I learned a multitude of skills to implement in my classroom. I extend my sincerest and heartfelt gratitude to the organizers, head and facilitators of this wonderful project. I highly acknowledge and appreciate the valiant efforts of all members. Sarosh Sohail
It was an awesome experience to learn and modernize our teaching methods. I would like to thank Peace and Education Foundation Pakistan, RELO Pakistan, and U.S. Embassy Pakistan, for creating this learning environment for us. We strongly felt that we were unaware that we lacked teaching skills, but now we are proud to say that we know how to use new teaching methodologies and interactive activities. Madaris and religious institutions are a hub of thousands of students but they lack the advanced learning methods and modernization of the educational system. This workshop’s a door-opening step towards a positive and creative change in such institutions. It is not only an educational advancement, but it will also be a foundation stone for peace-building and helpful in creating a peaceful society because, in the countries like Pakistan, religious institutions can play a vital role and are most effective for creating a Peaceful Society. We will be together through virtual space and will support each other to achieve this goal. Fatima Syed
I’m extremely thankful to the U.S. consulate for providing such a precious opportunity to enhance our teaching skills through (RELO) workshop. It was well organized and well-structured in terms of content. The trainers Dr. Salma Waly, and Ms. Izmat Bahar were very efficient and eloquent which made easy to learn things in a better way. This workshop proved beneficial and informative for me on a broader scale. I would like to teach it to my other fellows and as many other people as I could. I hope to get many other opportunities and be a part of your upcoming projects which are provided by the U.S. consulate. Aniea Malik
I would like to say Thank you for selecting me to participate in this two-week training. I have learned so many things from this workshop regarding teaching methods such as using various classroom activities to engage students in a better learning process. Moreover, it was a life-changing experience for me as I witnessed different cultures and understood the importance of respecting each other’s cultural values and norms. Last but not least, I want to say special thanks to our talented trainers Dr. Salma Waly and Ms. Izmat Bahar who taught us throughout the training and enable us to implement these techniques in our madrassah classrooms. Ayesha Shakir
Participants PIctures