For this project, Mason will collaborate with American Councils for International Education in order to provide high-quality English language teacher professional development for the English Speaking Nation Program for Uzbekistan funded by the Embassy of the United States, Tashkent.
Mason will work collaboratively with American Councils in order to achieve the main goal, which is to support efforts by Uzbekistan's Ministry of Public Education to strengthen English language education and to incorporate English more broadly into public education curricula.
To reach that goal, Mason will participate in achieving the following objectives, according to the FY19 English Speaking Nation Program for Uzbekistan Notice of Funding Opportunity (p. 3): 1: Provide a baseline assessment of public school teachers' English language capabilities; 2: Provide a baseline assessment of public school teachers' teaching skills and effectiveness of their teaching methods; 3: Develop plans for teachers based on these findings; 4: Provide training and continuing education for teachers to improve their English language and pedagogical skills; and 5: Provide a final assessment of the extent to which teachers increased their language skills and implemented concepts learned in their trainings.
Mason's Center for International Education (CIE) housed in its College of Education and Human Development (CEHD) will conduct the following activities for American Councils to meet those objectives: 1) Develop and implement walkthrough protocol, interview and focus group protocols, and surveys to contribute to the initial, baseline assessment of Uzbek public school teachers' English language capabilities and teaching skills (Objectives 1 and 2); 2) Develop and implement a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) through Canvas Network called "Teaching English Through English (TETE)" focused on enhancing Uzbek public school teachers' English language capabilities and teaching skills based on the initial needs assessment (Objectives 3 and 4); 3) Develop and implement a two-week "Training-of-Trainer" program for 40 Core Trainers and 80 Resource Teachers in Uzbekistan (Objective 4); 4) Conduct two-week follow-up site visits to check on progress of the dissemination of Uzbek teacher training through MOOC camps led by Core Trainers and Resource Teachers (Objective 4); 5) Conduct two-week follow-up site visits as part of the final assessment of this program and the effectiveness of the dissemination of Uzbek teacher training through MOOC camps led by Core Trainers and Resource Teachers (Objective 5); and 6) Participate in an ELT Conference through presentations and collaborative sessions with selected Core Trainers and Resource Teachers who will present their results of trainings across Uzbekistan (Objective 5).
Funding for this project began in November 2019 and will conclude in late September 2022.
