TESOL International TCCP Regional Training in Samarkand

From June 30th till July 26th, the English-Speaking Nation: Secondary Teacher Training Program (ESN: STT) program conducted six the TESOL Core Certificate Program (TCCP) for 115 of the 307 selected Regional Peer Members (RPMs) in six regions of Uzbekistan: Namangan, Fergana, Samarkand, Bukhara, Nukus, and Tashkent. The TCCP training was coordinated by American Councils for International Education and delivered by TESOL International Association (TESOL). The U.S. Coach Kendra Staley and TESOL instructor Nancy Ackles conducted TCCP training in Samarkand to 28 RPMs from various regions of Samarkand, Kashkadarya, and Surkhandarya. A full list of the regions involved in July TCCP in Samarkand is illustrated below:

Kendra shared her impression about delivering the TCCP sessions: "I have had a wonderful experience co-teaching the TESOL TCCP course with RPMs in Samarkand. They are a motivated group of teachers who are dedicated to learning educational methodology and activities to engage their students in learning the English language. They have been collaborating with teachers from other regions and planning ways to implement exciting activities in their classrooms and ideas on how to share all that they have learned with their coworkers. I am so impressed with their creativity and hard work this month! I know that they will continue to inspire their students and their peers!"

Kendra earned her MA in TESOL from the University of Washington and has now been working in the field of TESOL for over 15 years. She has taught ESL/EFL in the United States, Guatemala, China, Indonesia, Colombia, and Turkmenistan. Since she arrived in Samarkand, Kendra has generously shared her skills and knowledge with fellow English teachers in Samarkand.

Nancy Ackles holds a Ph.D. in Linguistics from the University of Washington and has taught both English language learners and English language teachers for many years. As a Fulbright scholar, she taught at the Tashkent State Pedagogical University in 2017. She is the author of The Grammar Guide: Developing Language Skills for Academic Success, published by University of Michigan Press and American Teens Talk.

Nancy recalled about her sessions: “The Samarkand participants have been a pleasure to work with because they have been energetic and creative as we’ve worked through the modules of these two courses. It is not easy to study, communicate, and create in a second language for long days in a very intensive program. Because these teachers know the context, the needs, expectations, and resources here so well, they have the capacity to introduce new methodology in ways that will improve language learning. English language teachers are often leaders in introducing positive changes into education systems, and I expect that these teachers will provide that kind of positive leadership in their schools and communities here”.

One of the attended RPM of Cohort 1 - Muslikhiddin Nuriddinov from Surkhandarya, expressed his view about the sessions: “In my opinion, the TCCP is the best course I have ever had and everything was well organized. New ideas, pedagogical skills that we gained are worth sharing and applying in Secondary School English teaching. I hope it would be the beginning of such wonderful courses for English teachers”.

Another English Teacher participant - Nodira Yuldasheva from Samarkand, stated, “This program gives us great opportunities to grow and renew our knowledge and skills through daily useful, interesting and variety of activities and methods to improve our school language teaching with a new look and new approaches.  I am sure it will help us create a warm English atmosphere, increase our students’ confidence, release affective filters day by day, and build up a good relationship between teachers and students. After finishing this course, I will use all those what I have learned here in our school and share with other English teachers”.

ESN: STT offers an integrated professional development opportunity for English language teacher trainers and secondary school English language teachers in Uzbekistan. ESN: STT is funded by the Public Affairs Section of the U.S. Embassy in Uzbekistan and implemented by American Councils for International Education in close cooperation with the Ministry of Public Education in Uzbekistan.