Traveling Teaching Roadshow

This past weekend was one of my best times yet in Azerbaijan. For the past four days I've been traveling with three other volunteers on something of a teaching tour, conducting workshops in three different cities in northwest Azerbaijan (Tovuz, Gazak, and Gǝncǝ). It was the first gorgeous spring weekend in the country and we got to spend the sunny weather in the shadow of the lovely Lower Caucuses, working with Azeri English teachers and hanging out with volunteers afterwards.

The purpose of these workshops is to help teachers with Interactive Methods that can be used today. The phrase 'Interactive Methods' is a buzz word in Azerbaijani education. Teachers are ordered by the ministry to utilize them and even held accountable for using these methods, but little (or, no) training has been given to these teachers to help them understand what interactive methods are or how to integrate them into their classroom.

So, last year two AZ7s, Jenny and Shira, wrote a grant to conduct a training session in 10 cities around the country on several different interactive methods. To one educated in the American school system these are extremely basic-using symbols for new vocabulary words or associating a physical movement every time a certain phonetic sound is read. All of these methods require zero preparation and zero supplies, just a knowledge of the method and a willingness to use it. The grant was received and, lo and behold, we now can travel for free.

The trainings have been well received and could definitely be described as successful, but there's pressure from a few different organizations to make it bigger than a couple of PCVs traveling around Azerbaijan. So Jenny and Shira asked myself and Kelly to join them for this round, observing and preparing to take over and revise the reach of the program. A project might be a great idea, but its not sustainable if it requires PCVs to keep it going. Kelly's and my goal will be discovering ways we can turn this from a training program to a train the trainer program-something that prepares teachers to teach other teachers on these methods so, if and when Peace Corps is no longer here, they can maintain this development.

The good news is this is where most funders want this project to go as well. Although Shira and Jenny eventually got funding, they received feedback from other sources that its scope was too small, and they would like to see this greater reach. As the new volunteers to lead this, this is direction Kelly and I will be charged with. Immediately I see potential in developing this into a training for PCVs in how to train their counterparts. Additionally, there is AzETA-the Azerbaijan English Teachers Association-which could be a great partner in this.

I really enjoy Train the Trainer style workshops and I'm pretty excited for this one. This aligns much closer to the type of teaching I was hoping to do in Peace Corps than classroom teaching does. Plus, its always nice when the cost of travel is already paid for.