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Links USAID/Washington |
For the
PTEPDP Quarterly Newsletters follow the links below: PTEPDP
Quarterly Newsletter, Issue No
1 (December 2004) PTEPDP
Quarterly Newsletter, Issue No 2
(March 2005) PTEPDP
Quarterly Newsletter, Issue No 3
(June 2005) PTEPDP
Quarterly Newsletter, Issue No 4
(October 2005) PTEPDP
Quarterly Newsletter, Issue No 5
(January 2006) PTEPDP Quarterly Newsletter, Issue No 6 (June 2006) Another 63 Pakistani Teachers Complete Training in the
US First National Teacher Training Conference Takes
Place in Islamabad Pakistani Educators Visiting the US for the First Time Learn
New Strategies to Teach English PTEPDP Participants Graduate after Three Months of Training at George
Mason University Another 63 Pakistani Teachers
Complete Training in the September 2005 - In
August 2005, another 63 Pakistani teacher educators completed their training
in the US: George Mason University hosted a group of 21 math educators;
Oregon State University - a group of 20 Pakistani ESL teacher trainers; and
the University of Montana - 22 science teacher trainers. These partner
institutions have assembled an excellent multicultural faculty to teach and
coordinate activities for the group. In addition to exposing the participants
to updated teacher training methodologies and the latest techniques and
concepts in subject instruction and curriculum development, the program
provided the participants with opportunities to take part in field visits to
US schools, academic exchanges, and significant cross-cultural activities.
The visits to First National Teacher Training
Conference Takes Place in January 2005 - The first major National
Teacher Training Conference took place on 20-22 December, 2004 in Pakistani Educators Visiting the Cooperative
learning is one of the many strategies this group of ESL teacher trainers has
learned through the Pakistan Teacher Education Professional Development
Program managed by AED. The three-year project, funded by USAID, seeks to
increase the base of skilled Pakistani school administrators and teachers in
the teaching of mathematics, science and English as a second language and to
promote cultural understanding between the The
educators, who arrived in the The group admits changing the mindset of the teachers they
train back home will take some time. But they realize that those and some of
the other challenges they face are not unique to Shehnaz Akhter, an education specialist at a teacher’s
college in Karachi noted that one of the things she wants to change is the
way students are assessed. In Pakistan, student assessment takes place at the
end of the year. Akhter would like to have assessments of reading, writing
and social skills occur several times throughout the year. “The result gives us information about how
we are teaching. If the result is not good, we will change our strategies of
teaching,” she said. “The teachers these educators train will end up having
classrooms that are more engaging, more creative, and that will result in a
greater likelihood that primary school children in Pakistan succeed,” said
David Seider, project director. “Many
teachers ask students to tell them, we ask students to think. If there’s one
strategy you take back, take that one,” emphasizes Levy, a professor at
George Mason University’s Graduate School of Education and the project’s
coordinator at the university. “Visiting schools was helpful in
understanding the strategies American teachers are using in their classes,”
said education specialist Munazza Aziz. She wants to help Pakistani teachers
to find new ways to teach English other than memorization. The program’s participants say the
training they’ve received will go a long way in helping them improve the
quality of education in Pakistan. “If a little change can come in
our education system, I think we will succeed,” Akhter said. PTEPDP Participants Graduate after Three Months of Training at April 16, 2004 - Shehnaz Akhter, one of 14
Pakistani teacher education specialists completing an intensive semester of
education studies at George Mason University's Graduation School of
Education, found she had a lot more in common with US teachers than she ever
imagined. "I
did not realize that American teachers have such similar problems to us and
that their salaries, too, are not very high," said Shehnaz, who will
graduate April 29, having spent almost four months in the US. She and
her colleagues have a lot to share at home. The Pakistanis got to know
Americans, and a lot of their perceptions were shattered. They
all agree that they are going back loaded with ideas how to improve their
teaching processes. After visiting a Fairfax public school, one of the
participants admitted that "now she realizes to what large extent a
'rote learning' approach is exercised in Pakistan." Their
unique experience is part of the Pakistan Teacher Education and Professional
Development Program, sponsored by the United States Agency of International
Development and administered by the Academy for Educational Development. The
quality of learning and competency level of both students and teachers in
Pakistan is among the poorest in South Asia. The overall objective of the
program is to increase the base of skilled, high performing Pakistani school
teachers in the teaching of mathematics, science
and English as a second language, and to promote cultural understanding
between the US and Pakistan. Most of
the program participants are women from the provinces of rural Balochistan
and Sindh, and for the majority, it was the first time they had traveled
outside of Pakistan. |
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© Academy for
Educational Development, 2003. All rights reserved. |
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Tel: (202) 884-8000, Fax: (202) 884-8425 Website: http://www.aed.org |
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