Forum on Continuous Professional Development

‘Forum on Continuous Professional Development’ IATEFL, Liverpool, April 2013 Leap Ahead in English a model for classroom-based CPD Jane Cohen (British Council Israel) Peer support groups in Uzbekistan Natalia Tsarikova (British Council Uzbekistan) Continuous professional development of teachers in Montenegro Ljiljana Subotic (Bureau for Education Services Montenegro)

‘Peer Support Groups’ A teacher development model for CPD Uzbekistan Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, my name is Natalia Tsarikova and I am an English language projects manager in Uzbekistan. Today, I am going to tell you about peer support groups in Uzbekistan, an autonomous teacher development model for CPD for teachers.

In this presentation we will look at: Uzbekistan at a glance What is a Peer Support Group? Why a PSG? Success story: driven by support What do you need to set up a PSG? PSG X factor: why does it keep going? PSGs in Uzbekistan: current state of things In this presentation we will briefly look at the context of Uzbekistan, then a definition of a PSG and teachers’ attitude to it; we will look at the driving factors for us to set up peer support groups and the reasons why PSGs continue to prosper, and then more specifically look what you need to set up a PSG. Lastly we will look at some of the figures for PSGs in Uzbekistan.

Uzbekistan at a glance 30 mln population 12 provinces + autonomous republic 30% population under 18 years old 447,400 square kilometres (172,700 sq mi) Uzbekistan: Long distance to travel from one city to another. It is the 56th largest country in the world by area.

What is a PSG? 6–14 teachers same/similar school meet regularly mutual support A peer support group is a group of English teachers from the same or similar schools who meet regularly with the main aim of providing mutual support.

Why a Peer Support Group? Teacher motivation Transferability of the training Access to training opportunities Teachers feel isolated in their profession We noticed that when attending a professional development event such as a teacher training course, teachers are normally very motivated during the course but as soon as the course is over and they go back to their schools and face everyday ‘teacher problems’ their motivation levels drop. A few years ago, we had a British Council ETTE project which aimed to raise teachers’ levels of English and improve their teaching skills through a communicative teacher training course. So, we were thinking of ideas how to help teachers maintain their levels of motivation and help them transfer the new knowledge from a teacher training course into their classrooms, in other words make the training transferable. One of the other factors that influenced our decision was that although teachers in Uzbekistan take a teacher training course one every three years at an In-service teacher training institute, it’s not very easy for many of them to travel to the capital or a big city for their professional development opportunities in the meantime.

Driven by support and CPD Saodat Erkaboeva, secondary school teacher from Andijan region To give you an idea of teachers commitment and motivation to attend a PSG meeting, Saodat Erkaboeva is a good example. Last summer we had a small PSG conference for Fergana valley to provide teachers from different PSGs to meet and share their experience of running PSGs in their areas and learn from each other. Saodat, a secondary school teacher from Andijan region, being a leader of her PSG, travelled 70 km with her teachers to the conference and because she didn’t have anyone back at home to take care of her baby, she brought her child with her. So, you can see that on that day we had another young promising PSG member join the network!

PSG meetings provide a place to.. Discuss and find help with making changes after/based on teacher training So, a PSG was a solution to help teachers feel and get support from their peers when they try out new ideas from a teacher training course. This is a safe environment for them to share their successes or failures with each other. And it is important that they not only share their successful examples of what they implemented in their teaching but also something that did not work as this is one of the major factor that can either help a teacher find a solution to his/her problem or discourage from trying altogether if a teacher does it in isolation and does not get any support from their peers.

PSG meetings provide a place to.. Share experiences and learn from these And of course a PSG meeting is a place for teachers to share their ideas with each other and learn from each other in a safe environment.

PSG meetings provide a place to.. find support And the winning factor is that they do get the support from each other. This is a place when they discuss new ideas for the classroom, but also a place to find a few shoulders to complain how challenging teaching can be.

What do you need to set up a PSG? A group of motivated teachers Two-hour training A PSG coordinator And that’s it! ..and then you monitor and provide minimal support.

PSG ‘X’ factor: why does it keep going? Sense of belonging to a community Professional and personal development Practice of English Informal atmosphere Socialising A chance to present in front of/facilitate group of colleagues Professional confidence

Success story Gulchiroy Khodjimatova, a secondary school teacher in Balikchi district, Andijan region. Gulchiroy has become a teacher trainer for the Ministry of Public education as a result of her involvement with a PSG.

Meet once or twice a week 13 provinces 444 members Meet once or twice a week Thank you for your attention I would now like to hand over to my colleague, Natalia Tsarikova, who will present on Peer Groups in Uzbekistan.