One of the main problems the Ministry of Education has here in Panama is the inability to train all of their primary school teachers on how to teach English to their students. The majority of these teachers has a very minimal understanding of English and find it incredibly difficult to teach this subject. We have been asked to assist them with the enhancing of the skills of these teachers and enabling them to teach this subject in and effective way.
Due to this request, we have developed a week long seminar that will be given to these teachers during their summer recess. This seminar will address the basic lesson planning methodology, techniques on how to create a more student centered lesson using the communicative approach, how to work with limited resources and pronunciation practice, hints and tips. The objective of this seminar is to provide these teachers with the basic skills necessary to effectively teach English and also give them the confidence to convey this information to their students.
The Ministry of Education is supporting this project by giving us a site to hold this seminar, paying their teachers while they attend the seminar and by giving the teachers points for their participation so that they can advance in their careers. We are applying for assistance with purchasing items for basic English teaching kits which include resources such as books and other teaching tools. We are also asking for help with some of the travel, food and hotel costs for the volunteers and some of the participants. We hope to make this a prototype for future teacher seminars in this country and appreciate any type of contribution that you may be able to make towards this project. Thank you for your support of the Peace Corps and its volunteers.
If you have questions about this or other projects, email our office.
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