2004-7 High School Social Science Development and Teacher Education Project for Armenia (HST)

Program History

In 2004 IREX conducted recruitment in Armenia for six qualified high school teacher trainers and 18 pilot school representatives to participate in the program. The six teacher trainers (TTs) were selected to travel to the United States to complete an intensive three-month training program in modern teaching methodologies and curriculum development at Eastern Washington University (EWU) in early 2005. Their training program was designed after conducting an extensive field assessment in Armenia to determine the areas of high school education that needed the most reform.

From March-May 2005, the six TTs participated in a training workshop at EWU. Led by Dr. Gary Varrella, the EWU team conducted a three-month course for the teacher trainers that covered areas such as educational theory, instructional methods, curriculum design, classroom management, and student learning and assessment. They also attended lectures and seminars on the cornerstones of epistemology; work sampling as a professional development strategy for pre-service teachers; computer and technology skill building; and backward planning for curriculum design and student assessment. During this time they researched, designed, and developed two handbooks for high school education reform in social studies utilizing the new methods and curriculum – one handbook on teacher training and a second with curriculum units.

Upon their return to Armenia, the TTs published the two handbooks and began pilot testing them in the selected pilot schools. The TTs trained the pilot school representatives in the methods included in the handbooks so that they could implement them in their classes in the pilot schools. The TTs pilot tested their materials in their own schools as well.

The TTs conduct bi-weekly seminars in their respective pilot schools and in schools that joined the program on a voluntary basis. They also conducted regular joint seminars with the pilot school representatives at teacher training facilities in Goris, Gyumri, Vanadzor and Yerevan. IREX staff monitors these seminars, along with classes in the pilot schools, through regular monthly site visits. Over time, word spread about the success of the HST teaching methodology, and more and more teachers from each pilot school began to attend seminars on a voluntary basis. As teachers become more comfortable with the materials, they are forming small groups in their own schools to create integrated curriculum units. The TTs also set up a mentorship program under which pre-service students in the pedagogical institutions can student teach with the HST teachers.

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