International Leadership in Education Program (ILEP)

Alumni Small Grant Recipients

Project Summaries for 2007-2008

Project: Innovative Teaching and Learning Strategies in ESL
Implementers: Shanti Subramaniam (IEP 07, Malaysia) and
Scott Beck, Assistant Professor of Education, Georgia Southern University
This project will provide secondary school teachers in the Klang district of Malaysia with an overview of contemporary teaching theories, methods and materials through a hands-on training workshop. Participating teachers will also learn how they can incorporate technology into their ESL lessons to enhance their instruction and their students’ learning. Additionally, this project will provide English language teachers with adult teaching methods that will enable them to become effective language instructors to their adult colleagues teaching Science and Mathematics, as the medium of instruction in these subjects has recently been changed from Bahasa Malaysian to English. The first phase of this training course will be held at Shanti Subramaniam’s school, Sekolah Menengah Methodist Klang Selangor, where forty language teachers will undergo a five day course before moving on to become facilitators at two other workshops. This project will be carried out for three weeks in May and June 2008.  

Project:  Student Resource Center of English and Educational & Cultural Exchange Activities
Implementers:  Keltouma Guerch (IEP 07, Morocco) and
Diana Garvey, ESL Teacher, Hudson City Schools, Ohio
This project will revive the Student’s English Resource Center at Keltouma Guerch’s school in Oudja, Morocco. The Center will provide students with English-language resources that are not easily available in the small town of Oudja, including Internet, books, teaching CDs, audio and video tapes. The Center will also guide students in how to effectively utilize the internet for research, presentations, written and oral interactive exercises, as well as online discussions with students from other schools in Morocco and abroad. Diana Garvey will travel to Morocco to deliver a reading and writing workshop at the Center. Her presentation will include a video prepared by her students in Ohio about their town, school, daily activities, personal and global interests, and other things that they would like to share with Moroccan youth. Ms. Garvey and Ms. Guerch will continue to collaborate with their respective schools to exchange books, stories, and poems written in English about Moroccan and American education and culture.

Project: Teaching for Understanding
Implementers: Bouchra Arrif (IEP 07, Morocco), Priyadarshini Jayakrishnan (IEP 07, India),
Dr. Elizabeth Haslam, Professor of Education, Drexel University
This project will train approximately 25 Moroccan high school teachers who will then be required to cascade what they learn to their colleagues and school districts. The workshop will train participants in the “teaching for understanding” framework, a four dimensional approach to teaching which includes: generative topics, understanding goals, performances of understanding, and ongoing assessment. The program will also allow the participants to practice using technology as both a learning and assessment tool. The training will culminate in the establishment of an online forum that would sustain a professional relationship between participants and trainers.

Project: The Stories We Tell: A Program on Writing and Connecting
Implementers: Priyadarshini Jayakrishnan (IEP 07, India), Bouchra Arrif (IEP 07, Morocco),
Maureen Gallagher Boland, Parkway Center City High School, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
This project will produce an e-magazine for English students in India, Morocco, and the U.S. The first component of the project is a workshop for teachers on teaching writing skills and international understanding. Bouchra Arrif and Maureen Gallagher Boland will travel to Chennai, India in March 2008 in order to participate in this training. This will be followed by setting up an online magazine by the students of the three participating schools from India, Morocco, and Philadelphia. Students will contribute articles from their own perspective to the magazine. The project aims to build writing and technology skills among secondary school students while fostering international understanding.

Project: The Bridge of Communication for Educators and Students
Implementers: Asem El Ramady (IEP 07, Egypt), and
Kristen Jones, English Teacher, North East High School, Philadelphia, PA
This project consists of two components, ultimately aimed at building Egyptian students’ confidence in communicating in English. First, a week-long seminar for approximately 50 educators will be conducted in Cairo. The training will focus on multimedia projects in education, project based learning, the teacher’s portfolio, opportunities for using the internet in the classroom, learning styles and direct instruction, improving teaching through self-reflection, and software for teachers. Second, for students, Asem El Ramady and Kristen Jones will produce and share videos about student activities in North East High School in Philadelphia. Students from schools in Cairo and Philadelphia will also exchange letters.

Project: Student-Centered Education
Implementers: Ahmed Mekkaoui (IEP 07, Algeria), and
Dr. Rafa Kasim, College of Education, Kent State University
This project seeks to train teachers in regions of Algeria where teachers of English have few training opportunities. The “Student-Centered Education” project will last six months with six seminars during this period. Seminars will focus in part on technology training in order to integrate technology effectively in the classrooms, and will build off of this in order to establish communication through the internet between English teachers in all of the high schools in Mr. Mekkaoui’s district in Algeria.

Project: Getting Out of the Box: Touching Hearts and Minds
Implementers: Abdellatif El Moncef (IEP 07, Morocco), and
Dr. Mary Talbut, Southeast Missouri State University
This project aims to introduce new pedagogical theories of active learning and concept attainment in schools in Fez, Morocco. Project activities will include joint presentations between Abdellatif El Moncef and Dr. Mary Talbut on alternative forms of assessment and the effective use of technology in the classroom. Project implementers will contribute to the annual meeting of the Moroccan Association of Teachers of English (MATE).

Project: T.I.M.E.: Teachers Using Internet More Effectively
Implementers: Siew Lan Tan (IEP 07, Malaysia), and
Shana Kight, Science Teacher, Jackson Junior High School, Missouri
This project will train Malaysian teachers in how to utilize their online and technology resources to better engage students and how to expand their resources for research and project development. Siew Lan Tan and Shana Kight will be reaching out to a wide-audience of 100 teachers over the course of a ten-day workshop in Penang, Malaysia. At these workshops educators will be introduced to and have the time to work with their colleagues in science disciplines while learning how to incorporate cooperative learning strategies that will enable their students to work together in the classroom.

Project: Standardization of Teaching Skills in Secondary Education
Implementers: Samira Bari (IEP 07, Bangladesh), and
Dr. Simin Cwick, Southeast Missouri State University
This project will consist of workshops focusing on updated methods of instruction in Dhaka, Bangladesh and districts outside of Dhaka such as Rajshahi, Mymensigh, Khulna, and Jessore. Currently, Bangladesh students learn by lecture and the memorization of large amounts of material. Through these workshops, participating science teachers of both urban and rural schools will be instructed in the utilization of modern applications-based educational practices and teaching skills.

Project: Teacher Enrichment Program
Implementers:  Bindu Jose (IEP 07, India), Shaji Philip (IEP 07, India), and
Donna Shaver, Teacher, Jackson, Missouri
The “Teacher Enrichment Program” aims to train 25 teachers selected from schools in the Udupi District and 25 teachers in the Mangalore District. The program is an opportunity for teachers to incorporate strategies for the modern classroom such as reflective dialogues, concept attainment, inquiry, and cooperative learning strategies. At the end of this eight-day training program feedback will be collected from the participating teachers to evaluate the program.