Georgia | Intensive Course for Teachers of English | 31 Dec 2015

Success
Teacher’s Professional Development Center & Teachers’ House under the Georgian Ministry of Education and Science has been regularly using the ICTE-I Training of Trainers Summer Institute (TOTSI) alumni teachers in various regions of Georgia as a pool of qualified teacher trainers. As Teachers’ House Teacher Trainers, ICTE alumni have a chance to conduct trainings to other English teachers across the country and to share the expertise they have gained through ELCE and ICTE programs.

Overview
TOTSI Alumni teachers, Ketevan Papava-Lobzhanidze (Adjara), Dali Aburjania (Adjara), Tinatin Kutivadze (Imereti), Inga Gelashvili (Kvemo Kartli Region) and Nino Sarauli (Shida Kartli) conduct teacher trainings and mentor the teachers that are at a lower stage of professional development, providing content-based and technical support, conducting classroom observations and providing personalized feedback to their trainees.

“None of this would be possible without the experience that we got through the ICTE program Teacher Training Summer Institute,” admits Ketevan Papava-Lobzanidze. “There hasn’t been a moment of rest since we came back from the United States two years ago. Now, we are involved not only in teacher training, but we also got enrolled in a new Ministry of Education and Science program of continuous professional development and carrier growth. Through this we conduct the trainings for school principals, school-based facilitators and technical staff. It is also our responsibility to check on and evaluate the lesson plans submitted by the teachers enrolled in the professional development scheme and propose the number of credits they deserve for their work,” she added.

“I never thought that ICTE experience would come with so many bonuses,” admits Inga Gelashvili. “We have all learned so much through the program. I have been a successful teacher trainer ever since. Not only have I been hired by Teachers’ House, but I have also received a teacher training job with the British Council. They were really impressed by the reflection paper (which I did during my TOTSI experience) that I submitted as a sample to get the job,” she boasts.

“Exposure to TOTSI has been an extraordinary experience, In this way the learning and professional development did not end with the end of the course, but just started,” reflects Nino Sarauli, TOTSI alumni from Gori, Shida Kartli. “When we left the U.S. we thought we knew everything we needed to know to be teacher trainers but apparently we only grasped the tip of the iceberg back then. It was during the follow-on period when the information started to sink-in. Even now, after nearly two years post-ICTE, there are moments when I come across something in my work, as a teacher trainer, that triggers a reflection that returns me to the materials which we were taught during the U.S. based Training of Trainers Summer Institute. This was indeed a life changing experience for me and lot of my colleagues” she concludes.