An Experiential Approach to Teaching
The PCELT program introduces teachers to an experiential approach in which they observe, analyze, experiment with, and adapt a broad range of new teaching practices, all the while linking them to their own students’ needs and learning contexts. PCELT’s practice teaching component gives participants the opportunity to apply their developing skills in an authentic classroom, while peers observe in order to provide supportive feedback.
The response of trainers and teachers to PCELT has been overwhelmingly positive. Not uncommon among the 210 PCELT graduates to date is the experience of a teacher in a Cairo public high school, who recounts her thrill at watching her students come alive and become more comfortable with English as they work in small groups, engage in discussion and debate, and act out scenes in English—activities starkly contrasting with the teacher-centric approach typical in the region’s classrooms, and which she, too, relied on until her PCELT training.
“PCELT changed my way of thinking about teaching and just made me a different teacher,” as one participant put it.
Expansion Plans for 2014
Plans are underway to expand PCELT in 2014, beginning in Lebanon and Gaza, with the inclusion of PCELT in two new USAID projects in these countries. In addition, new courses are planned in Yemen and the West Bank through U.S. government funding. PCELT will also be featured on several Amideast public course calendars.
Meanwhile, Amideast is building its own capacity to deliver the rigorous, internationally recognized program region-wide. A pool of PCELT-licensed trainers has been created, local assessors have been trained on PCELT program evaluation, and the curriculum has been tested and adapted to the needs of MENA teachers. Also of note, partnerships with local ministries and other educational entities have been strengthened around the common goal of improving teaching practices among the region’s many English language teachers. None of this would have happened without a generous grant from the GE Foundation to pilot PCELT in six countries.
