The aim of this unusual and highly successful project was to improve the teaching skills of teachers working in disadvantaged contexts in Romania.

Client, stakeholders, partners

• Ministry of Education
• School Inspectorates in 8 counties
• Teacher training centres in 8 counties
• Teachers’ Associations
  

Focus
In-service teacher training

The project
The project enjoyed the full support of the Ministry of Education and local authorities. A British consultant played a key role in building the teams and the skills required for the project.

The background was that in the 1990’s British Council Romania with the Ministry had implemented UNISCHOOL, a major project aiming to update ELT throughout the system. However, it became clear that some teachers in remote areas had not had access to UNISCHOOL, and so In-service Distance Training for Teachers of English was launched. The project, which involved an innovative low-tech system for distance education, set new standards for INSET distance learning in Romania, proving later to be adaptable for other curriculum areas and other countries.

The project had several stages: the selection and training of trainers, the training of distance materials writers and trainers, the selection of trainees and identification of their needs, the piloting and evaluation of initial materials, the production of a final version of the materials, and course delivery. Set assignments were sent by teachers to their tutors, and feedback from the tutors was sent back, via registered mail. The trainees provided feedback on the materials to the project manager, who sent them to the author of the respective units. The project included face-to-face meetings during which trainers and trainees had the chance to talk about their problems. Classroom observations, preceded and followed by discussions, were regarded as particularly useful. School managers were very supportive of the project.

The materials were published as a book by a well known Romanian publisher. The book quickly sold out and has been used by teachers ever since. The project attracted interest outside Romania, for example from Russia and Uzbekistan, and also outside the field of ELT.

What the stakeholders say

• 'Such projects are not only a great step forward, but also support the Ministry of Education in encouraging teachers to continue working in disadvantaged areas.' Mr G. Paun, then Secretary in the Ministry of Education.

Trainees’ comments:

• 'It made me feel important and it gave me a feeling of confidence in dealing with the challenges that life and my profession will certainly offer me.'
• 'It increased my self-confidence, and made me aware of my strong and weak points in teaching. I feel I belong to the English teaching community to a greater extent than before.'
• 'The fact that the materials were relevant to my teaching situations made me feel I was not lonely anymore, that there were some other teachers confronted with the same problems. I had a very strong feeling of being together with other teachers.'

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