AY 2007-2008 Projects - Americas

Country                       Chile
City                              Santiago
Host Institution           Ministry of Education/Universidad Metropolitana de Ciencias de la Educacion

Project Description
The EL Fellow will spend two days per week at the Ministry of Education and two days per week at the Universidad Metropolitana de Ciencias de la Educacion (UMCE). These institutions are 20 minutes apart by bus. The EL Fellow will have experience with public schools at the secondary level. The EL Fellow will work for approximately 10 hours at the Ministry each week. S/he will assist in the preparation of in-service training materials and workshops on a wide variety of topics for public school teachers. Some of these materials and workshops will be utilized by Chilean teacher trainers. Some of the materials and workshops will be utilized by the EL Fellow, so s/he must be willing to travel occasionally within Chile. Travel expenses will be covered by the Ministry. The EL Fellow will prepare for and participate in a two-week immersion program in January called English Summer Town. The Fellow will give three in-service training workshops to public school English teachers. Sample topics include using textbooks communicatively, classroom management, improving (the teacher’s own) language skills, etc. The EST program is organized by the Ministry and Fulbright and supported by the American, British, Canadian, New Zealand, and Australian embassies. At UMCE, the Fellow will have 10 contact hours with students/teachers each week. S/he will develop and teach classes on three topics (ET methodology, Writing, and American Civilization and Culture) to undergraduate students who are being prepared to become high school teachers; and hold office hours to give pre-service teachers extra help in areas where they have deficiencies, most likely in academic writing. The EL Fellow will also work on secondary projects such as:
At the Ministry
- helping support the Semester Abroad program (possibly providing pre-departure orientations for teachers going to the States) (Background: President Bachelet announced in 2006 that all students of English teaching will have the opportunity to spend a semester in an English speaking country to improve their English. In this program, the Ministry covers expenses, and each university is responsible for finding a foreign university that will give the students a tuition waiver)
- assisting with the organization of the English Debate Tournament and the National Dialogue (in English) competition
At UMCE
- giving in-service training workshops to teachers in the English Pedagogy Department. Sample topics will include: dealing with large classes, motivating students, and improving (the teachers' own) English language skills; and helping start a drama club in English.

Project Objectives
Universities in Chile that offer majors in English teaching have five-year programs. Most students who enroll in these programs come from public schools, and they have little or no knowledge of English when they start. Therefore, they have to learn both English and how to teach it in those five years. The EL Fellow in Santiago will have a significant impact on the language proficiency of the pre-service teachers. S/he will help them utilize modern communicative teaching methodology, and s/he will contribute to the Chilean administration's long-term goal of getting better prepared teachers into classrooms. The host institutions expect that the EL Fellow will meet the specific teaching objectives, and daily interaction with an American will foster mutual understanding and help Chilean youth to break negative stereotypes.  

About the Host Institution
The Ministry determines public policy in educational matters and oversees the nation's quality of education. Four years ago, it created the English Opens Doors Program, a ministry unit that is in charge of promoting English in public schools throughout Chile. They organize teacher workshops, select textbooks for public schools, and oversee the teacher networks in the different regions. Post has worked closely with the Ministry on many ET initiatives. 

The Universidad Metropolitana de Ciencias de la Educacion (UMCE) was founded in 1889 as a branch of the University of Chile as a special institute to train high school teachers. In 1981, it was separated from the Universidad de Chile by the military regime and turned into an Academy of Pedagogy. In 1985, it became an independent public university, and today it is Chile's main teacher-training university. It has approximately 7,000 undergraduate students mainly from the middle to lower classes, and it offers a number of graduate programs, including one in English teaching. UMCE will provide the EL Fellow with office space, a computer with Internet access, and a local phone line.