Turkey – Online Teacher Mentor Training
In Autumn 2019, Edinburgh College begun working with the British Council Turkey and the Turkish Ministry of National Education on a nationwide programme (“English Together”) aimed at restructuring and reforming teacher training and professional development systems for teachers of English in Turkey, with a focus on creating effective Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) and training PLC facilitators. The project vision is to create an enhanced system of teacher CPD and a network of effective PLCs in all regions of the country.
The programme began with Edinburgh College designing and delivering an intensive master mentor training course in Edinburgh for a group of 22 teachers of English from Ankara who were set to lead on creating effective PLCs in their region and, thereafter, supporting the nationwide rollout of the programme. The course in Edinburgh included sessions on technology to enhance learning, creating effective teacher action groups, course and session design, setting aims and objectives, planning training sessions and giving effective feedback. Participants who received training at Edinburgh College used what they had learned from the course to themselves plan and deliver a 3-week Teacher Mentor training course in Ankara for 130 state school teachers and have subsequently been involved in each stage of the rollout of the project. This cascade approach ensured that the project went on to benefit a wider group of teachers and has provided the platform to develop a system of professional development driven and sustained by the teachers who trained with Edinburgh College. These Master Mentors Teachers have been responsible for the ongoing coordination and development of the project in their local region, and have held PLC meetings in their schools and districts, as well as writing a CPD e-booklet based on their training experience.
Subsequently, Edinburgh College has been involved in each stage of this ambitious project, as it is rolled out across Turkey. A key part of this rollout was a bespoke online training programme delivered by Edinburgh College in December 2020 for over 300 English teachers from 24 regions across Turkey. During this four-week course, Edinburgh College trainers worked with groups of up to 25 Turkish teachers to develop their capacity as mentor teachers, preparing them to lead CPD opportunities and Professional Learning Communities for English teachers in their own region. Each group of teachers completed 6 hours per week of face-to-face online classes with Edinburgh College trainers and 4 hours of complimentary asynchronous learning to build on the concepts covered in face-to-face classes.
In November 2021, Edinburgh College trainers travelled to Turkey to deliver an intensive face-to-face programme for a further 300 PLC facilitators from across Turkey.
Thereafter, Edinburgh College provided ongoing support to the British Council and Ministry of National Education in finalising a standard approach and training programme for setting up effective regional PLCs and training PLC facilitators. The design of this standard programme for Turkey will be informed by an in-depth understanding of the Turkish context and the needs of Turkish teachers (drawn from needs analyses and feedback conducted as part of the previous programmes designed by Edinburgh College discussed above) coupled with international best practice in this area.
This project is already having a far-reaching impact in Turkey and the success of this project highlights:
- Edinburgh College’s expertise and experience in designing and delivering programmes focussed on English Language teacher development and, particularly, the creation of effective PLCs.
- Edinburgh College’s institutional capacity to deliver on large-scale projects aligned with national policy priorities.
- Edinburgh College’s commitment to long-term partnership that is impactful and deliver on the long-term goals of its partners.
