Continuing professional development (CPD) of teachers is vital, considering the necessity to meet the needs of students and expectations of stakeholders. However, because of COVID-19, and then wartime, teachers of English in Ukraine had few opportunities to engage in meaningful professional development. Remarkably, the British Council Online Teacher Community (OTC) became a virtual home for English language teachers from Ukraine during these turbulent times.
The course “Developing Teaching Skills in ESP” which lasted from November 2021 to February 2020, was interrupted by the war, and then restarted in June 2022 and finished in July 2020, consisted of several components related to various aspects of studying. Foremost, the participants had to complete Self-access Modules designed by the British Council. Each module consisted of three units, which was approximately three hours of reading, taking notes, watching videos, doing tests, etc. It was possible to have as many attempts as needed, and then the platform recorded the highest score.
Secondly, Forum Discussions, the core of the asynchronous communication on the platform. The participants had access to different forums: local community of teachers, Ukrainian community and, Special Interest Groups, teachers from other countries. Forums were used to share information, discuss the issues related to particular topics, ask questions, etc.
Thirdly, Live Meetings, organized by the facilitators of the CPD program. Those meetings focused on the topics from Self-access Modules and were aimed at practical implementation of the ideas presented there. In addition, the participants from different educational establishments learned more about each other, shared their own tips and tricks, worked in small groups, engaged in problem-solving.
Finally, Events and Webinars with global facilitators and guests on the OTC explored some of the ideas and topics more deeply, provided great opportunities to interact with teachers and presenters from different countries that gave the participants a fresh perspective on teaching and could spark innovative ideas.
One more opportunity for professional growth was Portfolio, where teachers of English could keep their certificates and qualifications, conduct reflectioning a Reflective Journal, compilation of teachers’ reflections on the training, different interactions and activities in the OTC.
The core of the course was Feedback and evaluation, as the main aim of the program was for teachers of English by applying new approaches and ideas to improve the learning experience and performance of their students. The participants of the course, Yuliana Lavrysh, Kateryna Havrylenko and Oksana Chugai, teachers of English of the Department of English for Engineering № 2 of Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, are immensely grateful for informative feedback, support and guidance of OTC facilitators Iryna Zuyenok, Iryna Liashenko, Serhii Petrenko, Tetiana Tonenchuk and Liudmyla Pavlenko.
The British Council Online Teacher Community (OTC) provided not only professional support for English language teachers from Ukraine, but emotional as well, equipping them with copying strategies for emergency teaching during the wartime.
Oksana Chugai,
Associate Professor of the Department of English for Engineering № 2,
National Technical University of Ukraine “Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute”
The author used the materials from www.britishcouncil.org