School of Trainers

The School of Trainers - a year-long pilot project of the Academic Writing Center - has been successfulluy completed. This professional development project has led to building a highly qualified team of instructors, specifically trained to cater to the AWC clients’ needs in writing for research and publication purposes. The School was assessed as 9.6 out of 10 by the trainees.

That was a long but very productive journey: four unique training modules with serious project work and successful mentorship, hands-on activities and reflection on teaching philosophy,  professional discussions and experience sharing.

The School participants can take pride in their outcomes:

• four workshops
• five sets of self-study materials
• nine blog entries for our clients.

Trainees’ voices:

“In my opinion, the School aims were achieved 100%; the participants piloted their materials two times, had numerous opportunities to share experience and obtain training skills.”

“The program is very beneficial in terms of hands-on teaching as well as planning our future research.”

“I have significantly expanded my repertoire of teaching techniques and tried out many activities introduced by our trainers.”

“All the techniques discussed in the course of studies are either applied or on my list for my future lessons - I probably need more experience to see how they can be integrated.”

“The AWC provided an excellent program that enabled the participants to grow professionally, to write new materials and receive feedback, to improve their classroom management and get some tips on teaching adults.”

“I felt involved ... I especially liked both evaluating peers and getting feedback on my materials / presentations.”

“I enjoyed the opportunity to have my previous experience modeled for a new context. I also valued the many opportunities to engage in professional discussions with fellow instructors.”

“It [the School] has given me the hope that I could do more than just teach English.”

“The variety of activities gives you the sense of who you are, what you enjoy doing career-wise.”

“I feel enriched, heard, and inspired.”

School program design and methodology: Svetlana Suchkova

Sessions: Svetlana Suchkova, Tatiana Golechkova, Anna Kascheeva

Photo credit: Svetlana Protopopova

Organization: Ksenia Maryasova, Sofia Voronina, Natalia Fedorova, Tatiana Vorotnikova

Participants: Svetlana Bogolepova, Julia Chanturidze, Vera Dugartsyrenova, Elena Petrova, Elena Kryukova, Evgeniya Lubennikova, Mariya Kirsanova, Olga Tambovtseva, Valeria Yakovleva