Dr. t. lee

Prospects for English Education in Georgia

The prospects for English education in Georgia are good. But it will take time and the distribution of necessary instructional resources to all schools, every teacher, and every student to make it happen. One promising development was the opening of "Teacher's House" in October 2011; it is intended to be a place for 24/7 teacher professional development to include discussion forums on the latest educational publications, model lessons, master classes, and online conferences (Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia, 2011). If this center and others like it that are opening in Georgia take the opportunity to bring up its brightest teacher leaders and invite international collaborators committed to global education, we will see the deep changes in Georgian education that teachers and students are ready to manifest. The challenges the Republic of Georgia faces related to English education are shared by several countries; however, teacher education efforts that seek to ensure that educators are meaningfully engaged in reform rather than directed by reforms is the way forward (Hawthorne, Goodwyn, George, Reid, & Shoffner, 2012). One thing is for certain given the regional history, dual language development is necessary; English language acquisition should not supersede preservation and enrichment of the Georgian language.

Importantly, the vast majority of TLG volunteers lack the pedagogical and linguistic knowledge needed to support the development and improvement of English language instruction in Georgian schools. More intensive methodological training, increased understanding of co-teaching models, implementation, and principles, and a deeper cultural awareness/knowledge of the Georgian language is warranted for current and future TLG volunteers. Finally, the "native speaker" model of teaching and learning, especially as applied in this instance, remains a dubious prospect.

In addition, substantial methodological and pedagogical training is needed for Georgian teachers in order to effect and maintain profound change at the daily instructional level once TLG volunteers return to their prospective home countries; this training must include classroom management development and encourage increased creativity in the instructional and classroom design skills for building student-centered instructional environments and optimizing the use of instructional time. Teacher training must be accompanied by greater instructional leadership from administrative teams and greater accountability among Georgian teachers as peer evaluators and members of learning teams that are committed to the scholarship of teaching and learning. It is not the sort of training that can take place within a week, a month, a semester, or even a year. Georgian teacher and administrative training will require steadfast commitment to democratic curriculum evaluation processes and continuous improvement.

Georgian students are thirsty for new learning models that promote democratic deliberation, dialogue, and higher-order thinking. They will thrive in environments that unrelentingly expect and only accept their best individual and collaborative efforts. It is possible and desirable to pursue dual language development.

References

Hawthorne, S., Goodwyn, A., George, M.A., Reid, L., & Shoffner, M. (2012). The state of English education:

considering possibilities in troubled times. English Education, 44(3), 288-311.

Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia. (2011). President opened teacher's house. Retrieved November

11, 2011 from http://www.mes.gov.ge/content.php?id=2883&lang=eng