RESOLUTION
The outcome of the IV International Conference
Sienna College
/ ADU Associations of English teachers of Ukrainian schools
On 23-25 June 2016, the IV International
Conference Sienna College / ADU Associations of English teachers of Ukrainian
schools "Integrated and
Interdisciplinary Approaches: Beyond the Borders of ELT Methodology" was
held in Dnipro.
This is the annual forum of experts in the
field of teaching English in Ukrainian secondary schools, in which sharing
their teaching experience and discussion of prospects of collaboration between the Associations, as
well as between the Associations as a whole and state education authorities,
take place.
The conference was organized by Dnipro
Association of English teachers of Ukrainian schools with the support of the
American public organization "Americans for democracy in Ukraine, Inc".
The conference was
attended by 30 representatives of associations of Buchach, Dnipro, Kovel,
Kirovohrad, Mirhorod, Odesa, Okhtyrka and Uzhgorod; three teachers from Rogers,
Arkansas, USA; representatives of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast education authorities: Olexii
Poltoratsky, Director of the Department of Education and Science of
Dnipropetrovsk Oblast administration, and Alla Vasylchenko, Head methodologist
of Humanities Department of
Dnipropetrovsk Oblast In-service Teachers’ Training Institute, as well
as Natalia Tkach, Head teacher of Specialised school with a profound study of
foreign languages # 22.
The schedule of the conference included reports
of the Presidents of associations for the 2015-2016 school year, presentations
of innovations in ELT and workshops according to the theme of the conference.
The conference was aimed at drawing the
attention of education authorities and experts to modern trends in teaching
English.
It summarized the results of Associations’ work
in 2015-2016 school year and identified prospects for further professional
cooperation. The participants discussed a wide range of topical issues and
developed some solutions.
The Conference notes:
• The necessity of continuing professional
development through participation in conferences, workshops, webinars,
competitions and projects related to teaching English.
• The necessity of the existence of Resource
centers to support high-quality English language teaching in Ukraine .
• The necessity of continuation of the
collaboration between associations and of participation in joint projects connected
with education and teaching English.
• The necessity to attract young teachers to
participate in the work of Associations.
• The necessity to form a complete picture of
students' perception of the world through the introduction of interdisciplinary
connections and new information and communication technologies in the practice
of teaching English.
• The necessity to attract the attention of the
state educational bodies to the problems of ELT in Ukrainian secondary schools
through the work of Associations.
The Conference resolves:
1. To
approve the work of local associations of English teachers of Ukrainian schools
for the 2015-2016 school year.
2. To mark
the high professional level of the participants and the quality of prepared
presentations and workshops..
3. To
create a blog containing all the material presented at the conference for
continued access to these resources.
4. To provide
the coverage of the conference in the mass media to draw attention of the
official education bodies.
5. To
approve the participation of the Associations in joint projects ( "Face to
faith", eTwinning) and encourage them to get involved in projects funded
by international organizations such as the American Councils for International
Education Ukraine, the British Council Ukraine and others.
6. To support
the project "Assistance to rural teachers" proposed Mirgorodskoy
Association.
7. To assign
the mission of the coordination between the Associations to an experienced member
of one of the Associations who will be elected for one year and who will be in
charge of Skype conferences once in a quarter of the year.
8. To
provide timely information on the activities carried out by the Associations through
Facebook Associations group.
9. To hold
the next conference in June 2017
in Kirovograd
and assign Natalia Tkachenko, a member of
The
participants note that the conference was organized and conducted in a
professional manner and express gratitude to Dnipro Association of English
teachers of Ukrainian school, Dnipro Information and Resource center
"Window on America" and the Center
of Foreign Literature.
The Conference
organizers would like to thank Lydia Tarnavsky, Ph.D Siena College/ADU Teacher Training Program
Director and Julia Shepelavy, ADU President, for help in organizing the
conference, as well as TV company "Private TV Dnipro" (Channel 9 )
and the online edition dp.vgorode.ua for coverage of the conference.
Passed
on June 25, 2016