In-Service-Training for teachers in Tajikistan teaches importance of print-rich environment

Under the framework of the USAID Quality Reading Project implemented the American Institutes of Research (AIR) and Save the Children, in-service teacher training (IST) for teachers was conducted from January-March 2015 for over 1,000 teachers across Tajikistan. The training promoted new methodologies and teaching strategies to improve the educational experience of students. Now in the implementation phase, participant teachers are noticing the positive changes within their classrooms.

Teachers were specifically trained on how to create a print-rich environment for their classrooms. Teachers were trained on how to create their own visual aids for the classroom using low cost materials. 

Alijon Boboalimov, a teacher in the Pyanj District, found the trainings to be very informative concerning improvement of the classroom atmosphere. He said: “Traditionally, we mainly used the textbook for reading purposes, but after the IST, I realized the importance of a print-rich environment and its effect on reading improvement in the early grades. Thus, I began creating visual aids for every lesson and I noticed the engagement and comprehension of my students increased tremendously.”

Other participant teachers also noticed the positive difference made in their classrooms after receiving the training. One participant teacher from Istaravshan said that, “I’ve been through 15 IST courses and this is the first where I feel I will make a difference in teaching my class.”

In addition to improving teachers’ confidence in their teaching, students are becoming more creative and engaged in their lessons. Boboalimov noted that: “Before we never displayed students’ works in the classroom and never stored them. Now, when we display students’ work in schools, they constantly refer to their work, and this increases their enthusiasm to do better in reading, writing, and creativity.” 

In conjuction with promoting a print-rich environment, these trainings emphasized the importance of creating portfolios of students work. A teacher from School #20 Gafurov District, said that through the IST they learned the importance of maintaining a portfolio to store all of their materials for lessons. They have also begun to encourage students to make a portfolio of their own work in order to collect materials from their lessons. A teacher from School #35, Bokhtar District, noted that these student portfolios have effectively brought parents closer to school as their children are able to share more information about their school lessons at home. 

Reading is the basis for learning and is a survival skill in today’s world. Through the ‘Reading for Children’ Project and the USAID Quality Reading Project in Tajikistan and the USAID Reading Together Project in Kyrgyzstan, USAID aims at fighting poverty by ensuring that children can read. The programs targeted respectively pre-school children and primary school children, through in-schools and out-of-schools activities involving teachers, parents and communities. The ‘Reading for Children’ program is implemented by the Aga Khan Foundation, while the USAID Quality Reading Project/Reading Together Project is implemented by the American Institutes for Research (AIR) in partnership with Save the Children. 

For further information, please contact: Barbara Greenwood/USAID Reading Together Project in Kyrgyzstan, Chief of Party: email bgreenwood@air.org; Kate Fleming/USAID Quality Reading Project in Tajikistan, Deputy Chief of Party: e-mail address: kfleming@air.org