Celebrating the 2-year-long Teacher’s College project in Tunisia!

The TC-Tunisia Project (TCTP), funded by the U.S. State Department, is a transnational partnership among the U.S. Embassy Tunis, the Tunisian Ministry of Scientific Research and Higher Education, Columbia University Global Centers|Tunis, and Columbia University’s Teachers College. The project is aimed at building capacity for teaching English as a Foreign Language to young learners (TEYL) in Tunisia.

Since January 2021, TCTP has delivered two iterations of a virtual training program, each comprising four modules – Planning and Assessment, Pedagogical Training, Teaching in the 21st Century, and Teaching as a Science, to two cohorts of a total of 46 professionals who are either university teachers of pre-service TEYL teachers or teacher advisors of in-service TEYL teachers.

In 2022, participants of TCTP were finally able to meet in person for a field trip around Tunisia and a roundtables workshop at Columbia Global Centers | Tunis. The program was then concluded with a reception at le Central on November 3rd, 2022.

↓ A more detailed summary and pictures can be found below ↓ 

The Field Trip

The TCTP 2022 field trip is a two-week program conducted in person in Tunisia, with a two-fold goal:

a) to complement the virtual program by providing in-person instruction to participants in their immediate, local contexts

b) to gauge the impact of the virtual program on participants’ instructional practices, as part of TCTP’s accountability plan.

The field trip took place from October 24 to November 4, 2022. A four-member delegation from Columbia University’s Teachers College, led by Professor ZhaoHong Han, Director of TCTP, arrived in Tunis on October 23, 2022, to implement the two-week program.

Facilitated by the U.S. Embassy, the Tunisian Ministry of Scientific Research and Higher Education, and Columbia University Global Centers|Tunis, the TC delegation in the first week visited three universities (respectively located in the southern, central, and northern part of Tunisia) and two primary schools selected by the Tunisian Ministry of Scientific Research and Higher Education.

Academic Roundtables

In the second week of the field trip, the TC delegation hosted, at Columbia University Global Centers|Tunis, four roundtables respectively on the themes of a) The Current Curriculums for TEYL and for Preservice Training of Teachers of TEYL in Tunisia; b) The Infrastructure for TEYL in Tunisia; c) TEYL Professional Development in Tunisia; and d) Evidence-based Practices (School-based Research; Teachers’ Exploratory Practice). Each roundtable featured two or more presentations by participants of TCTP. About 25 participants gathered together in Tunis for two days and engaged in spirited discussions on the issues surrounding the four themes. And in between the roundtables, the TC delegation advised second-cohort participants on their on-going capstone projects.

Reception

The TC-Tunisia Project (TCTP) was concluded on November 3rd, 2022 with a reception hosted by Columbia Global Centers | Tunis with the presence of the US Embassy of Tunis, the TC delegation, and the participants who took part of the program.

A message from TC Tunisia's Director ZhaoHong Han, to the Members of the TC-Tunisia Community:

"It is with immense pleasure and gratitude that I write to report that the two-week field trip undertaken by the TC delegation was a great success. With generous help from many of you, we were able to achieve the goals of providing in-person instruction and gauging the impact of the virtual program, and the impact has been substantial!

For the TC delegation, it was gratifying to see many of you on this trip, in your workplace and/or at the community gatherings in Tunis. We were very impressed with the innovative work you've been doing since your participation in the TC-Tunisia project and proud of the transformational practices some of you are leading at your institutes. And needless to mention, we were inspired by your energy and enthusiasm for improving English language education in Tunisia, and encouraged by your ability to translate learning into practice. For us, that is a strong and unambiguous sign of deep learning and transformational understanding. 

Here I would like to take a minute to recognize the support and help in all shapes and forms we received before and during the field trip from the project's stakeholders: The U.S. Embassy Tunis, the Tunisian Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, the Columbia Global Centers | Tunis, and Columbia University's Teachers College. Without it the field trip wouldn't have proceeded as smoothly and productively." 

TC-Algeria Project: 

Following the model of the TC-Tunisia project, the TC-Algeria project, spearheaded by Teachers College, Columbia University, in partnership with the Algerian Ministry of Higher Education, the US Embassy in Algeria, and, initially, with CGC Tunis, is dedicated to cultivating an atmosphere where students, professors, and researchers embrace English as their primary mode of communication. Through extensive collaboration with Algerian English language specialists, the project is committed to training educators in incorporating English across scientific disciplines, creating user-friendly online English resources for the Algerian populace, and revitalizing university language centers into state-of-the-art facilities for language acquisition. Learn more about the project in these articles published by Algerian media. 

Echorouk

Le Soir d'Algérie

Algérie Presse Service