4th National Workshop on Foreign Language Teaching and Learning
On September 6th, 2023, the English Language Teaching (ELT) Department, Faculty of Education at Tishk International University (TIU) organized a National Workshop titled: A Curriculum for a Complete Teacher: National Workshop on Curriculum Development in the Department of ELT. Driven by the concern for relevance and engagement of the curriculum to the educational, cultural, and professional needs of the society in Kurdistan Region and the rest of Iraq, the ELT Department invited an group of stakeholders who could share their expertise and experiences in education with the department staff. These stakeholders included current and former students of the ELT Department, schoolteachers, school owners and administrators, teacher trainers, and employers. Divided into small group sessions, the workshop took about four hours, during which the ELT Department’s teaching staff and the invited guests engaged in lively discussions and critical dialogue about the current condition of the curriculum and prospects for future development.
The curriculum development workshop expected to achieve specific short-term goals that could also set a foundation for long-term goals. With that in mind, the participants examined the relevance of the offered courses to the mission and vision of the department. They also proposed changes in courses and course content in ways that could respond to real needs of teachers. Some participants also suggested removing courses and instead integrating their content into other courses to make the new courses more effective and responsive to students’ social and professional needs. Many of the participants also agreed that students in the ELT Department need more school experience with particular focus on the need for experienced teachers to work as mentors.
The ELT Department will take the feedback and suggestions from the workshop and will further deliberate on how to integrate these suggestions into the department curriculum. Hence, the outcomes of this workshop will be ongoing and foundational to future endeavours of curriculum development processes.
