[English] Paul&Mark Seminar

〈The poster for the National Seminar for Creative Teaching Methodologies, by the company “Paul&Mark,” invited by the Ministry of Education of Ecuador and KOICA〉

 Ecuador has a different reality to the reality of the Republic of Korea because teachers in the Intercultural Bilingual Education (EIB) system are only required to have a bachelor´s degree and speak one of the 14 ancestral languages, which they are able to continue their professional training while working as a teacher.

 Therefore, more than 85% of the teachers in the EIB system have never had any formal training, making it difficult to achieve quality education here in Ecuador. In order to improve the quality of the EIB system, professional training has been coordinated to provide certain necessary tools for teachers.

 Furthermore, in 2011, a training seminar was held in Quito for the teachers of CECIBs (Intercultural Bilingual Community Learning Centers) of Quito, officials of DINEIB (National Office of Intercultural Bilingual Education), and DIPEIBs (Provincial Office of Intercultural Bilingual Education).

 “Paul&Mark” is one of the best education consulting companies in Korea which we are hoping can transfer their knowledge to the figures of indigenous education of Ecuador. Therefore, this seminar was made possible by the generous collaboration of “Paul&Mark,” which helped make the quality of welfare better without receiving anything in return.

The contents of the seminar were:

Workshop 1: (September 10-11) – Accelerated Teaching Course for the teachers of the EIB system (Total: 80 participants)
Workshop 2: (September 12) – Creativity Course for the authorities and the officials of the Ministry of Education and Government Organizations of Ecuador (Total: 200 participants)
Workshop 3: (September 13) – Communication Course for the officials of DINEIB and the partners of the “Escuelas de las Montañas” project (Total: 30 participants)
Workshop 4: (September 14) – Life Planning Course for the members of the Santa María neighborhood where the CECIB “Juan Carlos Peralta” is located. (Total: 30 participants)
Workshop 5: (September 15) – Accelerated Teaching Course for the officials of DINEIB-NAPO and the teachers. (Total: 30 participants)

<The teachers of the EIB system enjoying the seminar.>

<“My goodness!” was the memorable phrase of the seminar.>

 In the 1st and 5th workshop, training for “Accelerated Teaching” was conducted for the officials and teachers of the EIB system in Quito and the Amazonian Region. The professors had never received training like the one they experienced with “Paul&Mark,” and they were filled with interest and admiration. Some teachers commented, “It´s interesting to see the relation between the methodologies of Korea’s teaching and our culture. I have worked in the EIB system for 25 years, but this training is one of the best I’ve experienced so far.”

 In the 2nd and 3rd workshop, training was conducted regarding “Creativity and Communication” to the officials of the organization that were cooperating in the “Escuelas de las Montañas” project like: MSP, MIES, SECAP, the United States Embassy, and etc.

 The 4th workshop was very special to us, as the “Life Plannning” course was conducted, because a message of hope was communicated to the members of the neighborhood who worked for more than a year and a half with our project. Enthusiasm was evident and it was clear they were going to continue to fight for their dreams, and this is what inspired Paul&Mark to help in the event.

 Above all, we want to send sincere thanks to all the wonderful people that put so much energy and concentration during the seminar; like “Paul&Mark,” who came all the way to Ecuador from the other side of the globe to share their knowledge and passion with many people of Ecuador, and their members--Paul Choi and his wife, ShinYoung Park, PyeongAhn Kang, JiMyeong Yi, and our interpreter Minkyu Lee, who is a KOICA volunteer.

Other posts of the project
[English] Focus Area 4: Agriculture [English] Focus Area 3: Library [English] Focus Area 2: Health  [English] Focus Area 1: Training [English] Project "Escuelas de las Montañas" [English] A video interview and photo slideshow

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