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The Siena College Teachers' Training Institute is a program that was developed at Siena College in Albany, New York, to assist Ukraine in the training of English language teachers. The Institute trains Ukrainian teachers of English in western English language acquisition methodologies and in the integration of instructional technology into the schools' curricula. The Institute has held three programs in the United States (1992, 1993, and 1994) and four programs in Ukraine (1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, and 2000). The Institute's sponsors are: the Modern Language Department at Siena College, an independent liberal arts college offering programs of study in the arts, sciences, and business; and Americans for Democracy in Ukraine, Inc., a not-for-profit organization whose objective is to develop, coordinate, and assist educational reform in Ukraine. The Institute's program has targeted teachers of English at the secondary school level. The program's objectives are to train teachers who will share their knowledge with others in a given district, specifically, to create a teacher-to-teacher support network for the region, to create a district resource center, and to create a teacher training center which will introduce new teaching methodologies and upgrade teaching skills. Teachers are trained in strategies such as: a) educational communication and motivation b) new techniques in teaching listening, reading, writing, and speaking skills c) technology in language education d) American culture, history, and politics e) self-esteem and assertiveness training f) management and organizational skills The Ukrainian teachers trained by Siena College have: a) Organized, registered and incorporated as a teachers' association in each region in preparation for establishing a National Association of Teachers of English in Ukraine, for the purpose of creating a network for new ideas and theories b) established teachers' resource centers in Kovel, as well as in Ochtyrka and ?hernihiv. These centers house libraries for teaching materials, and are used as centers for the training of new teachers and for seminars with visiting education specialists from teaching colleges in Ukraine and the United States c) trained over 1,500 new teachers in Ukraine to use new teaching methods and technology in the classroom d) developed new curricula in their schools and arranged to supply students with textbooks from the World Bank Book Project. |