From August 24~25, Sookmyung Women’s University TESOL successfully held the graduation of Intensive English Teacher Training, which was conducted to develop the expertise of elementary/middle/high school English instructors.

The Intensive English Teacher Training, which was jointly organized by the Ministry of Education and Seoul/Gyeonggi Province Education Offices and consigned by TESOL, conducted a systematic and robust public English teacher training program for 6 months by targeting 62 teaching staffs affiliated with the corresponding education offices.

The teachers experienced intensive learning and research through a total of 10 courses that are crucial to English education such as activity design, classroom practices, and intercultural communication. In addition, with class participation at the “Seoul American School” located in the U.S. military base in Yongsan, they had the opportunity for comparative research on diverse educational environments and was able to complete the onsite training by planning English education customized to each level.

Also, teaching staff from the University of Chichester in U.K. and University of Hawaii in U.S. visited for a month and delivered brilliant lectures, and through the local elementary/middle school practical training course, the trainees were able to boost their confidence on multicultural thinking and English education.

Participant Lee Gyeong-hui, a teaching staff affiliated with the Gyeonggi Province Education Office, said, “I came to realize how important cultural education is for language acquisition through this training, and I plan to continue to research and develop on ways to help my students.” Participant Ji Hye-seon, a teaching staff affiliated with the Seoul Education Office, said, “The TESOL Intensive English Teacher Training program inspired me to develop my professional studies and research and grow more as a teacher.”

The Intensive English Teacher Training is providing various benefits and in-service training for graduating teachers each semester such as ▲ 1 to 1 feedback on lectures after returning to teaching, ▲ U.S. State Department’s webinar (Web-based Seminar) participation benefit, and ▲ a membership to the TESOL headquarters in the U.S.

As an institution in charge of educating (re-educating) around 1,500 public education teaching staff based on more than 10 years of consigned education since 2007, our university’s TESOL Intensive English Teacher Training has truly created a firm foundation as the mecca of English education. With the achievement of ensuring 600 million won in support fund from the national treasury despite the fierce competition this year, our institution has been recognized as an expert institution in English teacher training.