Inspire the Growth of Kazakhstan's Global Citizens

At the end of March, we once again held our annual two day conference for English teachers in the city. This was the ninth year that we have organised, hosted and led it, and for many it has become a key event in the year. It's very rewarding to enable teachers from many different schools and centres to engage with their peers, expand their awareness of key topics affecting their work in the sector, and enhance their professional skills in directly relevant ways.

This year, we separated out the topics for each day. The first day was focused on teaching skills and how to help students thrive in the classroom. This included lesson planning, classroom management, immersion, scaffolding, monitoring speaking, drilling vocabulary and more. Many teachers appreciate this opportunity for direct professional development input and year by year encounter new things that can help them further enhance their skills.

The second day had a wider remit centred around personal development and some of the dynamics of self-knowledge, communication and the psychology of growth.

Gathering feedback from attendees is something we’ve been giving greater priority to recently, and it’s always interesting to get a sense not just of what people liked or found helpful, but what they already plan to implement or try out in their own teaching.

In response to a question about what part of the event they liked most, one person replied, “I can’t choose one! It was all really good!” Another acknowledged that while the talks were all very helpful, the best bit was having games and ‘energizers’ interspersed through the day – coming from the intensity and demands of constantly teaching lessons one after another, this collective fun was clearly a big help, leaving them refreshed and inspired again.

When we asked what phrases from different parts of the conference stuck with people in particular, it emphasised the importance of the material covered on a deeper level:

• ‘Not just teaching language but teaching with language’;
• ‘Creating an atmosphere of language improvisation in the classroom’;
• ‘Constant development and improvement of my skills’;
• ‘Immerse your students in English without drowning them’;
• 'The greatest problem with communication is the illusion that real communication is actually taking place!’

Meanwhile, highlights mentioned from the second day included daring to look in the mirror and take time for self-reflection. Phrases that stuck with certain attendees were ‘noticing myself and not allowing others to break my boundaries’, 'be honest with yourself – be present in every moment and value it' and ‘check who is in charge of my life – me or my phone!’ Some felt inspired to try journalling as a tool for reflection, or to ask reflective questions like, 'How much do I value myself?' A number of people mentioned similar themes captured in comments like, 'Being more grateful, energetic, focused.'

Finally, this being Salem, we are always looking at how we can pass things on. A number of speakers this year had been participants in previous years and were presenting for the first time, which is always a joy to see, This challenge was made clear to the whole room - keep growing and developing, and there's the potential that you could be a speaker at this conference next year!

Now that really would be inspiring.

Much of Salem's focus and energy these days goes on developing our English courses, which provide children and students of all ages with the chance not just to enhance their language skills, but also to broaden their horizons. We continue to make this opportunity available to those from deprived backgrounds who would otherwise not have the option to study with us.

One example is Dastan. His father recently died, and his mum Dilfuza was left on her own with their four children. Dastan’s old brother and sister had already studied at Salem, and Dilfuza, herself a former English teacher, wanted all her children to have the chance to learn English, even though the family’s situation had become very difficult after her husband’s death.

The family live very close to Salem, and Dastan was keen to follow in his siblings’ footsteps. “My sister really liked Salem,” he says, “and it’s almost next to our block. So when they told us that I could get a grant to study there, I was very happy. It gave me extra motivation to study even harder. I would like to work in business here and in other countries where I can speak freely with my English one day.”

Sometimes, the boost of being able to study has unexpected additional benefits for those receiving a grant.

Sunatali lives with his grandmother, Nurisa, who cares for him and his siblings. His dad died some time ago, and not long after that, the family were victims of fraud and lost their home. His mother is in a specialist hospital with significant mental health problems related to it all, and the kids are being brought up on Nurisa’s pension, together with whatever extra work she can find. Despite some behavioural and social challenges, Sunatali would get good grades at school. Nurisa, recognizing his abilities and wanting to do everything she could to enable him to succeed, approached Salem for a grant.

“Even though things have been hard at home, I’ve dreamed since I was small of travelling to other places," says Sunatali. "Knowing English, the truly international language which people speak all over the world, is a really big deal for me.”

“I’ve studied on various courses at different places, but none of them taught me as well as they teach at Salem,” he says. “I was so so happy when I found out that I would be able to study here on a grant, it has given me extra desire to not just study well but get the highest scores possible in every test. It has helped me do better at school too, and I’ve become a model student at school.”

We can't pretend that everyone who studies with us becomes a model student, but it's great to see the bigger impact that we are having on those who study with us.