Coordinator: Lisa Nesser
Support staff/ volunteer

Mission To train teachers that are working with our target populations on how to inspire and encourage children to learn creatively.

Target Group
Teachers and potential teachers in Thai Freedom House, local Temple Schools, and internally Displaced Peoples (IDP) camps.

Objectives
1 Peer Teacher-Training
These are our own students, who go through a mini teacher training program. They volunteer to teach in the local community. We currently have two teaching each English and Shan language, two teaching Burmese, and one teaching Chinese. The aim of this program is to give our students self-confidence and skills to become teachers in the future. Our other students look up to them as an inspiration for their own lives.

2 Teacher Training in IDP camps
As part of The Library Project, we provide teacher training in IDP camps in Burma near the Thai border. Every 3 months we conduct a new teacher training session, to keep the teachers interested and excited, but also to hold them responsible for using the training sessions in their classes. This is a fun day for them, and gives them the self-confidence and self-respect that they deserve. Most of these teachers have just graduated from the schools themselves, and so are little more than students. The training shows them that they are good teachers, and that what they do is a special skill. Training and resources gives teachers an incentive to get the children more involved and excited about learning.

3 Temple Schools
We provide teacher training in Temple Schools, showing new teachers fresh ways of creating a better learning environment. We teach them how to use activities such as pair work and interactive constructive learning. The teachers are usually just out of school themselves, and their ways of doing things are so ingrained that it takes a lot to motivate them to try something different with the children. Through teacher training we can improve the learning experience for large groups of our target population.

Ongoing/Current needs
Ongoing professional development is important for all educators, our staff need to be able to attend relevant conferences and workshops.

Budget
Currently we have no budget for this program, our teachers are volunteers and we use our office and materials to conduct trainings.

Future Projects/Aspirations
Ongoing professional development, regular attendance to regional conferences.