The English Department at Kabul Education University offers professional development opportunities for its instructors to help improve their teaching skills. Programs include one-on-one mentoring, class observations with feedback, meetings for new teachers, support for action research projects, workshops, and learning lunches where instructors can discuss issues. The goal is for instructors to continually develop their knowledge and skills to provide the best education possible for their students.

1. Professional Development Programming
at the English Department
of Kabul Education University

2. At Kabul Education University of Rabbani, we are
forging new directions in Afghan higher education.
Training Teachers for Afghanistan
Chartered in 2003, KEU boasts six faculties and 28
departments with the aim of providing professional and
qualified teachers to schools around the country.

3. Housed in the faculty of Language and Literature, the
English Department is one 5 language departments
training language teachers.
The English Department at KEU
With twenty-two instructors and over 900 students, the
English Department proudly offers Bachelor’s and Master’s
degree programs for training teachers of English as a
Foreign Language and university instructors.

4. In the English Department, we are busy people!
From our director to our newly hired instructors,
we have a lot going on.
Busy Teachers
Some of us are teaching in both the Masters and
undergraduate programs.
Some of us are working on our Masters degrees while
teaching in the undergraduate program.
Some of us are meeting the challenges of teaching new
courses and assuming responsibility for extra-classes.
And our newest members are teaching basic English
and English for Specific Purposes to students outside
our department.

5. Who has time for
Professional Development?

6. Taking time to learn new skills, reinvigorate old ones,
and keep up with today’s challenges is part of our job as
educators. We owe it to ourselves to be the very best
we can be, and to our students to provide the very best
learning experience possible.
A Teacher's Job
Offering continuing professional development opportunities
in the English Department is our way of helping you
teach like a champion and
meet the goals of KEU.

7. You’ve probably noticed the survey going around asking
'How we can help?' Are you…
in need of guidance with planning or classroom
management?
uncertain of how you’re doing or facing challenges in
the classroom?
ready to take on a new project for your promotion
searching for new ideas or activities?
Tell us what you need!
Please send us your ideas or stop by and chat.
The door is always open, the tea is ready,
and instructors are always welcome!

8. Let’s talk strategies to help you reach them. There
are many options to fit your goals and your schedule:
One on One Mentoring
Class Observation and Assessment
New Teachers Group
Inquiry / Action Research
Self-Directed Learning
Get Involved with a Project
Be a Mentor
Learning Lunches
Workshop Series
Plan your professional goals!

9. Personalized coaching as you plan your lessons and
syllabus. We will find a time to meet regularly to
reflect on & discuss course content, planning learning
objectives, giving instructions, facilitating class
activities, assessing student learning, student
behavior, class management, and/or other concerns.
Through mentorship, you will benefit from practical
advice and support while developing strategies to
deal with academic issues and becoming more
empowered to make decisions (Gardner, 2012).
One on One Mentoring

10. Class Observations
Focused attention on what’s happing during your class,
feedback on your strengths as well as areas to
improve, encouragement & support as you develop
strategies that work for you and your students. We
will schedule regular classroom observations with pre-
observation meetings, and post-observation
consultations.
Having someone else in the classroom to view
instruction and provide feedback is a powerful way to
help you see yourself as a teacher and impact your
success in the classroom (Sparks and Loucks-Horsley,
1989).

11. New Teachers Group
Bimonthly meetings focused on lesson planning,
classroom management, and sharing ideas. We will
meet every 1st and 3rd Saturday morning from 9:30
to 11:30 to work on learning objectives and teaching
strategies.
This is a time for sharing ideas, reflecting on
teaching, practicing techniques, discussing
challenges, and supporting each other.

12. Inquiry / Action Research
Professional guidance, literature discussions, and
technological assistance for your in-class research
projects. We’ll schedule consultations as needed as you
formulate a question into teaching methods/materials
or class management practices, develop a hypothesis,
implement an experiment and/or investigate the
literature, and analyze your findings.
Through engaging in inquiry, action research, reflection
and evaluation, you extend your knowledge of pedagogy,
how students learn and more (Hord, 2012). P.S. We’ll
also encourage you to share your findings in our
Learning Lunches.

13. Self-directed learning
Personalized consultation for your promotion
projects. We will schedule appointments to meet
with you as needed to discuss ideas, help develop
comprehension of the literature, and provide
feedback as you write your literature review.
(We’ll also encourage you to share your findings in
our Learning Lunches.)

14. Get involved with a Project
Team up to revise course syllabi and develop
materials. Many of our courses and textbooks have
not changed over the years and are in need
rejuvenation. As a semester project, instructors
teaching sections of the same course can meet once a
week to collaborate on the development student-
centered lessons and learning materials.
A great opportunity to increase your learning by
doing (Life Wisdom Institute)!

15. Be a Mentor!
Meet regularly with one of our new instructors or an
instructor teaching a new course to provide collegial
support as they develop teaching & class management
skills. Observe their classes and invite them to watch
you in your class.
As a mentor, you benefit in becoming more reflective
about your own beliefs about teaching, students,
learning, and teaching as a career (Huling, 2001). Take
your teaching experience and practice to a more
profound level as you coach another instructor.

16. Learning Lunches
Biweekly meeting to share ideas over our midday
meal. So many ideas, so little time! lunch is a great
time to come together as friends and colleagues.
We’ll meet every 2nd and 4th Saturdays at 12:30 to
eat lunch and talk about department research
activities, classroom issues, or ideas for learning
activities/materials that you want the share.
When we come together to collaborate as caring,
reflective instructors, student learning increases
(Hord, 2012).

17. Workshop Series
A monthly event to present new ideas, activities, and
materials. We’ll meet in the PD room every first
Wednesday of the month, from 2:45 – 5:00 for
hands-on activities and reflections. You can lead a
workshop for your colleagues or participate as a
learner. Based on your survey responses, tentative
workshop topics are as follows:
May – Considerations in assessment
June – Critical and creative thinking
July – Creating a wiki for / with your students
August – Large class management
September – Content-Language-Integrated Learning

18. What's in it for you?
To be the best we can be, we need to continually
broaden our knowledge and skills to implement the
best educational practices (Mizell, 2010).
We can do it together through Professional Development.

19. References
Gardner, Stephen. 2012. . Paradise TEFL:
http://drstepheng.blogspot.com/2012/09/the-benefits-of-peer-monitoring-when.html
Hord, Shirley. 2012. Standards for Professional Learning:Learning communities. Learning Forward:
http://learningforward.org/standards/learning-communities#.UX57hMoeiSp
Huling, Leslie. 2001. Teacher mentoring as professional development. Eric Digest:
http://ericdigests.org/2002-3/mentoring.htm
Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. Kabul Education University. Http://keu.edu.af/en
Life Wisdom Institute. The Learning Pyramid.
Http://www.lifewisdominstitute .org/learningpyramid.html
Mizell, Hayes. 2010. Why professional development matters. Learning Forward.
http://www.learningforward.org/docs/pdf/why_pd_matters_web.pdf
Sparks and Loucks-Horsley. 1989. Five Models of staff development. North Central Educational
Laboratory: http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/educatrs/profdevl/pd2fimo.htm
Sparks and Loucks-Horsley. 1989. Five Models of staff development. Journal of Staff Development: Fall
1989, Vol 10, No 4