Continuing the Peace Corps tradition, 11 specialists in the field of teaching English as a second language volunteered to spend two weeks in the mountains outside of Medellín conducting a workshop for 140 Colombian English teachers. The workshop took place October 12 to 23, 2009, and was held at the Recinto Quirama in the Parque Tecnológico de Antioquia.

The Department of Education in Antioquia sponsored the workshop, providing the location, room and board for the teacher trainers. Fundación Marina Orth and Friends of Colombia designed the workshopand organized the trainers. The American Embassy in Bogotá covered the transportation to Colombia.

The project was led by Mary Ray, Adult ESOL Coordinator, Fairfax County, Virginia. The trainers who went to Colombia are professionals in the field of teacher training and teaching English as a second language. They are: Barbara Muchisky, RPCV Colombia; Beverly Miskowski, RPCV Colombia; Anne Kenison, RPCV Colombia; Nancy McLaughlin; Robin Schrage; Arleen Cheston, RPCV Colombia; Patrick King, RPCV Honduras; Gale Gibson, RPCV Colombia; Eloina Gibson, from Manizales; Nancy Faux, ESOL Specialist, Virginia Adult Learning Resource Center.

The Colombian counterpart teachers, both elementary and secondary, came with varying degrees of ESL skills and training. During the first week there were 100 elementary school teachers from Río Negro, El Carmen and surrounding areas. Most of them spoke very little English themselves but are expected to teach English as part of a country-wide initiative to insure that all students learn English. Some had never heard English spoken by a native speaker, much less spoken to a native speaker. That opportunity itself had a major impact.

Daily, they received six hours of training, comprised of teaching techniques for oral and written skills, curriculum preparation and daily planning, computer applications for teaching ESL, and a class in English conversation and grammar review.

The 40 teachers who attended the second week were secondary school teachers who had more knowledge of English. Additional training was given to prepare them to share the teaching strategies they learned with other teachers. They will work through such groups as English Clubs and Mesas Bilingues, which were established in their areas to help elementary teachers improve their teaching skills.

The common method of teaching ESL in Colombia in the past has been to drill isolated vocabulary and not use oral English in the classroom. The teachers were shown ways in which the language could be used in context, through projects and games, as well as computer technology in a very interactive way. These methods can work although the teachers themselves might know very little English. Several of the teachers expressed the opinion that they had never considered approaching teaching in this way, and all of them were eager to try it.