TIE Program kicks off 2015

We welcomed two groups of educators from South Korea to Kennesaw at the start of the year. Part of our professional Training for International Educators (TIE) Program, the teachers attended classes led by our TESOL and ESL instructors that helped them improve their English teaching skills, fluency and cultural understanding. At the end of the training, each class was presented with individual certificates to mark their achievement.

Chae Eun Kim, who teaches English at a middle school in South Korea, said the training will help her as she works with her students back home.

“People have preconceptions about the United States,” she said. “Not everything you see in the movies is true. I learned a lot of methodologies that will add culture aspects into my lessons. I can show them the true side of the United States. I think culture and language are interconnected.”

Chae Eun is one of 12 English teachers from the JeollaBukdo Office of Education who graduated Thursday. Another group of eight educators from the ChungcheongNamdo Office of Education received their certificates Friday.

“We are so proud of our visiting English teacher trainees,” said Lyn Cohen, Languages program manager. “We enjoy sharing teaching tools and cultural insights with them, but they always teach us things, too. This is a wonderful learning exchange.”

For more about the program’s partnership with the International Teaching Training Institute and the Ministry of Education in Korea, read about our last group from summer 2014. For photos from their time here, check out our Facebook album.