One hundred and forty-two English teachers from 25 Alternative Basic Education centers gathered in Lima, Peru, for a week-long intensive course on best practices in English language teaching. The Office of Alternative Basic Education of the Ministry of Education in collaboration with the Regional English Language Office in Lima brought these teachers together in the first Winter School for Professional Development ever held for teachers in this sector. The teachers attended four workshops per day given by English Language Fellows Lisa Mann, Maggie Steingraeber, and Vanessa Mari as well as an English Language Specialist from the Ministry of Education, Anny Salazar.
The course culminated in projects in which the teachers from each region demonstrated how the content of the course could be adapted to their regions. Four finalists and one winner were chosen based on the development and relevance of the lesson plans and materials they created. The winning region was La Libertad, whose members created a lesson plan about giving directions to a tourist lost at one of the major tourist destinations in that region. For many of these teachers, this was the first time they had participated in any kind of training course, and it helped rekindle their interest in improving their students’ English in addition to their own speaking abilities.