English Language Specialist David Bohlke delivered thirty teacher training workshops over the course of his three-week project in the Philippines. Bohlke started in Cavite province, doing trainings for both primary and secondary school teachers. He then moved on to Bataan and focused on primary-school techniques before relocating to the capital, Manila, to engage with a bevy of teachers from Mindanao.
Bohlke’s workshops focused on preparing teaching materials and techniques for collaboration, creativity, communication, and critical thinking. During the workshops, Bohlke modeled techniques and activities, giving participants an authentic understanding of what students would experience during lessons. Bohlke’s impact on the teachers’ knowledge gains was evident, with one participant commenting, “I learned new ways to structure classroom discussions to reach all learners, not just dominant ones.”
Bohlke not only received positive feedback from his workshop attendees: local media took note of his impactful work, with CNN Philippines interviewing him for a morning news program.
David Bohlke started his English-teaching career in 1987 as a TEFL Peace Corps Volunteer in Morocco. He has since worked as a teacher, trainer, program director, editor, and materials writer in the U.S., Japan, Korea, Saudi Arabia, Australia, Singapore, and the Philippines. David is the former Publishing Manager for Adult Courses for Cambridge University Press and the former Editorial Manager for Global ELT for Cengage Learning (now National Geographic Learning). He divides his time between training teachers and authoring ELT materials.