English Language Fellow Jeff Arrigo is based in Ulaanbaatar, the center of modern commerce in Mongolia, but he’s made it his mission to travel outside the capital as much as necessary to bring English-skills enhancement to even remote corners of his temporary homeland. Recently, Arrigo traveled to the beautiful Khovsgul region of Northern Mongolia to provide two 90-minute methodology workshops to mentor teachers during a two-day mini-conference. In addition to mentor teachers from the area, two teachers traveled from Russia to take part in the workshops. In addition to Arrigo’s workshops, two Peace Corps Volunteers presented workshops, and mentor teachers presented workshops as well. Local students joined the teachers, observing and discussing key topics with the mentor teachers who were presenting prepared lessons.
Teachers in the far provinces of Mongolia have little access to teacher professional-development opportunities. The mentor teachers Arrigo assisted in this event are charged with helping to provide much of that professional development for their fellow teachers. This conference was held to help those mentor teachers learn some helpful techniques that they can in turn share with other teachers at their schools throughout the region.