Abstract:

This paper reports on one aspect of the Punjab Education and English Language Initiative (PEELI) in Pakistan that is using a variety of technologies to support the development of English language and other teachers.

The project is framed within the context of the introduction of English Medium Instruction (EMI) in many parts of the world, with the age of the introduction of the English language now being part of Primary teaching. This creates the need for many teachers in primary to be able to teach both English language itself and other subjects through the medium of English. In the Punjab the target number of teachers is 400,000, across the world this amounts to many millions of primary teachers who often have little training at all and little or no English.

We have seen large-scale solutions for this problem in countries like Uruguay which introduced Plan Ceibal. However, this project required a large investment and a creative solution, linking support teachers in other countries (e.g. the Philippines) to primary school classes in Uruguay via fibre-optic based video conferencing. Taking this higher tech model into a more low tech environment was the solution proposed for the PEELI project and the tool that was proposed was Skype.

This paper then reports on how this low tech solution provides a model for other similar contexts and makes the argument that by working within the existing technological infrastructure and current levels of investment in education, we can still provide access to teacher development for communities who are significantly disadvantaged. It takes the argument that south countries can provide solutions for the south, but with solutions that take into the account the different realities of the infrastructure and investment. We can therefore work within a social justice agenda that opens the doors to teachers who, in the past, would have no way of accessing in-service development. We see here technology opening these doors rather than creating digital divides.

Keywords:

Social justice, English, EMI, teacher development, distance.