Major Teacher Training Program

September 19th-29th, 2016
Greek Center of Melbourne, 168 Lonsdale Str., Melbourne, Australia

The Education Department of the Greek Community of Melbourne and Victoria (headed by Manos Tzimpragos, principal of the Greek Community Language Schools, together with Vicky Marinelis, Senior Officer at the Department of Education and Training of Victoria), in collaboration with the Institute of Modern Greek Studies, organized a Teacher Training Program from September 19 to 29, 2016, at the Greek Centre, 168 Lonsdale Str, Melbourne, Australia.

Panagiotis Andreou, research associate of the Institute, organized and presented 6 repeated teacher training workshops (topics: 1. ‘Talking up' an appetite - Activities to develop and promote speaking skills, 2. To Grammar or Not to Grammar: That Is Not the Question!, 3. Words in wonderland - Ideas for teaching vocabulary, 4. Differentiated teaching in mixed ability Greek language classrooms, 5. Language testing and methods of assessment in the classroom, 6. Is pronunciation overlooked in the language teaching classroom?), while the director of the Institute, George Papanastassiou, gave two public lectures (1. The history of the Greek language and the history of its speakers, and 2. Greek language and spelling), as well as two lectures to students of Classical Greek at the VCE level (1. The function of language in Comedy: Aristophanes’ Clouds, and 2. Dialectal differentiation in Ancient Greek literature: The language of Herodotus).

The program lasted 9 days, from 19 to 29 September 2016, and aimed at the professional training and development of Modern Greek language teachers in Victoria. The impact of the program on the educational community was exceptional. The participation of teachers from various schools exceeded all expectations. A total of 440 certificates of participation were issued for the 110 teachers who participated in the workshops. In addition to its educational and pedagogical value, the importance of the program lies in the fact that the Greek Community of Melbourne invited all teachers of Modern Greek in various schools in Victoria to participate, implementing their fundamental principle that educational issues require cooperation and collaboration. Mr. Tzimpragos and Ms. Marinelis were particularly pleased by the enthusiastic response of all the teachers, both those of the Greek and the wider Community. 

Ms. Vicky Marinelis, Senior Officer at the Department of Education and Training of Victoria, provided the link between the Institute and the Greek Community, having led a number of teacher groups from Australia, to undertake an intensive language and cultural program at the School of Modern Greek Language of the A.U.Th, as part of the Australian Government’s language teacher scholarships program.