ELI Conducts Summer Institute for African Educators

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- For the third consecutive year, the English Language Institute (ELI) at the University at Buffalo is conducting a special summer institute for educators from sub-Saharan countries.

Sixteen participants -- among them high school principals and headmasters, inspectors of secondary education systems and ministry of education officials, directors of English language programs, and regional teacher advisors and teacher trainers -- from Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Guinea, Madagascar, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Rwanda, and Senegal are taking part in the six-week program, which began June 3 and will run through July 14.

Designed to strengthen English-as-a-Foreign Language (EFL) programs in secondary schools in the participants' home countries, the institute is being coordinated by Janice A. Nersinger, ELI director of overseas and customized programs.

Funded by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs in the U.S. State Department, the institute attempts to enhance participants' management and organizational skills; familiarize them with email and the Internet; broaden their understanding of U.S. institutions and culture, and assist them in identifying, analyzing and solving the practical problems in administering EFL programs in their home countries.

The four major topic/skill areas being addressed are managing teaching staff, student development, managing resources and computer skills for professional networking and development.

Instruction is provided by faculty members from the ELI and the departments of Learning and Instruction, and Educational Leadership and Policy, and the program in American Studies, as well as by staff from the Office of the Vice Provost for International Education.

In addition to the five-week academic component at UB, participants will travel to New York City and Washington, D.C., for a tour of relevant cultural and educational sites.