By: Walid Hedidar (YES 2013 -2014, Tunisia, hosted by ASSE in Eveleth, MN)

The Workshop for Adult Leaders in Teaching English (WALTE) was founded in 2015 with the mission of revolutionizing the way English is taught in Tunisian classrooms. 

The idea behind this workshop came after I participated in the Workshop for Youth Leaders in English Teaching (WYLET) during my exchange year in 2014. 

During the workshop, I was exposed to the concept of student-centered teaching and equipped with a plethora of innovative English teaching methodologies. This opened my eyes to what an empowering English classroom can look like. 

My experience with English teaching did not start or end during WYLET. The first time I ever taught English was actually during my third year of learning English in 8th grade. My English teacher at that time made learning English fun and allowed an ample amount of room for self-discovery and expression. Her teaching made me fall in love with the language as well as the concept of teaching. 

Since I was heavily impacted by her classroom, I once asked her if I could try teaching the class and she did not mind. That was the first time I was introduced to what being a teacher entails. Since then, I have engaged in several teaching activities in the U.S., Tunisia, and Senegal. 

As the idea of WALTE emerged and was piloted in 2015 in Tunis, I utilized every new teaching experience as a tool to develop the workshop that one teacher described as, "fun, lighthearted, and informative." Our number of participants and impact have grown since 2015 and allowed us to organize two more one-day trainings in Gabes and Monastir. 

This year we decided that we needed to make our training accessible to teachers in as many regions as possible in Tunisia. We organized our first edition of the WALTE Tunisia Tour and held two-day training sessions in Sfax, Gafsa, Jendouba, and Bizerte from July 1 - 18.

The first few days of the workshop included debates around teaching methodologies in Tunisia, introductory sessions about the concept of student centered teaching, interactive practicums modeling innovative teaching methods, and lesson-planning sessions. Then participants were asked to plan a lesson at home using the new methodologies they learned in the workshop. 

On the second day, the teachers presented their lesson plans. The interactive environment allowed them to give and receive feedback following the guidelines of the student-centered teaching approach. One participant noted, "We practiced what we learnt in theory. Usually, we do not have the occasion to put in practice what we learn.” The teachers discussed in detail the applicability of the methods and approaches in the Tunisian education context. 

At the end of the training, the teachers shared what they plan to do differently in their classrooms after WALTE. One teacher says, “I will implement the new strategies that I learned in the workshop. I will encourage my students to express their ideas without focusing on their mistakes and use methods of reward and encouragement. Everything is possible, that is what I learned in the two days.”  

The experience enriched the lives of some of the teachers in a personal way. For example, one teacher explains, "All I ever wanted was to be a teacher. So, this workshop helped me a lot to learn new strategies and methodologies that I will definitely use in the future as a teacher to raise an amazing generation full of energy and enthusiasm.” 

And perhaps most importantly for the young people in Tunisia who will benefit from these motivated teachers, a participant shared, “The workshop taught us that we do not have to wait for others to make change because we are the change.” 

Now, we have over 130 current and future teachers in Tunisia who were impacted by our WALTE training. One hundred of these alumni are part of a network that we established using a Facebook group. This group allows our past participants to exchange methods, experiences, and opportunities related to teaching English. 

We deeply believe that our WALTE journey has contributed to progressive education reform in Tunisia by offering teachers the tools they can use to make their classrooms places of empowerment for theirs students, despite the many obstacles they face. We are determined to organize more WALTE trainings all over Tunisia, so that we can expand the impact of the workshop.  

As recipients of a YES alumni grant, we are very thankful for the support of the YES program and the WYLET staff at American Councils. We are also thankful to all of the community members who offered us logistical support like the Franklin Center. A special shout out to the organizing team composed of YES alumni Ghofrane Chaabene (YES 2014-15) and Hadyl Saker (YES 2015-16)!