Meet Your Prospective Mentor: Nilufar Tillayeva!

Meet your mentor who is happy and ready to help you become a teacher-researcher!

Hello fellow teachers! My name is Nilufar Tillayeva. I received my MA in TESOL from Webster University in Tashkent, Bachelor’s Degree in English philology from ASPIL. Currently, I am an adjunct professor and ESL instructor in the MA TESOL   program at Webster University in Tashkent.

My ambitions: I would like to contribute to the quality of EFL teaching in Uzbekistan, investigate the issues of the field, and be a valuable asset to the education system of Uzbekistan.

Message to your mentees about the training:

• Are you teaching nonstop?
• Are you concerning a lot?
• Are you preparing tons of worksheets?

BUT

• Have you achieved the desired outcomes?
• Have you ever analyzed your way of teaching comparing 21st-century skills?
• How can уou define a 21-century teacher?

My research interests that I would like to help my mentees with: critical thinking in EFL classes, curriculum design, material design, assessment.

Keep in mind, Teaching is not enough today. Teachers are not only teachers. They are researchers, material designers, assessors, etc. If you want to enjoy your work, try to solve the problems which are happening in your class, do not make an assumption, address the experienced teachers and experts. Apply your findings in the class and share your success and research findings with your community (at the local and international level). The starting point is always difficult. The NETRUZ PROJECT will definitely help you to find out yourself as an inquiring teacher and a researcher.

Don’t forget you are the right person to change your class, your community and the world.

Meet Your Prospective Mentor: Dilafruz Sarimsakova!

Meet your mentor who is happy and ready to help you become a teacher-researcher!

Hello fellow teachers! My name is Dilafruz Sarimsakova. I received my bachelor’s degree in English language and Literature from Andijan State University, master’s degree in English language and Literature from Namangan State University. I am currently a Trainee Researcher of Namangan State University in English Methodology and a PhD Student of Namangan State University.

My ambitions: It is proved that there is not one single best method for everyone in all contexts and that no one’s teaching method is inherently superior to the others. Also, it is not always possible or appropriate to apply the same methodology to all learners, who have different objectives, environments and learning needs. Having experienced some different approaches in my teaching, having absolute confusion in my mind, I decided that I would need to do classroom-based research that would consider my students' needs and the problems that occurred with me in the classroom. But how to do exploratory action research was a problem. The project “NETRUZ” broadened my theoretical knowledge on how to conduct EAR to improve my teaching practices. Now I have developed my research questions and going to start exploring action research based on my research plan. As a future mentor, I am ready for sharing with my prospective mentees what I have learnt within this project.

Message to my mentees about the training:  Teachers never stop learning. We learn and practice today; we teach and instruct how to do it in practice tomorrow. You will broaden your theoretical knowledge at the same time you take action on the problems you have faced in your classroom.

My research interests that I would like to help my mentees with:  teaching methodology, classroom-based action research, how to ingrate LMS more effectively.

Meet Your Prospective Mentor: Ella Maksakova!

 Meet your mentor who is happy and ready to help you become a teacher-researcher!

Hello fellow teachers! 

My name is Ella Maksakova and I am here to be your guide to the unknown and for now may be little comprehensible world of research. I remember my feelings about the research before joining the project, I literally felt an alien what came to understanding statistics in tables, could hardly distinguish one tool for data collection and analysis from another, was puzzled by seemingly endless literature reviews and generally found myself lost somewhere by the middle of a research article. However, I didn’t want to give up, I wanted to be rescued! I was desperate for someone to help me through! I needed a good adviser, a mentor and I was lucky to find such one within NETRUZ project that aims exactly at assisting language teachers interested in classroom-based research, but not knowing where to start.

If you are that kind of teacher, who feels strongly interested in and at the same time a bit intimidated by research per se, then NETRUZ is the right place for you to start the journey. Besides, you are not going to be alone, I will be happy to be your mentor along the path until we reach our final destination! Shall we set off???

Here is some information about me, so you we do not feel total strangers😊:

NETRUZ project, mentorship training (April-June 2021);

Active member of a global Mentoring community for teacher-researchers (TR2021);

Professional development course on TEAP (2020), Reading University, UK;

MA in TESOL, Webster University Tashkent (2020);

BA in English philology (2001), Tashkent State Pedagogical University,

Successfully cooperating with:

Moscow State University of International Relationship, (Tashkent campus) Senior EFL teacher;

Webster University (Tashkent campus) adjunct professor at MA TESOL program;

British Management University, EAP lecturer.

My research interests include: EAP/ESP, classroom-based research, teacher identity, Learning through play for very young and young language learners, ELT methodology, creativity in the classroom.

And… I am currently applying to obtain MA in Education and Innovation to make my lessons more effective through creative pedagogy based on research-informed decisions. Willing to participate in national educational reform projects as an ESL consultant. I am a part of a global mentors’ program initiated by Richard Smith to assist teacher-researchers to become better mentors for other teachers interested in classroom-based research.

Call for teacher researchers: We are looking for you!

Dear English language teachers of Uzbekistan,

NETRUZ: Network of English  Teacher Researchers in Uzbekistan is pleased to announce the opening of a new call for teacher-researcher who would like to be trained and mentored to do classroom-based research. 

This project is funded by Hornby Trust and British Council. The main aims of this project are to develop the network for English language teacher-researchers and teacher research mentors, train English language teacher research mentors and teacher-researchers, and allow teachers to share their best teaching practices.

If you would like to improve your research skills, explore and analyse teaching practices, and develop your collaborative and reflective learning through our workshops and meetings, you should JOIN our mentors’ training program which will start in October 2021! This training offers the opportunity to experienced (over 2 years of teaching experience) teachers and practitioners who would like to expand their knowledge and improve their teaching and research skills, and become professional teacher-researchers.

• Are you interested in doing research, particularly classroom research? 

• Are you interested in finding solutions and improving your classroom practices? 

• Are you working in the educational sector and can dedicate a minimum of two hours every week (or more if you like) to training and mentorship? 

Send your contact details (email, phone number, telegram number), your CV, and a brief cover letter (max. 150 words) outlining why you are interested in this project and how you can benefit other teachers in terms of research and classroom practices to the following email: netruzproject@gmail.com by September 10, 2021.

Best wishes,

NETRUZ Mentors

NETRUZ Research mentor training course has finished

 
As you know, the NETRUZ Project organised the first Teacher research mentor training course at the end of April 2021. The purpose of this course was to train English language teachers in research and encourage them to improve their teaching practices by integrating action research, exploratory action research in classrooms, increase their research literacy and implement context-appropriate methodologies.

Within this training, 7 English language who are working in educational institutions (schools and universities) of Uzbekistan were selected to become TEACHER RESEARCH MENTORS of our project.  They are Dilafruz Sarimsakova from Namangan State University; Ella Maksakova from Webster University in Uzbekistan, British Management University in Tashkent; Feruza Erkulova from Namangan State University; Klara R. Nazmutdinova from UzSWLU, Webster University in Tashkent; Malika Mirvokhidova (Kudratova) from TEAM University; and Nilufar Tillayeva from UzSWLU and Webster University, Dildora Khallyeva from the University of World Economy and Diplomacy.

For our training, we have also invited teachers and researchers from various countries to share their research findings, research tips, exploratory action research tips with our mentors. These wonderful guest speakers are Addy Ahmad from Malaysia, Suzie Ryu from South Korea, Vinayadhar Raju from India, Darío Luis Banegas from the University of Strathclyde, Scotland, and Sagun Shrestha, a PhD candidate at Dublin City University.