The BuckLER Center has completed several projects in the recent past and currently has active projects.
Current Projects
Innovative Pedagogy for Teaching English (IPTE): A Training Course for Indonesian Primary School Teachers
Funded by the microcredential scholarships from Ditjen GTK Kemdikbud RI (Directorate General of Teacher and Education Personnel, Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia), this professional development program is provided for thirty primary school teachers in Indonesia working from the Kurikulum Merdeka. The teachers come from 14 provinces across Bali, Java, Kalimantan, Papua, and Sumatra. The purpose of the program is to provide foundational TESOL training for teachers who are teaching English to primary students, but do not have formal training to teach English as a foreign/additional language. The program is based on an innovative pedagogical approach called the Core Practices for Teaching English that includes several principles. The core practices encompass a 21st century approach to teaching English based on latest research in applied linguistics and multilingual language education.
The IPTE program is delivered in a hybrid format, where the instructors teach online from Columbus, Ohio, and the participants attend sessions and work together in-person in Jakarta, Indonesia. After the synchronous meetings, they return to their schools to implement the action plan they created in Jakarta as the final project for the program.
TESOL Training Program for the Guangdong Teachers’ Association
Sponsored by the Guangdong Teachers’ Association, BuckLER leads a professional development series for Language Teachers in China. In Autumn 2022, twenty-five teachers from a range of levels of instruction participated in the series, which focused on core practices in language teaching. The content of the series include sessions on Second Language Acquisition, Language Assessment, TESOL Methods, Teaching Culture, as well as the American Higher Education System. This series is part of an on-going professional development partnership with the Guangdong Teachers’ Association.
This is a fully online program, where the participants in China connect with the instructors in Columbus, Ohio on Zoom.
Teacher-training Seminar on Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in the Classroom
In collaboration with Fulbright Germany, OSU College of Education and Human Ecology, OSU Office of Diversity and Inclusion, and OSU Office of International Affairs, the seminar provides in-service teachers in Germany with the opportunity to learn and understand the political, historical, cultural and social issues that inform pedagogies for equity, diversity, and inclusion in the U.S. Educational System.
This two-part seminar is delivered in a hybrid format. The first part is conducted online in the spring, where the participants connect on Zoom from Germany to learn about the content, and the second part is held in Columbus, Ohio in the fall, where the participants visit schools, go on educational and cultural excursions, and meet with local educators.
Review and Support of the DIME Language Proficiency Assessment
Past Projects
Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant (FLTA) Orientation
Sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs as part of the Fulbright Program, the intensive orientation provided FLTAs with various workshops on topics such as communicative world language teaching, integration of technology into teaching and learning in the world language classroom, methods of world language teaching sessions, DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) on U.S. campus, as well as navigating life in the United States.
Summer Institute for Teaching Innovation for English Educators
The purpose of the Summer Institute for Teaching Innovation for English Educators was to provide a one-month language, pedagogy, and cultural study abroad experience to English teachers from Mexico. Participants in the program developed their language skills by taking English language classes through the American Language Program, developed their pedagogical skills by participating in workshops through the Foreign, Second, and Multilingual Language Education Program and working with local ESL teachers, and developed their knowledge of U.S. cultural practices by participating in university events and off-campus cultural excursions.
