Journal of Educational Research and Innovation

Volume 6 | Number 1 Article 3

2017 Connecting Students from to the World: A Teacher's Journey Hamadony Muzafarov

Follow this and additional works at: https://digscholarship.unco.edu/jeri Part of the Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education Commons, and the International and Comparative Education Commons

Recommended Citation Muzafarov, Hamadony (2017) "Connecting Students from Tajikistan to the World: A Teacher's Journey," Journal of Educational Research and Innovation: Vol. 6 : No. 1 , Article 3. Available at: https://digscholarship.unco.edu/jeri/vol6/iss1/3

This Practitioner Stories: Voices from Near and Far is brought to you for free and open access by Scholarship & Creative Works @ Digital UNC. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal of Educational Research and Innovation by an authorized editor of Scholarship & Creative Works @ Digital UNC. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Muzafarov: Connecting Students Journal of Educational Research and Innovation Fall 2017, Vol. 6, No. 1 Connecting Students from Tajikistan to the World: A Teacher’s Journey

Hamadony Muzafarov

Implementing English language programs for my students was a dream come true that opened an endless world of possibilities to them. Without knowing the English language, it would have been impossible for them to travel both physically and virtually to see the world, and build connections with people around the world. I try to make my students believe in themselves, dream big, and follow their dreams.

I grew up in Kochon, a village in Rasht confidence, anger management, and how District, Tajikistan and I know from not to bully. experience how difficult it is to get a I wanted to become a teacher good education in this region. When I because I love working with young left my remote village in 1994 to study at people, sharing ideas, and inspiring and the University in , Tajikistan, it educating the future leaders of our was already my dream to become an world. During my time as a teacher, English teacher and to work with young I have learned much from the comments people in other remote villages. and feedback of my students and my Currently, I serve as a national UN teaching skills have increased. As a Volunteer Tajikistan and as a part time teacher, I try to create a safe and friendly teacher. During the weekend I conduct environment for children. Outside of the English classes free of charge for classroom and my primary job as an fourteen school children ages 10-13. English teacher, I conduct different The classes also include life skills educational activities and projects which activities such as goal setting, assist, enlighten, encourage, and responsibility, time management, self- empower students. I try my best to enable them to be effective leaders in

1 Published by Scholarship & Creative Works @ Digital UNC, 2017 1 Journal of Educational Research and Innovation, Vol. 6 [2017], No. 1, Art. 3 Connecting Students Muzafarov

their schools and communities. I live in Female school attendance in my Kochon Village of Community region has been historically low because Center of the (former many families think higher education for district). This area is called the girls is useless. However, in 2010, I had and consists of five districts: the opportunity to obtain funds from the Laksh, Tajikabad, Rasht, Nurabad and U.S. Embassy in Tajikistan to implement . It is about 190 km east of the an Access Program. The English Access country’s capital, Dushanbe, near the Microscholarship Program is designed for border with . The total pupils from poor and vulnerable families population of the Navdi community and I created a pilot program for talented center is about 16,000 and the total female students to study English population of the Rasht district is about (https://tj.usembassy.gov/embassy/dush 123,876 (as of January 2017). People anbe/grant-programs/english-access- have different types of jobs such as microscholarship/). One of the first doctors, nurses, teachers and others, but women to be accepted into the pilot mostly the men travel to Russia to find Access Program was my first female jobs and feed their families. This is in student, a private student from 2006- part due to the recent global economic 2011, and she has since traveled to study crisis which negatively affected job in the U.S. and is now a teacher in opportunities in the area and increased Dushanbe. Through my tutelage and the number of people without jobs. encouragement, more than fifty alumnae In 2010, I received a grant from the of our educational programs have U.S. Embassy in Tajikistan to fund my applied to institutions of higher learning capacity-building work with teachers. to become English teachers, physicians, As a result, I have conducted training for or other professionals. Two of these English teachers. With the support of the students went to the U.S. through Regional English Language Office, which exchange programs, which was novel is located in Astana, Kazakhstan, I because no one from my village had ever created a Teacher Resource Center been to the U.S. On an individual level, where English teachers in Rasht District these girls are clearly success stories. could find updated information and At a macro level, one can see how teaching materials to use to enhance teaching female students in a their teaching skills. In addition, I conservative society has been created a Facebook page for English groundbreaking, because now there are teachers where I share updated many girls who regularly attend my information which they can use in their classes, and many who have become lessons to make them fun and successful. interesting. When the lessons are more I believe that a teacher’s impact on engaging, it is easy to teach and learn the community is one clear measure of effectively. Since 2011, more than one success. As of today, over 100 students hundred teachers have participated in have graduated from the Access the trainings. I ran my private learning Program, 60 from private tutoring, and center from 2006 until 2016. the lives of 3,990 other students have been touched through the programs

2 https://digscholarship.unco.edu/jeri/vol6/iss1/3 2 Muzafarov: Connecting Students Connecting Students Muzafarov

offered at the Center I established with order to address common problems and the help of the U.S. Embassy. I have share ideas and possible solutions is a always emphasized the importance of great way to become a global citizen. girls’ rights to education everywhere and This is why I encourage my students to the importance of community service, apply for educational exchange and as part of my efforts both of these programs. ideas are being implemented in our To help my students become global community. In 2011 and 2013, a group citizens, I used different materials such as of my former students applied for a newspapers and television news reports grant, with my help, in order to promote to inform them about what was going on community services. They obtained the around the world. I also used materials grants and facilitated training on that I acquired while traveling, including women’s rights, English language clubs, brochures about different places I visited and summer camps to help others (menus and plane tickets for example). increase their knowledge about These materials helped me teach about participation in civic life. Through these and discuss different cultures, including projects, over 30 female and 20 male etiquette, religion, communication, students were trained and they then relationships, and the rule of law in trained their peers. various countries. I also talked about the I also believe that providing students ways in which money, politics, culture, with a global mindset is both important technology, and the environment affect and necessary. At the end of our the world. programs, students wrote evaluations about what they had learned. Many stated that they had a better understanding of international issues, whereas before they were insular and only thought about the issues in their day-to-day lives. Once, we celebrated International Day of the Girl Child by creating informative pamphlets distributed to over 600 girls in three schools. The first step in preparing my students to become global citizens was to teach them about other cultures.

I emphasized that people everywhere I enabled my students to have the same fundamental challenges communicate with people in other and concerns: taking care of family, jobs countries through several virtual cultural and education, safety, and the exchanges to foster mutual environment, for example. Likewise, understanding between students in similar things like love of family and Tajikistan and around the world. friends, beauty, art and music inspire I partnered with Bridges to Tajikistan, a people all over the world. Building nongovernmental organization in the worldwide connections with people in

3

Published by Scholarship & Creative Works @ Digital UNC, 2017 3 Journal of Educational Research and Innovation, Vol. 6 [2017], No. 1, Art. 3 Connecting Students Muzafarov

United States, to host a Skype session As a teacher, I also strived to create with its founder so our students could a safe and friendly environment, learn talk about Tajikistan and learn about about different learning and teaching American culture. Also, my school strategies, and encourage critical participated in the Kidzwish Global New thinking and problem solving. Inside and Year’s Project for 2016 where our outside the classroom, I challenged my classroom partnered with another school students and fellow teachers to do the from Boston for an exchange of goodwill. same. In my English lessons, I built on all We made and sent greeting cards to four language skills: reading, speaking, students in our partner school which writing, and listening. Outside of the included a wish each student had for the classroom, I facilitated different projects world in 2016 and at least one small plan and events so that parents and other to help make that wish come true. After teachers could participate in our that, we hosted a Skype call with the students’ learning process. I believe that people at our partner school so we could we should keep parents informed about see and talk to them. their children’s school performance as it We also participated in a Virtual gives credibility to our work as teachers Valentines Project in which my school and to our students’ efforts. Although was partnered with a gymnasium in some students may be initially reluctant Baranovichi, Belorussia. We made and to involve their parents, they always end sent Valentine’s Day cards, made a video, up proud showing their work and what hosted a Skype call, and learned about they have learned. My students used self the city and country by doing research. and peer evaluation/assessment We also had Skype chats with students in worksheets to figure out their strengths Kenya during which we shared our and weaknesses and to monitor knowledge about Tajik culture. classroom behavior. In addition, my school was selected by Many teachers in Tajikistan believe Opportunity Education in Omaha, that strictness and instilling fear in Nebraska, U.S. to be a sister school with students is an effective approach to a school in India with which we started teaching. I believe just the opposite and successful pen pal programs. never want my students to fear asking a Another effort to connect my question about something they do not students with students in other countries understand. Being positive and taking included contacting forty-three English care of students inside and outside of the teachers who participated in the Oxford classroom increases motivation and summer school to create opportunities engagement. I used games to motivate for Skype video calls. Every month we and engage, even the weakest students. hosted a cultural day for one country. I also praised students for their work, Before hosting each Skype chat, I taught despite their possible mistakes, and my students about that country's history talked to them individually if they and culture. In my opinion, these kinds misbehaved. I had attainable goals and of programs helped my students to learn clear objectives which helped me design and explore the world and become global lessons that would be easy for students citizens. to follow. Clear objectives also helped

4 https://digscholarship.unco.edu/jeri/vol6/iss1/3 4 Muzafarov: Connecting Students Connecting Students Muzafarov

my students understand my expectations for students. Many English language of their work. Additionally, they knew specialists and heads of local government that I always wanted them to discuss the often visited my English programs to see alternatives to what seemed like the how the projects were going and to talk obvious solution to a problem. Finally, to students about their progress in I used weekly participation grades which language acquisition and to learn about rewarded desirable behaviors, attitudes, my students’ work. and work habits. In the traditional society of Tajikistan it is challenging for girls to reach even secondary school. One of my goals is to fight the uphill battle of providing education for Tajik girls. Girls in rural areas are often pulled out of school in their mid-to-late teens and forced to get married. Despite this, I have successfully worked with girls from rural, underprivileged backgrounds by building trust with parents where I launched an all-girls group. Once I earned the community’s trust, I started gradually mixing girls with boys to foster gender

balance in my classroom. My first female Outside the classroom, I conducted students have become "trailblazers" in trainings on my methods for other the community, have confidence, and teachers that were based on community share their knowledge with other girls in need, with pre-workshop and post- the villages. They have learned English workshop assessment sessions. so well that they have become Participants completed a questionnaire competitive for highly sought-after slots in which I asked about their current in American exchange programs. With knowledge on topics that I wanted to the support of Bridges to Tajikistan in focus on during the trainings. It helped 2015, a Leadership Development Club for me determine my goals and community Girls was created and one hundred priorities prior to each training. schoolgirls attended seminars on Afterwards, these assessments indicated women's rights, gender issues, parenting, whether the project goals and objectives environment, sewing, debate and peer had been met or not. I asked training. The project included Female participants to give feedback, comments, Speaker Programs where positive role and suggestions on the evaluation forms models were invited to visit and discuss so I could assess what participants had the importance of education and learned. Many teachers have come back disadvantages of child marriage. to me long after these trainings to share With my community’s support, how the methods are effective in their I have been able to provide after school classrooms because of the safe and activities for youth. I dedicate my life to friendly environment we have created education and to giving young people in

5

Published by Scholarship & Creative Works @ Digital UNC, 2017 5 Journal of Educational Research and Innovation, Vol. 6 [2017], No. 1, Art. 3 Connecting Students Muzafarov

Rasht Valley opportunities for a brighter sponsored by the U.S. Government for future. Many of my students are now teachers both in Tajikistan and the studying at Tajik State Pedagogical United States. Using methods learned in University in the region and these programs, I now share those simultaneously work at a local school methods with other teachers throughout because of their excellent knowledge of Rasht Valley. English. They recently invited me to visit To improve my fellow teachers’ level their classrooms and it was rewarding to of knowledge, I shared with them see how they are using my teaching strategies on being an effective teacher. methods, such as playing games. Some We worked on developing interesting schoolgirls created peer-to-peer rooms at lesson plans, using different games in the their school where they offer free English classroom, making their own teaching lessons. materials, and learning how to provide An additional problem in our assistance for students who may need educational system in Tajikistan is that additional educational support. I also inexperienced teachers who still use worked with local teachers to improve Soviet-era textbooks and methods often their English and computer skills. teach many of our students. Because I strongly believe that we can change our teachers in primary and secondary society by working together. We as schools are required to have completed teachers can encourage each other and no more than a secondary level of raise the standard of education in the education, many students are being Rasht Valley of Tajikistan. We have to taught by instructors who lack the remember that, everything that is big education necessary for teaching. now started with something small. This contributes to low outcomes for Seemingly small steps now create big children in basic literacy and math skills. changes later. In my work, I am guided by To aggravate the situation, in many areas the following idea: If I were able to of Rasht District, teachers have limited educate at least one pupil, he/she will access to proper teaching materials. shine the whole village. The result is boring and ineffective instruction. Students learn to repeat Hanadony Muzafarov is a globally what the teacher says, but there are few renown, award winning educator interactive lessons and there is little, dedicated to the education of girls and if any, creative thinking. women in Tajikistan. Most recently, I have dedicated my career to he was a Global Teacher Prize/Varkey improving this situation. One of my goals Foundation top 50 finalist in 2018. was to improve my own teaching To learn more about his work visit methods. To do so, I participated in www.hamadonymuzafarov.blogspot.com. many educational exchange programs

6 https://digscholarship.unco.edu/jeri/vol6/iss1/3 6