The 2002-04 Period

During the 2002-2003 and 2003-2004 school years, PEM conducted six (6) training seminars for teachers who participated in the after-hours (extended) program. In these seminars teachers were introduced to the educational material produced by PEM, and were informed of teaching problems in a bilingual education environment. In addition to the general rationale, the principles, and the aims of the new material, each of its items was presented in detail and specific suggestions were made on how to use it in class. Furthermore, in these seminars, teachers who used this material on a pilot basis reported their conclusions and made suggestions for changes, additions, and improvements – which were then discussed by the rest of participants.

Teacher trainings were combined with frequent visits to schools. A team of specialized linguists-researchers regularly visited all schools that participated in the after-hours (or extended hours) program, and wrote down the observations of the teachers and the problems that occurred during this extra educational process. The purpose of these visits was to find, if possible, an on-site solution to the problems, to receive feedback for the further refinement of the educational materials, and to strengthen the two-way information flow between the teachers and the people in charge of PEM during the 2002-2004 period.