Global Health Beat Foundation (GHBF) carried out its most recent capacity building workshop about how to use music as a tool to teach English as a second language (ESL), using STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) methodology.
The capacity building activity is part of the “Programa de Inglés La Palma” (“English Program La Palma”) and is an integral part of the academic agreement between the GHBF, the Proyecto Educativo Buenos Aires (PEBA), the Institución Educativa Técnica Nueva Esperanza la Palma (IETNELP), and the Universidad del Tolima (UT).
The workshop took place on Monday August 8th, 2022 at the UT campus in the Department of Education Sciences (Facultad de Ciencias de la Educación), in Ibagué, Colombia.
It was led by Claudia Medina (bilingualism and Montessori education expert). The participants included IETNELP teachers, the Department of Education Sciences’ undergraduate students preparing for their practical training at local schools (“docentes en formación”), and other educators in the Ibagué area. The workshop included activities to illustrate how to carry out ESL teaching using the arts like music and theater. Its content and applied learning exercises were well received by the participants who showed much enthusiasm about incorporating them in their current ESL methodology.
The workshop’s evaluation survey preliminary data showed that the great majority of participants were very satisfied with the activity’s content and format, which allowed them to reflect, identify, process, and acquire new ideas, and ESL teaching methodologies.
In addition, the participants expressed interest in applying the tools acquired during the workshop in their personal and professional endeavors, as well as to participate in future GHBF sponsored workshops. The following are some of their comments:
… From the creativity point of view, the emotions’ management, and the ESL immersion.
… These are very pertinent initiatives that should be executed to improve the students’ learning capacity. It is important to take risks and overcome the fear of making mistakes.
… [This methodology] can be applied in various ways in the classroom, where the type of abilities and strategies taught today would help improve my students’ performance.
The GHBF/PEBA/IETNELP/UT collaborative remains committed to advancing the schoolteachers’ and college students’ bilingualism and teaching abilities. Furthermore, it is committed to continuing to transform lives of less privileged children and adolescents in Colombia and the United States.
For additional information about the “English Program La Palma”, future workshops, our health and wellbeing programs, or to donate, visit our web page: https://globalhealthbeat.org.
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