Success for tutor delivering refugee support

Aleks Palanac (pictured), an EAP (English for Academic Practice) tutor at the ELTU (English Language Teaching Unit), recently returned from an 8-day trip to Greece where she delivered a training programme for Volunteer Teachers of Refugees to teachers working in refugee camps and community centres in Thessaloniki and its surrounding areas.

29 teachers in total attended these sessions, most of whom were novice teachers who had not attended any sort of teacher training before. These sessions were designed to introduce them to teaching methods and resources that could help them enhance their practice. A pervading theme of the course was the concept of fostering resilience in refugee learners through the choices we make in the classroom.

Director of ELTU Phil Horspool commented: "The training delivered by Aleks received fantastic feedback and she was able  to get a really good steer on what could be done in the future to support those volunteers teaching English language to refugees.  We very much see this as the start of long-term support from our University as we look to develop further initiatives."

If you would like to know more or get involved in supporting refugees in Greece or asylum seekers in the UK at either individual or departmental level, please contact:

Philip Horspool Director of ELTU
Readson House
96-98 Regent Road
Leicester
LE1 7DF
Tel:l 0116 2297854

You can listen to an update from Aleks about her work in Greece below: