Two teacher training workshops are held in Struga, next to the beautiful Ohrid lake, in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia

4-5 October 2008

The first two Workshops, one each for the Macedonian and Albanian-speaking community for the two respective language editions of the JHP workbooks, were held on the 4th and 5th of October, in Struga. The workshops gathered a total of 25 teachers, the majority of whom were primarily from the Western part of the country, Tetovo, Gostivar, Kicevo, Struga, Ohrid and Bitola.

The initial introduction to the project, its materials and methodology, as well as activities up to date, was made by teacher trainer and local language editor Irena Stefoska. Following the initial introduction and discussion, teachers were presented with two model lessons.

The first model lesson was designed by history teachers and teacher trainers Besnik Emini and Valentina Stamenkovik, both participants at the first Training of Trainers Conference, held in May, 2008 in Skopje. In Struga, Mr. Emini and Ms. Stamenkovik had the opportunity to pass on their methodological knowledge, gained at the initial activity in Skopje, and also share with colleagues their in-class experience up to date.

The second model lesson was presented by professional teacher trainers Florina Shehu and Vesna Janevski. The goal of this model lesson was once again to primarily focus on the methodology of participative teaching, while utilising the JHP teaching materials.

Subsequently, participants were asked to design their own model of a lesson, while using documents from the Workbooks. Training activities were completed with an overall discussion, conclusions and evaluation.