Community gives thanks to teachers

From dozens of highly qualified nominees, five teachers were awarded the title Best Teacher of English 2010 at a recognition ceremony held March 14 at the American Center.

Eva Jeřábková, Jaroslava Patloková, Naděžda Kadlecová, Irena Šnebergerová and Barbora Müller Dočkalová were recognized by the Prague Post Endowment Fund for their creative and innovative approaches to English-language teaching. Former Education Minister Ondřej Liška was also in attendance to thank the teachers for their hard work.

Contenders for the prize submitted recommendation letters from their school principal along with sample lesson plans and accompanying materials to demonstrate their unique approach to classroom teaching. Judges at the Endowment Fund evaluated nominees based on their methodological approach, openness to new technologies and, most importantly, their ability to motivate students.

Müller Dočkalová, winner and first-grade teacher at Marjánka Elementary School in Prague 6, uses her thespian background to capture the attention of active young minds. Having studied theater at Humboldt State University in California, Dočkalová has the language and the theater chops to devise exciting learning activities for her students.

"The children are in character and communicate in a specific dramatic situation," Dočkalová explains. "The most successful activities are usually those that involve adventure: when the children get to be pirates, robbers, detectives and so on. Each pretend situation is devised in order for the students to learn several new phrases and often also to recycle some old ones."

Jeřábková, who has been teaching for 13 years at Náměstí Svobody 2 Elementary School in Prague 6, also has a flare for the dramatic. She teaches through plays too, and helps her 6- to 15-year-olds perform fairy tales, songs, rhymes and stories.

"The pupils don't realize that they are learning; they just enjoy doing those activities," she says.

Counter to the stereotype that older people are mystified by technology, Kadlecová, who has been teaching since 1976, says finding new ways to incorporate information and communication technologies in her classroom is one of the challenges she enjoys most, and that now she can't imagine her lessons without technology.

"The most rewarding aspect is the fact that the students still respect me," Kadlecová says. "They can see that although being almost a pensioner I am able to use the computer, I can give them some advice about various websites, and they are very friendly and they trust me."     

Kadlecová now teaches high school in Česká Lípa in north Bohemia, and her story perhaps embodies the goals of the Endowments Fund's support of Czech English teachers. She says she has always had a love of languages but was not allowed to teach English under communism because her brother had emigrated to the United States. After the Velvet Revolution, she says, she had to quickly brush up her English to be ready for the suddenly transformed curriculum, and she has worked ever since to keep her skills up-to-date.

The Endowment Fund focuses its activities exclusively on education and the promotion of high-quality teaching in the Czech Republic. In addition to the Best Teacher of English Award, the Endowment Fund organizes seminars and workshops for the professional development of teachers. The program of workshops this year will deal with multicultural education in the EFL classroom. The endowment also supports a variety of other initiatives, like helping to expand public-school libraries and teaching hospitalized children. An online forum where teachers across the country can share tips and lesson plans is in the works, as well.

To raise money for these causes, the Endowment Fund will hold its 26th semi-annual Softball Charity Tournament June 11-12. For more information or to support the Endowment Fund, visit Ppef.cz.

Emily Thompson can be reached at
ethompson@praguepost.com