Sirik Teachers, First Participants of Read with Me Online Courses

The COVID-19 pandemic transformed many events and schedules, including the Read with Me training program for a group of teachers in Sirik, Qeshm Island.

Last winter, after having provided the teachers with books and resources, their training course was cancelled due to the pandemic. Months later, with financial support from a benefactor and their own persistence, they were finally able to participate in the first Read with Me Online Courses held by the Institute for Research on the History of Children’s Literature.

For these courses, teachers initially participate in asynchronous online courses before completing their training in online synchronous sessions with Read with Me experts. The courses take 3 weeks to complete and include subjects such as Children’s Literature, Story Elements, Literary Genres, Picture Books, Quality Books and Read-aloud Techniques.

The first set of courses were presented to 20 teachers from Sirik, in two separate groups. Their training started on 27 and 29 October 2020 and ended on 14 and 15 November 2020. 14 teachers received their certificate of participation.

After the course, Ms. Jafari, the contact person of Sirik, arranged an outdoor meeting for the teacher with health considerations. In this gathering, the teachers got to know each other better and performed a play together with children.

The Institute for Research on the History of Children’s  Literature and the Read with Me team are in the process of designing more online courses concerning children’s literature, reading promotion and literacy in order to present quality education opportunities to tutors, teachers, librarians and parents across Iran, hoping to enrich the lives of children especially those living in deprivation.