Saodat Khasanova
Saodat Khasanova is an authority in English language instruction in the Navoi region. She attributes her success to her participation in the projects led by the British Council.
Saodat is not only the head of the Department of English Language and Literature of the Navoi State Pedagogical Institute but also the head of the Testing Center, recognized for the high quality of its work.
"For more than three years, my educational center has focused on preparing students for the IELTS test, conducting this exam in Navoi in cooperation with the British Council. This year, the Center signed a partnership contract with the Navoi Pedagogical Institute, and now these exams to assess the level of English proficiency are held within the university's walls. This is a new level of cooperation with the university, which gives me even more confidence,” - Saodat explained.
Confidence is an important quality for educators and Saodat connects her professional and personal confidence back to experience with the British Council. She first participated in British Council projects in 2011 in one of the pilots for the PRESETT programme. After four years of testing, the learnings from the PRESETT programme became the basis for introducing a new methodological system for training English teachers in the philological universities of Uzbekistan, incorporating the best of national and international experience in this area.
Later, in 2013, Saodat underwent training on how to teach other instructors. This was a “crucial step” in her professional development.“I have always loved English, and now I also love teaching, passing on my knowledge to others — both teachers and students,” - she said. Saodat mastered different pedagogical techniques and began teaching them to other instructors during the pilot years of the PRESETT programme. “New teachers frequently asked me how to teach and what to teach. And over and over again, I got more and more pleasure from the fact that I could explain everything to them, to be an expert in answering all their questions using a new method. I enjoyed teaching, and I am very grateful for the projects of the British Council,” - she relayed.
In recognition of her impact, Saodat was selected for an internship at London Metropolitan University, organized by the British Council. Reflecting on the experience, Saodat noted, “This was a significant event in my life, a great leap in my professional development.”
Another significant leap taken with the help of the British Council was participating in the Change Academy project. For this project, Saodat, Nodira Rakhimova, and their colleagues from the Navoi Pedagogical Institute proposed an intensive training center to improve the language skills of teachers without language specializations. The concept was to create opportunities for teachers of physics, biology, and other areas to teach their students in English.
Young people in Uzbekistan attach great importance to language training and many applicants to universities need a certificate of their level of knowledge of a foreign language. Teaching core subjects in English could prove a way to boost the language skills of students. The British Council saw the potential of the idea put forth by Saodat and her colleagues, and the proposal was selected as among the top ten entries. As a result, a pilot group of teachers took a course of intensive language training and began to teach their subjects in English on a trial basis this year.
Today Saodat is proud that everyone in her region knows her as the coordinator of the British Council, an authoritative expert in her field, and a respected teacher. "I am very grateful to the British Council for my personal, professional growth, for everything they have done to develop the teaching of English in our country. Today, we see how confident our graduates are in themselves, in their abilities; they are gladly hired to work in schools, they matriculate at international universities, and can be proud of their success," - she concluded.