This month, the faculty at SMKN 1 Cangkringan completed the third session of ETA Parker Raybourne’s English seminars. These seminars aim to provide English language opportunities and resources to faculty at Parker’s school. To execute each seminar, Parker works closely with Ibu Latifah (his counterpart), co-teachers, and school administration to craft sessions encouraging faculty to use and practice English. Session topics are based on faculty requests while building on previous lessons’ material.

This most recent session featured a recap of basic greetings, an introduction to daily activities, and exploring additional English resources. Every session includes guided practice, take-home materials, and ample opportunities for questions and answers.

Participants in this session were most enthusiastic about introducing new resources they could use to learn English and incorporate English into their respective subject areas. Parker says that “Kahoot,” a trivia software covering new materials, was a major hit, and he expects to see this implemented in the classes of SMKN 1 Cangkringan very soon.

Previous sessions have explored additional English-related topics and American and Indonesian cultural norms. The most recent session included 45 participants. All participants indicated they learned something new, felt positive about learning English, and gained insights into American culture. These sessions achieve the goals of the Fulbright program by promoting mutual understanding and enabling teachers to use English, ultimately building real-life conversational skills.

Harrison “Parker” Raybourne is currently teaching at SMKN 1 Cangkringan, Special Region of Yogyakarta.