Faculty Civic Engagement

The Digital Pedagogy Program

The Digital Pedagogy program for public school teachers is part of the outreach efforts of the Institute of Education (IOE) at AUCA to the Kyrgyz Education System. It was conceived by IOE at the height of the COVID pandemic last summer (2020) as a year-long outreach (September 2020 - June 2021), whereby small groups of public school teachers from around the country would undergo monthly workshops led by Professor Elizabeth Davis Alibaeva and supported by MAT students who acted as part of a peer-support group for the participants.

The program was generously supported by the Public Affairs Office of the US Embassy in Bishkek.

About project leaders:

Dr. Tamo Chattopadhay is a Head of the Social Sciences Division and Associate Professor and Director of the Institute of Education at the American University of Central Asia
Elizabeth Davis Alibaeva is an Assistant Professor of the MAT Program and Assistant Director of the Institute of Education at the American University of Central Asia

Additional information:

The Institute of Education was one of the first units within the university to reach out to the Center for Civic Engagement and offer its expertise to support the Center’s efforts. Thanks to this, Adina Sulumbekova (LAS-118), a project leader of the “Advanced Training in Digital Literacy for Regional School Teachers” SIDP project, had a chance to take part in the IOE’s workshops and gain valuable knowledge for developing her own initiative.

Below you can learn more about her experience:

Adina, how did participating in the program help you to better undertake your own civic engagement project?

Participating in the IOE helped me to lead the planned sessions in a more professional way than I expected it to be. The reason for that is the well-prepared program on digital literacy, effective and practical rubrics, and guidelines. While participating in IOE I did not only gain the knowledge that I could use in my social project that I implemented for regional school teachers of Jalal-Abad but also I could interact with other teachers and it helped me to better understand the needs of teachers.

Was there something that you did differently - than originally planned in your project - as a result of the learning/participation in the IOE workshops on Digital Pedagogy?

Yes. As a result of participating in the IOE workshop on digital literacy, I was introduced to the practice method of evaluating teachers’ abilities on preparing the study plans for online teaching. That practice included in itself the rubrics material where the teacher could easily see if the topic for the class that he/she is preparing is going to match all the criteria for students' understanding and abilities.

The EcoPark Project

The “EcoPark” is a joint project between the American University of Central Asia (AUCA) and the French-Kyrgyz Ecotourism Association (Association Franco-Kirghize d’Ecotourisme - AFKE) in cooperation with the Town Hall of Bishkek. It aimed at the rehabilitation of 41,1 hectares of the Elm Grove of Bishkek. This Elm Grove is unique and is one of the biggest and oldest urban forests in Central Asia. It was planted back in 1881 by the first students of the Agrarian Institute. Its contribution to the air purification of the city is outstanding as it serves as a biotic pump, developing a microclimate in Bishkek. Due to illegal cutting, settlements, grazing, and car circulation in the grove since Kyrgyz independence in 1991, the area of the grove has significantly decreased from the original 216 hectares to the current 123 hectares. In order to prevent the total destruction of the grove and create conditions for its regeneration as an urban forest, AFKE and AUCA initiated the “EcoPark” project. In 2015 this initiative received a certification COP21 from the French Ministry of the Environment for its interest in the fight against climate change and the civic engagement induced by this project.

To date, about 10,000 trees over 10 cm in diameter have been protected, as well as numerous activities and courses for the students of the Environmental Sustainability and Climate Science (ESCS) program (former EMSD) have been organized there.

Institutional partners:

French Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy (Project COP21)
Embassy of France in Kyrgyzstan
City Hall of Bishkek

Financial partners:

Donors and AFKE members (AFKE)
Region Centre - Val de Loire (France)
Department of the Loiret (France)
Embassy of Germany in Kyrgyzstan (Climate Fund)
The Brigitte Bardot Foundation (France)