Khasan Rajabov – English Teacher, Presidential School, Gulistan, Uzbekistan

From Student to Mentor: How One Month in Almaty Rippled Across Uzbekistan

I walked into the C5+1 Ed. program thinking I was there to collect new teaching tricks. Instead, I learned that teaching isn't about tricks at all.

Phase One came online from Uzbekistan. Phase Two brought me to Almaty for an intensive month in person. Phase Three returned online. But it was Marbella, Zoe, and Lois — the instructors who showed up with genuine care — who changed everything.

What struck me most wasn't their expertise. It was their humanity. They treated us teachers not as empty vessels to fill with methodology, but as valuable human beings. They showed us that warm-up activities matter, that varied teaching methods matter, but most of all, they showed us this: we are not robots delivering grammar. We are humans teaching humans.

That realisation hit different. I came home and thought about every student I'd ever rushed through a lesson, every moment I'd prioritized the curriculum over the person sitting in front of me. I decided right then — something had to change.

When the United States Embassy opened applications for their 2026 OPEN Program cohort, I applied. I was selected. Three months of online instruction with Iowa State University followed, diving deep into educational technology, micro-skills, and lesson design. Eight modules. Each one practical. Each one connected back to what I'd learned in Almaty: that good teaching is human-centered teaching.

But here's where the real work began. I didn't keep what I learned locked away in my own classroom. I started delivering professional development sessions across my region — in Bukhara, Gulistan, even Tashkent. I trained local teachers. I introduced new technologies, fresh approaches, but underneath it all, I kept returning to that core lesson from Almaty: see your students as human beings first.

A year has passed now. I've attended conferences, joined other programs, but I haven't found anything quite like what happened in that month in Almaty. Last month at the IATEFL Conference in Brighton 2026, I sat through presentations heavy on theory. But when speakers touched on the practical, human side of teaching — the part that actually reaches students — I recognised it. I'd lived it. I'd learned it from Marbella, Zoe, and Lois.

Now I'm trying to pass it forward, one teacher training session at a time.

Feruz Tuyunov

School #10, Urgut District, Samarkand Region, Uzbekistan

During Phase 3 of the C5 + O.N.E. Ed program, I experienced significant professional growth as an English teacher and trainer. One of my biggest achievements was organizing and conducting professional development activities for English teachers in my local community. I shared practical teaching strategies, communicative language teaching approaches, and interactive classroom activities that I learned throughout the program. These sessions helped teachers become more confident in using student-centered methods in their classrooms.
Another important success was improving my confidence and skills in academic presentation and international collaboration. During the program, I participated in the FLTAL-2026 International Conference and presented my research titled “Fostering a Learning Mindset in the Multilingual Language Classroom.” This experience allowed me to exchange ideas with educators and researchers from different countries and strengthened my professional communication skills.
In addition, the program greatly influenced my classroom teaching. I started using more interactive methods, reflective learning activities, and communicative tasks in my lessons. As a result, my students became more engaged, active, and confident in speaking English. The C5 + O.N.E. Ed program inspired me to continue growing as both a teacher and a teacher trainer.