According to the school’s founder, Gabit Bekakhmetov, teacherpreneurship empowers educators not only to implement creative technological innovations in the classroom but also to share and market these innovations to the wider educational community.

As Bekakhmetov notes, “In the future, classroom teaching will be just one component of an educator’s portfolio. Simply put, there will be fewer full-time teachers. If we want talented young professionals to remain in education, teaching cannot be their sole source of income. We must encourage them to engage in teacherpreneurship.”

One teacher who has successfully put Bekakhmetov’s vision into practice is Aida Abilyakimova, an English teacher at The Urban School. In collaboration with her colleague, Meirzhan Aybek, she launched the Qalamedutech program in 2023, designed to assist teachers at The Urban School and across Kazakhstan more effectively implement technology in the classroom.

Abilyakimova, who was attracted to the Urban School’s free schedule, teacher autonomy and teacherpreneurship approach, says that the Qalamedutech program is designed to help teachers better teach critical thinking skills as well as more efficiently lead students to quality online sources. Abilyakimova says that the program is dedicated to helping teachers from across the country address challenges ranging from class size and lack of personalized engagement to successfully implementing new AI tools to maximize learning.

To accomplish these methodological tasks, Abilyakimova says it’s vital that teachers use technology to tailor lessons towards students’ interests. This “personalized” approach encourages teachers to design lessons that are generated around topics and themes that are most likely to engage students in the learning process. For example, a math teacher may integrate the use of popular video games into a lesson to “hook” students while at the same time teaching important mathematical concepts.

Since many schools in Kazakhstan, especially those in rural areas, are hampered by outdated materials and large class sizes, the Qalamedutech program has set its sights on providing quality professional development for teachers focused on transferring the AI skills needed to creatively solve problems beyond the classroom. To distribute these ideas and methodologies across the nation, Abilyakomova and Aybek conduct both face-to-face and online “Master Classes.” These two-hour classes introduce teachers to AI theory and provide case studies for analysis. Since there is a great discrepancy in teacher AI awareness, much of a “Master Class” is dedicated to hands-on practice. Thus far, the program has trained over 400 teachers from six institutions across Kazakhstan, including colleges and private schools.

Abilyakimova is well-positioned to help the Qalamedutech program reach its goal of using technology to motivate teachers and students across Kazakhstan to improve the skills needed to succeed in the 21st century. After obtaining an English degree from Turan University in Astana, Abilyakimova taught 5th and 6th grade and Advanced Placement English at the Astana Garden School before joining the Urban School in 2023. At Urban, Abilyakimova teaches English and Digital Literacy with a special concentration on the grammar, writing, reading and critical thinking skills needed to prepare successfully for the Nazarbayev Intellectual School entrance exam. In addition, Abilyakimova’s Digital Literacy course focuses on critical thinking, access to Internet sources and responsible digital citizenship.

Abilyakimova’s colleague, Meirzhan Aybek, also brings solid educational experience to the project. Having graduated from Eurasian National University with a degree in physics, Aybek taught in the International Baccalaureate program at the Astana Garden School before joining the Urban School and helping establish Qalamedutech.

It is clear that the Qalamedutech program is a leader on a number of educational fronts in Kazakhstan, including collaboration, integration of AI, interdisciplinary learning, differentiation and personalized learning. All of these strategies come together with the goal of equipping teachers with the skills necessary to create and deliver richer and more meaningful curriculum for the 21st century.