DEVELOPMENT HISTORY

Binh Tan is an urban district in Ho Chi Minh City but there were not many English Schools within the local area a few years ago. Foundation of Dong Do English Language School (Dong Do ELS) has created favourable conditions for the local students to be exposed to a dynamic English learning environment that promotes development of English skills. 
Dong Do ELS was firstly opened on 20th March, 2015 at the main campus at 1014, Road 2, Binh Tri Dong A Ward, Binh Tan District, Ho Chi Minh City. It is owned and operated by Dong Do Energy and Education Corporation.
Just two years and a half after the openning date, Dong Do ELS has developed three more campuses in the same district - the second opened in April 2016, the third in January and the fourth in May 2017- and thus raised the total quantity of students from 800 in 2015 up to 4,415 in 2017 over the four campuses. This fast enlargement of Dong Do ESL has marked it as the biggest English Language School System in Binh Tan District in Ho Chi Minh City till this moment.         

Besides, Dong Do Energy and Education Company is a co-owner of Tay Do English Language School, Nam Do English Language School, and Nam Sao English Language School. Tay Do ELS currently has 1,678 students while the total student of Nam Do and Nam Sao is more than 1,250.

VISION

• Dong Do ELS leads our students to achieve measurable progress in communicative competence and provides an interactive and stimulating learning environment based on the use of communicative approaches, creative instructional practices, technology-related resources, and goals aligned with students’ linguistic, cultural and academic growth.
• Dong Do ELS fosters an international English learning environment for students. Dong Do ELS embraces this vision through partnership with other advanced English schools abroad and send our students to those for cultural exchanges and study experience in an English-speaking environment.
• Dong Do ELS will recruit and train TESOL teachers for enhancing quality of teaching English at the school as well as promoting professional development for the community. 
• Since 2018, Dong Do ELS will promote partnerships with reputable foreign education providers to organize internationally English learning courses for the students.

MISSION

Provide quality programs for learners with general or specialized English needs and goals;

• Develop and conduct high quality English proficiency assessment;
• Empower students to become full paticipants in the school through excellent instruction in language, study skills and cultural awareness;
• Contribute to the advancement of TESOL profession;
• Serve the local people, helping them improve their English skills to gain their future goals;
• Assist students with their academic and non-academic needs and connect them to other resources of Dong Do ELS. 
• Prepare and equip students with academic knowledge as well as essential soft skills so that students can satisfy education providers’ requirements and quickly fit in international environment.
• Be students’ companion during their study life from the very first step of preparation to the end of their courses.
• Guarantee to create greatest values for Dong Do ELS partners. 

CORE VALUES 

• Respect: Respect maintains all kinds of relationships. We value and respect each other and everyone we come into contact with.
• Learning: We are committed to life-long learning. We provide opportunity for growth in a caring, motivational and professional environment.
• Achievement: Success requires hard work and courage. We acknowledge the factors impacting achievement; we recruit professional staff, invest in up-to-date technologies and actively engage our students in learning.

STUDENT ASSESSMENT

To control teaching and learning quality, Dong Do ELS organizes the mid-term tests and final tests for each course. Students are obligated to gain at minimum 50 - point level to meet the requirements of courses before access to a higher level course. 

Dong Do also provides preparation for students before participating in international English exams at other registered professional organizations. We incorporate the model tests into the programs for students to practice with the purpose of enhancing high efficency at these exams for our students.

Dong Do has focused on the learner-centred approach because of the following reasons:

 §  Learner-centered teaching indicates explicit skill instruction.

Learner-centered teachers guide students how to think, solve problems, evaluate evidence, analyze arguments, generate hypotheses—all those learning skills essential to mastering material in the discipline. Research consistently confirms that learning skills develop faster if they are taught explicitly along with the content.

§  Learner-centered teaching encourages students to reflect on what they are learning and how they are learning it.

Learner-centered teachers talk about learning. In casual conversations, they ask students what they are learning. In class they may talk about their own learning. They challenge student assumptions about learning and encourage them to accept responsibility for decisions they make about learning. The goal is to make students aware of themselves as learners and to make learning skills something students want to develop.

§  Learner-centered teaching encourages collaboration.

It sees online or face-to-face classrooms as communities of learners. Learner-centered teachers recognize that students can learn from and with each other. Certainly the teacher has the expertise and an obligation to share it, but teachers can learn from students as well. Learner-centered teachers work to develop structures that promote shared commitments to learning. They see learning individually and collectively as the most important goal of any educational experience.