The Secondary Education Activity (SEA) project is aimed specifically at improving the country’s secondary vocational education programs. Blank’s work focused on the teacher development component of the project. According to the USAID website, the major goal of this component is to “instruct vocational teachers in the use of contextual learning methodologies, and to encourage the use of these methods in the classroom." Contextual learning allows students to take academic and theory-based learning, and apply it to real life situations. Blank states that “teachers in Macedonia are highly dedicated, but they face enormous challenges;” USAID is trying to help them meet these challenges by providing training in 50 schools across the country.

Macedonian vocational teachers, such as the ones being trained by Blank’s group from USAID, are trying new and innovative approaches to teaching through contextual learning. The teachers are learning through four modules: Learning in the Classroom, Project Based Learning, Community Based Learning, and Learning in the Workplace. One project the teachers will pass on to students will guide students through the process of setting up and running a business.

A typical Macedonian school has 35-40 students per classroom; there is a shortage of instructional materials and many schools are on double or triple sessions. The extreme classroom circumstances are largely the result of a major downturn in the country’s economy, which occurred during the years following the breakup of Yugoslavia and the downfall of communism. Unemployment is very high (25-30%) in Macedonia and many young people have a very difficult time finding decent employment. Training these trainers (teachers) is the first step in helping create youth that are better prepared for employment after school.