Humanising Language Teaching
Year 3; Issue 5; September 2001
OPTIONS FROM LANGUAGE TRAINING TO TEACHER TRAINING – A COURSE TO HELP BRIDGE THE DIVIDE
Many experienced and highly successful language teachers find they need a change of focus to maintain their level of motivation. Often their employers recognise these teachers as valuable members of staff and wish to help them further their professional development. A typical choice is to enter the field of Teacher Training in some capacity. However, those of us who have taken this course of action know that such transference of roles is not necessarily a straightforward one. Just as the best footballers do not necessarily make the best coaches and managers, it is by no means certain that the best language teachers automatically become the best Teacher Trainers. Excellence in one field does not guarantee success in another. At Pilgrims we recognise that specific, thoughtful care and attention needs to be given to entering the Teacher Training domain. While recognising that there are similarities between language teaching and Teacher Training we are also fully aware that there are significant differences. For this reason we offer the following course:
The Skills of Teacher Training
On this course you will focus on how:
- To relate to and manage teachers on an individual and team basis
- To deal with "difficult people"
- To heighten your observation skills and provide valuable feedback on teaching
- To acknowledge and respond to feedback given to you by others
- To listen to people respectfully and communicate with them sensitively and effectively
- To plan training sessions which value different learner and learning styles
- To develop "teacher autonomy", which encourages continuous, self-determined professional development
- To maintain and expand your own development as a trainer
If you are a Director of Studies, Teacher Trainer or you work in another area of Educational Management, this course will provide you with the riches of content and process. A whole myriad of learning opportunities invites and awaits you !
