The Drama Teacher Training which focuses on classroom practice for teachers of English will be exploring and developing areas of teaching such as pronunciation through Drama, grammar through Drama, using and exploiting role-plays and much more.

Who is the course for?

The training is intended for teachers in Moroccan middle and secondary schools teaching 12 – 17 year olds. You should have a strong Upper Intermediate of English in order to be able to participate in the course.

What are the topics covered in the training sessions ?

There are six sessions dealing with different aspects of the use of drama in the ELT classroom. The sessions are two hours long with a ten minute break. Most workshops will be practical and it is hoped that participants will want to “get up and do” rather than “sit and listen”.

1 – Getting To Know You
As this is the first session, it will focus on getting the group to gel and get to know each other. This session will concentrate on group dynamics and the activities demonstrated have been designed to allow members to feel comfortable working with each other and build confidence within the group.

2 – Pronunciation through Drama
This will concentrate on dialogues which can be used to focus on a particular pronunciation point. Participants will develop their ability to exploit the ready-made dialogues and to create their own, making them both natural and enjoyable. We will also look at expressing emotion and mood through drama. Participants will investigate ways of helping students develop their ability to express subtle meaning and, above all, making their English sound natural. The session will also look at the way English speakers display emotion through changes of intonation, stress and pace in speech.

3 – Grammar through Drama
This workshop will focus on making dialogues grammar-loaded, meaning that they are written so that one, two or possibly more grammar points are concentrated on. Participants will look at ways of including such material in a dialogue while still making it sound natural and overly contrived. They will also focus on methods of exploiting dialogues to their full potential.

4 – Drama Games
In this workshop trainees will look at drama games, which can be used with younger learners and adults. We will look at the varying suitability of different games for different stages of the lesson and for different classes. The games aim to develop concentration and group dynamics, as well as general confidence in the language. Participants will look at how to set up games and how to manage them.

5 – Role-play and Simulation
In this workshop the focus will be on the setting-up of role-plays and different methods of exploiting such activities. Participants will also look at simulations and share suggestions on how to get the most out of them. We will also look at possible adaptation of course book material, namely role-plays, with the aim of making them more natural and more personalised.

6 – Participants’ Presentations
The content of the sixth session will be presentations by the participants. It is hoped that those who have intended the workshops will be able to either

• present some materials that they have written and see how they work in practice or
• do some “micro-teaching”, where some of the techniques that they have explored on the course can be displayed.

This may be done individually or in groups of two or three.

What will I have achieved by the end of the course?

• At the end of the course, teachers will be issued with a Drama in the Classroom attendance certificate from the British Council.
• It allows teachers to build in something different to their lessons. Drama allows students to practise intonation and other features of connected speech.
• It builds confidence. Many of the previous students/teachers who did this course before were very reluctant at first to get up and do, but confidence grew over the sic sessions and they had more faith in their ability to use drama in their classes at the end
• It also allows teachers from different schools to share ideas.

Am I eligible to apply?

Please note: there are a limited number of places available and places will be given on a first come first served basis. Additionally for this course we will only accept:

• Teachers in the Rabat - Salé area only (this is a trial and we hope to extend the opportunity to teachers in other areas in the future)
• Teachers who teach 13- 17 year olds.
• Teachers who can commit to attending all the sessions as it is important to have one constant group throughout the course.

Where and when will the course take place?

The course will take place on a Wednesday evenings from 18.15 - 20.15 at the British Council Rabat between 29 October and 3 December.

• Wednesday 29 October Getting to know you
• Wednesday 5 NovemberPronunciation through Drama
• Wednesday 12 November Grammar through Drama
• Wednesday 19 NovemberDrama Games
• Wednesday 26 NovemberRole-play and Simulation
• Wednesday 3rd DecemberParticipants’ Presentations

How do I register?

If you would like to register for this course please email us at  teacher.training@britishcouncil.org.ma. In your email please indicate:

• the school you teach at
• the age of the students you teach
• your contact telephone numbers (mobile and home number please)