Primary Essentials - Development courses



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Participants have said

"The course gave important insights into problems faced by teachers and how they can be overcome. The information took on great relevancy in the online environment. The course participants frankly shared problems and solutions specific to teaching young learners. This shone a spotlight on some of the key problems we face as teachers and revealed the ingenuity and creativity teachers often employ to solve them."

"An important personal recognition is the benefits which can be gained from such collaborative work. Sharing experiences, offering and receiving practical advice and understanding the reasons for a different point of view has helped me stand back from myself and take a more critical and impartial look at my methods .So, in the future I want to develop closer relations with my work colleagues and continue to benefit from this experience."

"The course has also shown me that children are capable of amazing things."

"The course covered several areas of second language teaching. We looked at particular issues like using songs and rhymes and broader ones like course design and planning. All modules mixed theory with practice. The module content gave enough input for thinking over and sharing personal experience. The more one put into the course the more they could get out of it. This is an very effective and efficient way of learning."

"The face-to-face workshops and the e-learning elements of the course were balanced and completed each other. The course was demanding but manageable. The tasks were meaningful and helpful, the comments and evaluation was timely, relevant, strict but realistic."

"I really enjoyed the course I did not have problems with managing my time or using the learning platform. Learning, writing, reading and thinking about teaching was exhilarating for me on average days. I collected lots of useful ideas that will help my everyday work."

	Primary Essentials

************ APPLICATION IS NOW CLOSED ************

TeachingEnglish - Primary Essentials is a free teacher development course for teachers of English teaching young learners aged 7 to 12 years old. It is a blended course: while most of the modules are covered online, there are three face-to-face workshops as well.

This course is especially intended for

			teachers with some primary English as a Foreign Language (EFL) experience who wish to receive a practical primary EFL development course,
			experienced English teachers who are thinking of moving into teaching 7 to 12 year-old learners or
			experienced primary EFL teachers who feel the need to upgrade their primary EFL teaching skills.

COURSE OBJECTIVES

By the end of this course participants will have

explored and gained a deeper understanding of the key issues associated with teaching English to children:

			different techniques for using songs and games to enhance children's learning
			how different learning styles affect the way we learn and identify different techniques for exploiting different learning styles,
			how lesson planning is linked to syllabus and curriculum and explain how the curriculum can define what they teach and how they teach,
			a variety of classroom management factors which affect the learning conditions of their classrooms,

and been able to develop their ICT skills and gain experience in online learning:

			learn and apply different forms of online learning such as working with wikis, forums, etc.,
			share and discuss their ideas in a professional community,
			create an online network for further professional discussions and development and
			get hands-on practice with this innovative way of collaborative learning for their own professional development as well as for classroom use.

COURSE DELIVERY

The course is run by two tutors, moderators - Zsuzsa Kuti and Lívia Faragó - who are experts both in teaching young learners and in teacher training as well as experienced in technological issues to give you the maximum professional support and help if needed.

The moderators’ role is to make sure participants feel comfortable with online learning, to manage the modules online, to contribute the forums and to take part in discussion. They also keep contact with the course participants individually by reflecting on their professional development regularly in the reflective journal.

List of Modules

1. Introduction to online learning – 3 hours
2. First Steps in Teaching Children – 3 hours
3. Songs and Games – 6 hours
4. Learning Styles – 6 hours
5. Syllabus and Lesson Planning – 6 hours
6. Classroom Management – 6 hours

In case there is considerable interest, we might open a fully online Primary Essentials course to cater for those who cannot travel to the face-to-face sessions, and therefore would prefer to take part in a distance learning course. If you are interested, please indicate this on the application form.

TIMING

The course runs for 10 weeks, from 28 February to 8 May 2012. The core material of the course takes up 30 hours of online work but participation and completion of the course requires more time commitment. In addition you enjoy the benefit of participating in three face-to-face workshops as well. During these ten weeks participants should spend about 3-5 hours online every week in order to complete the modules. It is important that participants log into the virtual learning environment regularly and evenly 3-4 times every week.

Before you submit your application, please consider seriously if you can participate in the F2F meetings and you have the time and commitment you need to devote to this course.

REQUIREMENTS

This online course counts for a 30-credit accredited course. Certificates will be issued by the British Council.

For successful completion of the course and for receiving the certificate at the end of the course you will be required to

			participate on 3 face-to-face meetings,
			participate actively and regularly during the online course i.e. 3-4 times a week for a period of 1-3 hours at each occasion,
			interact with each other,
			contribute to forums and discussions based on your teaching experiences,
			contribute regularly to the reflective journal,
			complete the end-of-module and the end-of-course assignments,
			complete the end-of-course evaluation form.

Participants are assessed at the end of each module. These assignments form a portfolio on which the participants are given a final assessment of distinction/pass/fail.

Certificates will only be issued for participants if the above criteria are met.

HOW TO APPLY?

Application for the forthcoming course is now closed. Future courses and other professional development opportunities are advertised in our ELT newsletter.

We hope to see you on our TeachingEnglish - Primary Essentials course!