Well known author and teacher developer Jim Scrivener spoke to me in an interview a couple of years ago about focusing on where learning is happening. He claims that we devote lot of time as teachers to almost ritualistic teaching acts to engage and entertain students. In this article I go on to explore this idea further.
Part of being a teacher is also like being a camp leader. How a group bonds, how they manage cultural difference, and solve problems at a social level really affects your class. Language clarification aside, you need to have techniques, approaches and activities that help develop rapport.
While contemplating project-based and experiential learning, Emma finds out some key truths for learning in the world of workshop artist Tony Gee, the Artistic Director and co-founder of Creation Myth Puppets. Tony has worked in the arts and as a puppeteer, for over 30 years, touring shows and workshops all over the world.
The world of English language teaching is diverse and full of potential to make it as interesting and challenging as you want to make it. This month we have a conversation with Magdalena Brzezinska. Magdalena has been an EFL teacher for over 20 years in her native Poland, and a teacher trainer for 10 years.
This month we talk with twice ESU Duke of Edinburgh Prize winner, Jim Scrivener. Best known for his book “Learning Teaching” (Macmillan ELT), a wide-ranging guidebook to contemporary English Language Teaching, which won the ARELS Frank Bell Prize, and featured on our reading list, Jim is a freelance writer, consultant, teacher and trainer.
What can we do when we are required to complete a coursebook – say for example the learners need to successfully pass an exam – but the content is not relevant to the learner or motivating them to be participative and communicative in class?