What is Teachers’ Academy?
Starting in 2022/23, the Academy is an informal and collaborative development programme for CES volunteers/teachers who are interested in exploring well-established as well as innovative ways of teaching foreign languages. It is especially suited for those who are interested in teaching.
What will it look like?
Depending on the interest, the Academy will consist of weekly or fortnightly informal meetings. These will cover a teaching topic (like teaching vocabulary) where the session lead will provide a short introduction into the topic, conduct a demonstration where the lead will assume the role of teacher and participant will act as students, review the principles, procedures, and elicit feedback. Participants will receive tips and tricks to try in their own sessions and discuss ideas and experiences from their own session. Additional reflective materials will be available for teachers to assess their own skills and confidence regarding the topic discussed as well as set development goals. One session will last between 45-90 minutes. Teachers will then have have a chance to further socialise informally. 🙂
Will there be teaching feedback?
The Operations & Teaching Coordinator will offer observations and lesson feedback if teachers are interested. These will be based on teachers’ completed self-assessment and will provide an opportunity to get feedback from someone who has taught before. The are strictly for teachers’ development, we do not judge the quality of teaching. 🙂
An alternative to this is to agree on peer observations with fellow teachers – this means that another CES teacher will come in to provide feedback on the sessions.
What are some benefits of the programme?
There are many! Teaching skills are highly transferrable and might be useful in any role or person-to-person interaction. Teachers taking part will receive a Certificate of Completion which will outline the areas covered and the main skills developed. Participation will also be reflected in the personalised letter of recommendation. Both of these activities can be used toward the completion of the Lincoln Award as well as the Global Certificate and are a great addition to teachers portfolio – they can be used to demonstrate transferable skills on your CV or during an interview.
How do I take part?
Easily! If you are a CES teacher/volunteer, just get in touch with us and we will give you all the information.