Teacher Development: An Introduction Orientation Training Program
Ongoing Training and Development
Workshops and Presentations at Kai En
Class Observations
Teacher Observation Report
Teacher Development: An Introduction
The founders of Kai En have been involved in education for 18 years in China. Both are passionate about teaching (both practice and theory), and this culture pervades the organization. The focus of the school is clearly on providing excellent education.
Kai En’s commitment to quality teaching is reflected in the fact that we provide a full-time academic coordinator to oversee the quality of teaching in our centers. In addition, we provide ongoing academic support in each branch through a Senior Teacher and a Teacher Trainer.
Kai En provides an ongoing program of training and development for its teachers. Our academic coordinator works with teacher trainers to give workshops, observe and evaluate classes. Teacher trainers are also available to offer feedback, suggestions, ideas and advice to improve teachers' skills and performance. We expect a high level of professionalism from our teachers, and we aim to continually improve our teaching standards. Teachers are expected to attend regular workshops and meetings, and are encouraged to be creative and to share their ideas with other members of the staff.
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Orientation Training Program
All new Kai En teachers undergo a week’s worth of training. This involves attending two workshops entitled Classroom Management and Methodology. These workshops give an overview of what we do here, and focus on how to run student-centered classes with high-quality feedback.
Teachers also observe three lessons of varying levels. This helps them to get an idea of the general format of classes. In addition, they teach a 45- minute practice class with Kai En staff as students. This allows them to get to know the employees, and have the opportunity to put what they have learned into practice.
The Academic Team continues to give ongoing support, particularly during the first few weeks.
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Ongoing Training and Development
Here at Kai En we feel that a good teacher never stops learning and with that in mind we offer teachers a comprehensive development program. Each week we run hour long development sessions and workshops at each of our schools and additional offer a wide range of training support for our Real Talk and business courses. Our training schedule for 2006 is outlined below:
| Month |
Workshop |
Workshop |
Workshop |
Workshop |
| January |
Teaching
Grammar 1
Reviewing the aspects of the English Tense System and how to present this to students.
|
Teaching
Writing
The difference between Product andProcess Writing andhow to incorporate this into your teaching.
|
Recycling
Language Different techniques to helpengage your studentsinto completing therecycling necessary toimprove performance
|
Audit Report
Feedback to teachers about the current teaching quality with workshops focusedon increasing weakerareas.
|
| February |
Audit Training
More practical techniques to incorporate into your lessons |
IELTS
an introduction to the IELTS examination and some teaching tips. |
IELTS 2 –
a more in-depth look at teaching the IELTS examination and thematerials that areavailable. |
|
| March |
One-to-Ones various techniques and activities for teaching smaller groups and suggestions for classroom dynamics |
TeachingBusiness
What is Business English and how doesit differ from general English? |
Giving Feedback
How to assess your students’ performanceand connect your lesson focus to theactivity |
History of ELT
A brief run through ofall the major trends and approaches that have influenced English Language Teaching over the last few hundred years |
| April |
Teaching Reading 1
An introduction to the different reading techniques used in Language teaching |
Lesson Planning
Some ideas and suggestions for cutting down onpreparation time andmaking lesson plansmore effective in theclassroom |
Speaking Activities
What to consider when running student-centered tasksand how to incorporatethis into your lessons |
Methodology
A look at some of the different methods for teaching language andhow to include some of this into your own teaching style |
| May |
Teaching
Pronunciation
An introduction to IPAand the benefits ofusing this in the classroom including some practical games and activities that you could use.
|
SLA
The principles behind Second Language Acquisition and itseffect on the teaching of English in the classroom
|
Audit Report
Feedback to teachersabout the currentteaching quality withworkshops focusedon increasing weakerareas.
|
|
| June |
Audit Training
More practical techniques toincorporate into your lessons
|
Motivating Students
Discussing differenttypes of motivation and how to get more from your students by exploiting it in class.
|
Summer Courses
A detailed guideline ofKai En’s summercourses includingcourse outlines booksand materials.
|
Warmers 1
A look at somepractical activities and games to use with your students to help you through the summer months
|
| July |
Communicative Language
How to getyour higher level students to improve their spoken Englishby giving them communication strategies |
Interactive Language
A look at theimportance ofinteraction incommunication andhow to use this withstudents in theclassroom
|
Teaching the Chinese Learner
Points to considerwhen teaching Chinesestudents includingcommon mistakesand why they make them
|
Warmers 2
A look at some more practical activities and games to use with your students to help you through the summer months
|
| August |
Listening
An introduction to the different types oflistening and how toprepare activities toexploit these
|
Adjusting the Course book
How to adapt thecourse book to suit the individual needs ofdifferent kinds ofstudents
|
Role-plays
Different types ofRole-play- how to runthem and tie them intoa coherent languagefocus
|
Presenting Vocabulary
Some points to consider when presenting vocabulary and some simple techniques to use in the classroom |
| September |
Course Book Input
The importance ofhaving a clear language focus andhow to prepare this from the course booktext
|
Teaching Vocabulary 1
How many words andphrases should you teach a day ? How canyou record new language and anintroduction to somebasic semantics
|
Teaching Grammar 2
A look at different usesof the present simpleand the difference between tense andtime and grammatical and lexical aspects
|
Audit Report
Feedback to teachers about the current teaching quality with workshops focusedon increasing weakerareas.
|
| October |
Audit Training
More practical techniques toincorporate into your lessons
|
Learning Styles
Different types oflanguage learners andthe best ways ofimproving
|
Market Leader
How to adapt this textbook series toteaching in China and what to look out whenusing internationally published resources
|
|
| November |
Teaching Vocabulary 2
A deeper look atsemantics and howthey can be used in teaching vocabulary along with historical developments in English vocabulary.
|
Teaching Pronunciation 2
Looking at some of theaspects of connectedspeech and somesimple fun activitiesthat can be used to increase student awareness of this important area
|
TeachingReading 2
A practical look atdesigning reading activities using the Real Talk books.
|
Error Correction
What is the difference between a mistake anerror and a slip? How should mistakes betreated in the classroom and some simple hot and cold correction techniques
|
| December |
Christmas Activities
Some fun activities you can use in class connected to Christmas and the festive season
|
Advanced Language
Some practical suggestions forteaching higher levelearners and how tomove them from theintermediate plateau.
|
Kai En Quiz
A chance to relax with colleagues and take part in some festivefun
|
|
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Class Observations
Rationale
Here at Kai En we operate an open-door policy. This means that we actively encourage teachers to observe each other and to be observed as part of their continuous development. A teacher new to Kai En can expect to observe up to three other teachers as part of their initial training and to be observed twice during the first month of their teaching. We would hope that those teachers who are allocated a level that they have yet to teach will, if possible find time to observe the same level before teaching it.
Procedure
A new teacher will automatically be given an observation task to complete and we would expect the teacher to use this in feedback with the trainer. The observer should not participate in the lesson unless explicitly asked to by the class teacher. Where possible we ask the observer to spend a few minutes with the teacher to give some positive feedback on the lesson and ask about the class profile.
General Frequency
As well as peer observation, teachers will be observed by a member of the Academic team. The observer sits in on the class for between 30 to 40 minutes and takes no active part in the lesson. During the lesson the observer takes notes and uses these to write up an observation report which s/he then uses during feedback with the teacher. A teacher in his/her first year at Kai En should expect to be observed four times over a twelve month period, twice initially and then twice more over the contract period. An experienced teacher who has been working at Kai En for more than a year should expect to be observed twice a year.
Observations and Quality Control
If the academic team have concerns about a teacher's classroom teaching quality and want to provide further support and development, this teacher will be observed more frequently until the teacher has reached the required level of teaching quality.
In certain circumstances the branch manager may request a teacher be observed to deal with specific concerns students have about the teacher's quality.
Grading
The first time a teacher is observed at Kai En they will be given feedback but no grading. Subsequently each time the teacher is observed they will receive a performance grade for the lesson:
- The teacher has shown a manifest inability to teach the Kai En method. The teacher will immediately be withdrawn from the class and if the situation is not rectified will be dismissed.
- There are some serious concerns about the teacher’s performance in the classroom. The teacher will be given TPA and observed again within the next ten days.
- The teacher has some major difficulties which need immediate improvement. The teacher will be given TPA and observed again within the next few weeks.
- The teacher is operating at an adequate level of ability. During feedback the teacher trainer will high-light areas in which the teacher can develop and it is expected that the teacher will demonstrate improvement in these areas during the next observation.
- The teacher has demonstrated a competent understanding of the Kai En method and is able to implement this effectively in the classroom. Teachers graded at this level and above are seen as good examples of what we expect and as such are often observed by new teachers.
- The teacher has shown an excellent understanding of the Kai En method and can implement this well in the classroom. We hope that these teachers will actively participate in their colleague’s development in the staff room.
- The teacher has not only shown an excellent understanding of the Kai En method and can implement this well in the classroom, but has also demonstrated enough teaching skills to indicate that he or she would be proficient at most types of ELT.
Teachers who are graded at 5 and above will be considered for a second year contract.
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Teacher Observation Report
Example Observation -
| Observer
Phil Warwick |
Date & time 200531st May 18:45 – 19:20 |
Jessica– Full Time Native |
Class & no. of participants Level 7– 8 students |
Atmosphere
The students seemed relaxed and engaged, the teacher used humour effectively to help the lesson flow and the atmosphere was conducive to running a student-centred class.
Procedure
- Topic: Describing places
- Focus: SB pg 25.
- Ss discuss pictures in pairs.
- T elicits feedback.
- Ss work in two groups discussing advantages/disadvantages of suburbs/downtown.
- T writes mistakes on board.
- Ss role-play fiancées discussing where to live.
- T elicits feedback.
Comments
Jessica there were some aspects of your teaching that I really liked and I would actively encourage you to continuing including them in your lessons:
- The students were actively involved in your lessons.
- You established control well.
- Your instructions were clear.
There are some areas I would like you to reflect on as I feel that developing them will help you with your planning and allow you to improve your students’ English faster and more effectively.
- Establish clear learning aims – this takes time but will help add clarity to your lessons. The students should have a clear idea why they are doing what they are doing and this reason should be motivating, meaningful and relevant. Unfortunately it means looking at the material in more detail and using it as a base rather than as the whole. I’ll give you an example – when the students were working in groups discussing advantages/disadvantages I would expect them to use quantifiers and comparatives and as they were working in groups I would also expect them to use some interactive language to ask for opinions nearest group. Indeed the students were trying but at this level they tend to use the simple language they know and avoid anything else – (How about…? rather than What about, simple comparative forms:’ It is quieter than downtown.’, simple quantifiers ‘area is less secure’). If you just teach the book then it will be a very topic led course that includes lots of lexis (vocabulary) that won’t really help push the students over the intermediate plateau.
- Feedback – again very much related to the first point, if you try to think beyond the material and establish clear learning aims then this will really improve the quality of feedback that you can supply. Feedback is an evaluation of the students’ performance including areas that will help improve that performance, although it will include some error correction at this level it will also highlight useful phrases and focus more on feeding language in to help expand the students’ language. At levels 6 & 7, we tend to have 4 stages: Set-up, On-task, Feedback and Further Practice. The extra stage (further practice) is designed to get the students’ to notice the limited language they used to complete the task and allow them the opportunity to improve on it. At the moment your feedback stage is weak (basic praise, error correction) and I would like you to really focus on extending this. (E.g. during the role-play when the fiancées were arguing a lot of the language could be on persuading or negotiating (I could only hear the nearest pair but they were using very basic structures likeI want and misusing structures likeon the other hand).
- Further Practice- Try to incorporate this stage into your higher-level classes. (See above.)
- Whiteboard – the whiteboard is always a good indicator that the teacher is on course and it is useful to feed language in. The best way to introduce language is in a context and as such it is always a good idea to avoid teaching words in isolation. You pointed out that renovate was the opposite of rundown which was good but try to go further, give examples put them in a phrase (e.g.: ‘it’s rundown, it needs renovating’) that will show the students how they can use them. Your whiteboard contained a lot of words in the same lexical field (topic area) – apartment, tenant, landlord, rundown, renovate, downtown, suburbs, noise pollution, commute – but all in isolation. Try and work on this.
- Classroom management – you had the students working in groups and closed pairs but I don’t think that you are really exploiting the classroom management variable. Remember it’s your space and you should use it actively, a role-play can become more memorable if the students are not just sitting down. The aim in a three-hour lesson is to get every student talking to every other student during the lesson and variable student grouping can encourage the students to recycle language. During the time I observed there was very little movement.
Jessica, I was happy with the class I saw - as mentioned it was student-centred and the learners were enjoying themselves and I think that you are moving in the right direction and making good progress. During the next observation I wouldn’t expect you to have changed fundamentally (it will take you a while to really get comfortable with the above points ) but I will be looking for a stronger feedback stage and a further practice stage if it is a level 6 or 7.
This lesson was graded 5 -The teacher has demonstrated a competent understanding of the Kai En method and is able to implement this effectively in the classroom. Teachers graded at this level and above are seen as good examples of what we expect and as such are often observed by new teachers.
Phil Warwick
Academic Coordinator
Kai En English Training Center, Shanghai |
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Teacher Training
上海凯恩英语培训中心