If education is a human right, or even just a social necessity, should it be provided by the state, by charities or social providers, or should private providers be permitted? And if private operators are permitted, should they also be permitted to make a profit? And if they make a profit, is that bad and does that have a negative effect on the education they provide?
30 December 2020
Performance-related (merit) pay and teachers
Merit-pay. Payment for Performance, Payment by Results / Outcomes / KPIs - different names for largely the same thing. We often hear that "schools should be run more like a business" (true in many respects, but not in the way proponents expect) and that teachers should be paid for performance. FInd out why this latter assertion can not work and never has.
29 December 2020
28 December 2020
27 December 2020
25 December 2020
Teacher appearance; does it matter?
24 December 2020
23 December 2020
21 December 2020
Writing in the Early Years
18 December 2020
17 December 2020
Leadership : Mind Your Language, defining your Department's Mission
14 December 2020
13 December 2020
09 December 2020
08 December 2020
07 December 2020
04 December 2020
25 November 2020
Top 5 Paths to Success as English Teachers, Heads of Department, Academic Directors and Schools in Chile
Successfully running an English programme and/or an English department is not an administrative function : "box-tickers need not apply"! The role encompasses people, programmes, policies, procedures, planning, professional development, appraisal, evaluation, materials, promotion ... inter alia! This one-hour session reviews five key elements in running a successful department, essential to any subject area leader.
24 November 2020
Are private schools wealthy?
22 November 2020
Leadership Philosophy & Practice : leading a department, an overview
20 November 2020
Teaching Literature : Planning a Novel Unit
18 November 2020
10 November 2020
Project-based Learning, an overview
Ask us about programme and methodology coaching and short courses related to Project-based Learning (PBL).
This is one of our seminars - please click here for more information on our seminars programme. A C1 or higher level of English is assumed.
09 November 2020
What is International Education?
Many schools in Chile describe themselves as "international", but are they? Others say they offer "international programmes" or "international examinations" but do they? Do these terms mean something, or are they merely marketing mumbo-jumbo? Is an "international school" really an "international" school?
What should a school do?
07 November 2020
Teaching boys; they're not the same
A standards-based (competency-based) lesson plan
Effective teaching requires knowing your destination before starting your journey, and by extension knowing how to identify when you have arrived and how far along the route you are at any given time. In other words, effective teaching requires objectives; when expressed in an observable and measurable form, these are standards.
Standards-based teaching and learning
Standards-based education gives teachers and students clear goals, and if the standards are well-designed, a structured programme. However standards are not methodologies; when incorporating standards into their practice, teachers must also make their lessons engaging while aiming at student success. This one-hour overview considers standards, objectives and competencies and reviews some sample teaching and learning standards as examples of how to do so.
Positive Discipline, an overview
Teachers have multi-functional roles, arguably most important of which is that of ensuring the conditions for learning and this of course involves managing and directing student behaviour. As teachers, we should have long-term aims and yet many, or most, common strategies bring only short-term effects. Positive Discipline refers to collaborative, constructive approaches which have at their core inculcating the desire for doing the right thing.
Effective Pairwork
Pairwork is one of the most effective teaching strategies and should be one of the primary approaches of all teachers, not just English Language and Lang&Lit. This Philosophy and Practice seminar for G7 - 12 levels (G5 - 6 teachers will also find it useful) reviews the hows and whys, teacher friendly approaches, effective and valid assessment and evaluation and how to avoid some of the more common reasons pairwork activities are not a huge success.
Group Oral Test
Groupwork is one of the most effective teaching strategies and should be one of the primary approaches of all teachers, not just English Language and Lang&Lit. However few teachers are confident assessing oral performance in a group situation which is not really so difficult. This methodology seminar for G7 - 12 levels (G5 - 6 teachers will also find it useful) reviews a teacher-friendly, effective and valid assessment approach.
Positive Assessment, an overview
Assessment as a part of Teaching and Learning should provide all partners in the interaction(s) with useful information on what is known, shown and can be done. At the same time, assessment should not end the process or negatively impact the learner.
Active Learning, an introduction
Years upon years of reaearch and classroom practice have shown that students learn best when part of the learnng process. Such approaches have different flavours and thus different names but share the same philosophical underpinning. Learning must be active, especially in the Early and Primary Years.
Join us as we review this approach, and some of the common branches of the Active Learning family tree. This session will be particularly useful for new and prospective Cambridge Primary, High Scope, PYP and Reggio Emilia teachers.
06 November 2020
Introduction to the Cambridge Primary Programme
Teaching Writing PK - 12, an overview
What is "English"?
Visual Language - response and analysis, an introduction
Vocabulary-based English teaching; an effective approach
Bullying, what happened here?
Ask us about a closed session where you choose who, what, when or to be placed on the interest list for the next open session.
Teaching Literature : poetry "The Eagle"
Short story "The Open Boat"
Our four-part series on this work for students, teachers and those interested in literature. This text comes from the Cambridge English Literature book list, and is also appropriate for IB Language. Literature and Lang&Lit programmes.