A Teacher Training Programme (Constructive Approach)

                          I think it would be a good idea to start a  question:

                                      What are  teacher trainers expected to do?

Sample answers:

• Enable teachers to attain their individual potential
• Develop their personal qualities necessary for effective teaching
• Develop their professional qualities necessary for effective teaching

 I think for any teaching organization one of the first things that should be determined is whether to creating two different groups -novice and experienced teachers- or not.

Once these decisions are made, the real challenge is how to do it in such a way that almost everyone will be happy and content. ( well, you cannot possible make everyone happy)

Here is how I would handle things using a constructive approach:

a)Novice teachers: I guess it would be a lot better to have individual tutorials. The following pictures shows that how I believe it should be done:
The laptops represent six trainers who follow a philosophy which is compatible with their organization. Still, each one has a room to be themselves and do things their way. In other words, it emphasize the fact that each trainer will obviously have different personalities and perceptions on the program. That is why the administration people should make some points very clear at the very beginning. Trainers may follow different ways as long as they all lead to the same destination.

The following flash drives represents the number of novice teachers that each trainer will help.

In this system, you can train 16 novice teachers.

  Novice teachers’ theoretical knowledge is supposedly fresh and up-to-date; however, to what extend all those theory has sank in might not be easy to determine quickly, so the program needs to emphasize the theory as well in order to help novices to somehow internalize and acquire some theoretical points.  Furthermore, since they lack experience, there should be ample situations where there is practice and observation.

 Firstly, a novice teacher might be observed by two trainers three times on different days –the novice teacher knows the dates and times of the observations. The two trainers have different observations sheets –one holistic and one analytical. The novice teacher is recorded as well. Trainer 1 –who is actually in charge of the novice teacher will prepare a training plan that is unique to that specific inexperienced teacher and finally brainstorm and exchange ideas with the trainer 2 – who was present during the observations- .

 Once the plan is prepared, it will not be shared with the novice teacher. Instead, the novice teacher is asked to write a reflection on his/her good and not so good points about her lessons by watching herself on the video. Then, the reflection sheets are assessed by the trainer 1 without giving any grades but writing more questions to direct the inexperienced teacher according to the plan prepared for the novice teacher. After that, there are one to one sessions in which the trainer and the novice teacher discuss some of the issues that emerged during these processes. Then, the trainer may provide the novice with some photocopies to read and a bibliography for him/her to go and do some actual study on the theoretical part. The novice teacher might write essays on different areas during the process and the topic of each assignment should be something like: ‘how far .......... can be implemented to your own teaching context?’ After each assignment the novice teacher  teaches in her class by paying particular attention to the matter at hand and then she writes a reflection about her assignment whether she still agrees with her ideas in the assignment or not?. Then, she/he will have a tutorial with her/his trainer again. And this process goes on and on like that.

The duration of the training courses should also change from one individual to another as well. While one trainee finishes the course in eight months, the other finishes the course in thirteen months. The novice teachers’ trainers also changes in every four or five months. To sum up, this plan integrates surface routines with the theoretical perspectives provided by discussions of methodology.

 Once these decisions are made, the real challenge is how to do it in such a way that almost everyone will be happy and content.(hopefully, fingers crossed)

 The summary of the points made above:

 

  

trainers

                                                                                                                          novice teacher

The novice teacher is observed by two trainers 3 times. Trainers observe and take notes. Then,

• The trainer prepares a plan according to the needs of the novice teacher. Then, asks for a second opinion (trainer 2)
• Novice teacher watches herself teaching on the video and writes a reflection (good and not so good points)
• One to one session:Discussion between the trainer and the teacher on teacher’s reflection on videos.
• Assignment:Based on the outcomes of the discussion (the plan is also taken into account) a written homework-essay- which includes research a theory on a subject is assigned and the essay question mostly starts with: ‘ How far .this or that theory can be implemented to your  teaching context?’
• Novice teacher hands in the assignment
• The novice teacher teaches in her class by paying particular attention to the topic or area she focused on her/his assignment. The trainer observes the lesson as well.
• Discussion about the assignment. Trainer asks whether she/he has changed her opinions that he/she expressed in her/his essay. Reflection. Also discussion about good and not so good points.

b)  Experienced teachers: Unlike novice teachers, experienced teachers’ theoretical knowledge might be rusty and out-of-date. So I believe, they need some sort of theory as well, but the real question is how to do it in such a way that it will not cause any unrest. So, the experienced teachers might observe a trainer’s lessons in twos or threes and take notes about the good and not so good points. Then, there could be small group discussions with the trainer. And during these discussions, the trainer might give them information about the theory part of her/his teaching. It should be done in a subtle way so that no one will get offended. If a seminar or workshop is to be conducted, I do not necessarily think that theory will do much good to experienced teachers. Seminars and workshops should focus on practical implications.

IELTS SAMPLE WRITING ASSESSMENT

Here is one of my IELTS students’ writing script and how I corrected it:

 ‘A company has announced that it wishes to build a large company near your community. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of this new influence on your community. Do you support or oppose the factory? Explain your position.’


Student's script and my corrections:


   A company (your tone is very strict, you should sound milder, it would be better to say: A company generally have….. which might distract the people living close ……) always has (have) lots of bad aspects which distract the people who live near it.
I live in a place where which (I live in a place. It is covered with lots of trees.= I live in a place which is covered with lots of trees) is covered with lots of trees that make us breathe easily.
 Grammar reference: Which/where:

• That’s the restaurant. We always have dinner there/ in that restaurant = where
• That’s the restaurant where we always have dinner.
• That’s the house. We bought it last year. = That’s the house which we bought last year.
• That’s the house. It was very expensive= That’s the house which was very expensive.
• In subject and object position= which
• There/in that place/in that restaurant /etc= where

 If a company is launched there, we will (probably=milder) be prevented to live in nature. Although, (no comma after although) it (may offer= milder tone of voice is better) offers jobs for lots of (DO NOT REPEAT THE SAME WORDS) for people ,  (put a comma here)I think building a company (where?= near my community) has many disadvantages such as; noise, bad landscape and pollution.
Corrected one: If a company is launched there, we will probably be prevented to live in nature. Although it may offer many jobs for unemployed or newly graduated people, I believe building something like that near my community may have a lot of disadvantages such as; noise …………..


 Topic sentence is weak: You should let the reader know that you are going to talk about 'noise' It disrupt your coherence SERIOUSLY =The reader is not with you... you have to be very precise and clear


Primarily, I live in a place where you can see lots of nature natural masterpieces which make you feel the environment. (coherence problem)For instance, Especially, birds make you so relaxed that you won’t want to hear another voice. (you may need further elaboration here= It helps you unite with nature.)

 On the other hand, if there is a big company near my neighborhood, (comma!!!) you I( I or you? decide) will suffer from the noise that carries on all hours in a day even at midnight. Hence you won’t rest also or sleep. However you may move another place because of this continuing noise. Therefore, that isn’t a good idea at all. (That’s the place where you eventually say it is the noise)
Then, there will be a bad landscape due to that enormous building. The place I live in is famous for its picturesqueness that inspires of writers and artists by attracting them to come there. It will not be justice to destroy that view to supply some people to make profit. Additionally, you can’t bring back this view if you found a company. Hence everyone should reconsider (what?) before destroying this area. Did you mean: Hence people should reconsider building a company here before destroying the natural beauties of this area.


 Finally, there will be much pollution because of this company. Not only the whether will be dirty but also our water and environment will be polluted because of their waste. For instance,
although they settle a filter not to emit the???( COHERENCE problem) poison(NOUN YOU NEED THE ADJ FORM) gasses there will be rubbish (=wrong word)which they won’t deal with. When we research the all companies , (comma) we can realize that none of them use a filter to save the community who live near there. This sentence should be at the beginning= COHERENCE problem...Maybe something like that would be better:

 Finally, there will be much pollution because of this company. Not only the weather will be dirty but also our water and environment will be polluted because of their waste. For instance, there will be industrial or chemical waste and they will not be able to deal with it.
Moreover, even though they might settle a filter to emit the poisonous gases, it is a high possibility that it will fail to work because when we research all companies, we can easily realize that most of their filters fail to work efficiently, which leads many disasters.

To sum up, although there are other places to found a company like non-manned places, it is depressing to select my hometown. I ensure that people who live my hometown won’t let them to achieve their desires that cause only disaster. (yeni bişi soyleme concluding te) Anyone can’t stand living in nosy places, in pollution(polluted) fields or seeing bad scenes. As a result, they should even have a meeting not to permit them to destroy those beauties.  DO NOT SAY NEW THINGS IN THE CONCLUDING SECTION
(There are too many sentences starting with the linker ‘although’ ..plz use other linkers)

  I THINK THIS ESSAY WOULD MERIT A  BAND 5 OR 5.5

AN EXAMPLE OF AN ASSESSOR TRAINING PROGRAMME



‘Here is an example of a typical training programme for the selection and training of oral interviews/assessors on the regular teaching stuff at a large industrial training centre. The programme takes the form of a series of weekly one-hour meetings. Note how the staff who are going to use the oral test procedure are involved in its development right from the start.

Meeting 1: all interested staff are invited to attend. The aims and problems of oral tests are outlined, including the principles of validity and reliability.

Meeting 2: discussion of mark categories; which are desirable and which are actually realistic. Five broad categories are chosen; listening comprehension, vocabulary, accuracy, pronunciation, and communicative competence.

Meeting 3: draft rating scales are discussed using copies of several other scales as reference, taken from commercially published sources and standard reference books.

 Meeting 4: the broad test type and the most suitable elicitation techniques are discussed; a short list of six tests is chosen. A sample, taped interview is played; some practical points of the general procedure for test administration and marking are considered.

 Over the next two weeks, the assessors carry out a total of forty sample oral interviews, all recorded, at a variety of language levels and using the different techniques on the short list.

 Meeting 5: personal feedback from sample interviews. The most common and most serious problems are identified and discussed; corrective action is agreed upon.

 Subsequently, the test designer selects twenty of the taped interviews for rater-training on the basis of a range of levels, good sound quality, and the presence of typical problems. These tapes are copied and their order randomized. Over the next two weeks, each assessor marks each of these twenty tapes, and all their marks for each category for each test are collated in a single table of results. To encourage frank discussion, each assessor is allocated a letter code.

Meeting 6 : the test techniques are discussed further and two are chosen: an interview about the learner’s job and talking about a picture. The average length is set at about fifteen minutes per test. The normal test routine is discussed.

Meeting 7: the table of sample interview results is presented and discussed anonymously; nobody knows who the codes refer to. The average of all the assessors’ marks is used as the norm. Major deviations are discussed in some detail; why do certain mark categories, and certain levels, produce a wider range of scores than others? Each assessor is subsequently told only which letter code represents her own marks, so she can compare them with the norm.

Meeting 8: in the light of the sample tape marking, and the techniques decided on, the weighting of the five categories is discussed and a decision made. The rating scales are reviewed.’

Qualifications of Testers Preparing Large-Scale Tests



• Testers should be selected from experienced teachers who have a strong sense of the book – if there are certain books that need to be taught-  they are teaching. They know exactly when or what a student will ask during the course of the lesson. So, they will be a lot more competent at doing their jobs.
• If the testers are to work together as a team, then the team members should be selected in such a way that they could work as a team effectively.
• A tester is a person who has a crystal clear idea of the approach (es), method (s) and the techniques that are employed by the institution.
• A tester is a person who knows the goals and objectives of the assessment programme. There are very obvious reasons for that, but I believe the most important one is justification: That's how testers might be able to justify their tests.
• A tester should not consider himself more important or more superior to the other instructors. In fact, he should act like a servant helping instructors/teachers to facilitate their work.
• A tester should also know  the profile of the students so s/he can prepare  tests which are in accordance with students’ cultural background etc.
• Testers should be given ample opportunities to improve themselves (workshops &seminars). However, I believe the seminars or workshops they attend should be carefully selected by the testers. Practical applications should outweigh theoretical explanations. Overexposure to theoretical seminars may bore them.
• An assessor’s duty may be regarded as being fully competent at test classifications. If these classifications are not clear in one’s mind, it may cause problems. Teachers may join seminars which consist of ten people at most. I believe attending to a workshop with seven people could be a lot more effective than a workshop with thirty people.
• A tester’s working station is also important. S/he knows how to organize her room or desk. There should be sound or video recording, necessary equipment, photocopying, and printing or duplication facilities at her disposal.
• It would be better for a tester to know what s/he does before a test, during the test and after the test. For instance, before testing spoken language, teachers should decide on the number of teachers. Will there be just two interviewers or one interlocutor and one interviewer? Will the interviewers also be the markers? How will the classroom be organized? According to Underhill(1987):

 ‘The chairs of the interviewer and the student don’t have to face each other on opposite sides of the table: they can be arranged at an angle or even side by side.’
These sorts of little adjustments might create big differences during the flow of the oral exams. Another point is that, what an examiner should or shouldn’t say during oral exams. For example, over-correction or fill pauses or silences automatically are the things on the don’ts list. Finally, after the oral test, teacher should use a checklist which was prepared before the tests to prove objectivity. Again, a seminar should be given to those teachers who need more information and most importantly willing to learn more about the issue.
I mentioned sending testers who seminars or workshops too much but one must not forget that testers should go to seminars as long as:

1. They are willing to do so
2.  They are interested in learning new things about the issues
3.   They are given extra time to do so
4.   They are given financial support
5.  There are not many people at the workshop they are attending
6. The workshop is not all about theory

• Last but not least, an induction programme should be given to new testers.

Institutional Culture

             Should you let it get under your skin?

I believe each and every institution has its own unique culture that determines many things such as:

·     The relationship between teachers and students

·     The interaction among colleagues

·     The quality of communication between the teachers and their supervisors

·     The communication between parents and teachers

·     How the institution do things/do business

·     The quality of meetings

·     How content the teachers, students or the parents are

·     Teachers’ future career

·      Teachers’ perceptions about their job

·     How much quality time is spent at work

·     (Sometimes) How teachers and

 administration spend their free time

·     How teachers and administration make decisions

·     Level of stress of the people working in an institution

·     How much employees and supervisors can find ways for self-actualization

·     Employee empowerment

And many more.

So far I have worked:

·     For state schools

·     For a very prestigious private school

·     On private language courses

·     As an English teacher in the UK.

And I’m currently working at Gazi University as an English Instructor.

Based on my experience of working for different organizations, I think it is possible to say that institutional culture sometimes might be like a virus and it may start to penetrate into skin if you are not fully aware of it.

How to avoid it:

I believe the most important thing to do is try to be a global teacher.

 To achieve that ask yourself these simple question:

·     ‘Am I qualified enough to work for a private school?

·     What about a private university?

·     Can I work on a language course?

·     If I have a chance, will I be qualified enough to work abroad? How would I fit in if I had a chance?
Or even better how about these questions:

• Am I willing to improve myself?

• Am I willing to be at my best?

• Am I willing to adapt, change and learn?

• Am I willing to reflect on my own teaching?

 I believe as long as we ask these questions- or similar ones- to ourselves and  give ourselves a room for questioning the things around us, wemight as well be a global teacher.