Teacher Development

What can a level 6 Trinity Certificate for Practising Teachers (Cert PT) qualification do for you?

Tom Garside

Aug 5, 2021
4 min

What can a level 6 Trinity Certificate for Practising Teachers (Cert PT) qualification do for you?

If you have an initial qualification in TESOL and a couple of years of experience in the classroom, you may be wondering where to go next...

Look closer to home - why teachers develop best in their own classrooms

Tom Garside

Apr 20, 2020
4 min

Look closer to home - why teachers develop best in their own classrooms

If you are an English-medium teacher working in a school, international university or IB / GCSE programme, your classroom is your own

Developing online teaching methods for yourself and your students

Tom Garside

Mar 22, 2020
5 min

Developing online teaching methods for yourself and your students

In the wake of lockdowns, school and university closures, and international students returning to their countries to be with their families,

The rules of engagement: Ways of increasing student focus through tasks and activities

Tom Garside

Aug 5, 2019
8 min

The rules of engagement: Ways of increasing student focus through tasks and activities

No matter what you teach, student engagement is a major challenge in every classroom. Learning increases when students are engaged

Online and in-service teacher training: The future of ELT training

Tom Garside

Jul 29, 2019
6 min

Online and in-service teacher training: The future of ELT training

In order to facilitate improvements in teaching which continue to have an effect after a visiting trainer leaves the building, we need to ta

Can teacher talk affect how students think? Harnessing classroom discourse to increase cognition

Tom Garside

Jul 8, 2019
8 min

Can teacher talk affect how students think? Harnessing classroom discourse to increase cognition

Cognitive approaches to language learning work under the assumption that the more deeply learners think about what they are learning

Slow down, teacher! An argument for less haste in language education

Tom Garside

Jul 1, 2019
8 min

Slow down, teacher! An argument for less haste in language education

Any teacher working towards assessments or barrier tests experiences the familiar pressure to get through syllabus content so that their stu

What is Test Teach Test? An impactful lesson structure for teachers and students

Tom Garside

Jun 24, 2019
5 min

What is Test Teach Test? An impactful lesson structure for teachers and students

Any initial teacher training qualification in TESOL will rightly stress the importance of clear lesson structure for language lessons.

Helping teachers develop in their local contexts: A summary from IATEFL 2019

Tom Garside

Jun 17, 2019
5 min

Helping teachers develop in their local contexts: A summary from IATEFL 2019

The traditional form of teacher training and development activity, where an ‘expert in the field’ arrives at the school or training centre,

TESOL needs context! Considering local education settings in teacher training and development

Tom Garside

Jun 3, 2019
3 min

TESOL needs context! Considering local education settings in teacher training and development

Imagine you were retraining as a teacher of Mandarin to Speakers of Other Languages (MSOL), to meet the growing international demand for thi

When did you last see yourself teach? Self-observation as a reflective development tool

Tom Garside

May 27, 2019
4 min

When did you last see yourself teach? Self-observation as a reflective development tool

Lesson observations are an integral part of most teacher education courses for good reason; we can learn an enormous amount by stepping back

After the TEFL Cert - what next? Teacher Education doesn’t stop with a first certificate

Tom Garside

May 20, 2019
3 min

After the TEFL Cert - what next? Teacher Education doesn’t stop with a first certificate

So you’ve finished your teacher training course, and are ready to go out into the world of teaching. Maybe you have a job lined up, maybe

Barriers to bridges: enabling teachers to kickstart their own development

Tom Garside

May 13, 2019
5 min

Barriers to bridges: enabling teachers to kickstart their own development

In-depth, lasting Continuous Professional Development activity is often seen as either a luxury or a chore for public school teachers, as

Shifting the focus: Learner-Centred Classroom Observations

Tom Garside

May 6, 2019
7 min

Shifting the focus: Learner-Centred Classroom Observations

Why do we focus on the behaviour of teachers during ‘official’ classroom observations? Is there an alternative way that is more in line with

Empowering teachers to define their own development pathways

Tom Garside

Apr 29, 2019
4 min

Empowering teachers to define their own development pathways

Teacher development in any field can only work if teachers themselves take ownership over how they manage their own development plans....

10 steps to sustainable teacher development Part 2: Sustaining development through content.

Tom Garside

Apr 8, 2019
4 min

10 steps to sustainable teacher development Part 2: Sustaining development through content.

Having looked at how to set up a sustainable teacher development project, how can we ensure that what is delivered in face-to-face developme

10 simple steps to sustainable teacher development part 1

Tom Garside

Apr 1, 2019
5 min

10 simple steps to sustainable teacher development part 1

Preparing the soil - TESOL qualifications tend to be seen as discrete products leading to fixed outcomes

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Language Point

Sustainable teacher education