Active Learners Need ACTIVE TEACHERS

OUP conference - 19 August, 2015

Páli ÉvaELT ConsultantOUP

Active learners

Teaching and learning are viewed as interactive processes with the teacher

and the learner both being active

Active learners review of features

• Short attention span• Need for involvement• Learner autonomy• Digital literacy – digital focus• Communication - interactivity• Critical thinking and problem solving• Collaboration• Lifelong learning – need for transferable skills

Any other features that might be important for teaching/learning?

Teaching becomes more and more an interactiveprocess

Teaching - learning

Teaching-learning as an interactive process

Need to match learner needsNeed to take learner needs and learning preferences into accountNeed to change, improve and develop

Shaping learning together

Teaching – the mystery job ☺☺☺☺

Difficulties

What might hinder teaching-learning becoming interactive?

What can prevent teachers from becoming active?

Not only math teachers have problems ☺

Teachers’ perspectiveDifficulties teachers have to face

• Increasing workload

• Administrative tasks

• Teacher autonomy endangered

• Low pay – doing overtime (private lessons etc.)

• Too much control

• Low learner motivation

• Burnout etc.

Any other problems and difficulties??

Burnout – an issue often overlooked in Hungary (so far)

Burnout – often associated with caring professions, but not much has been done (in some institutions there is supervision)

New law is being planned : the Ethical Code for Teachers

(among others) it says:

„a (tanár) küzd az elszürkülés, az üres, rutinból végzett munka és a kiégés ellen".

Do it for yourself , do not do it as a mandatory task imposed on you.

Stress vs. burnout

Burnout may be the result of unrelenting stress, but it isn’t the same as too much

stress.

Stress, by and large, involves too much: too many pressures that demand too

much of you physically and psychologically.

Burnout is about not enough. Being burned out means feeling empty, devoid of

motivation, and beyond caring. People experiencing burnout often don’t see any

hope of positive change in their situations.

Burnout vs. Stress

Stress BurnoutCharacterized by overengagement Characterized by disengagement

Emotions are overreactive Emotions are bluntedProduces urgency and hyperactivity Produces helplessness and hopelessness

Loss of energy Loss of motivation, ideals, and hope

Leads to anxiety disorders Leads to detachment and depression

Primary damage is physical Primary damage is emotional

May kill you prematurely May make life seem not worth living

What causes job burnout?Job burnout can result from various factors, including

Lack of control. An inability to influence decisions that affect your job — such as your schedule, assignments or workload or a lack of the resources you need to do your work.

Unclear job expectations. If you're unclear about the degree of authority you have or what your supervisor or others expect from you,

Dysfunctional workplace dynamics. Perhaps you work with an office bully, you feel undermined by colleagues or your boss micromanages your work.

Mismatch in values. If your values differ from the way your employer does business or handles grievances

Poor job fit. If your job doesn't fit your interests and skills, it may become increasingly stressful over time.

Extremes of activity. When a job is always monotonous or chaotic, you need constant energy to remain focused Lack of social support. If you feel isolated at work and in your personal life

Work-life imbalance. If your work takes up so much of your time and effort that you don't have the energy to spend time with your family and friends

Signs of burnout

Fatigue, both physically and emotionallyDepressionReduction in efficiencyFrustrationDecline in healthLoss of motivationFeelings of being overwhelmedFeelings of helplessnessWorking because you have to, not because you want to

Coping strategies – ways of dealing with burnout

Dealing with Burnout: The "Three R" Approach

Recognize – Watch for the warning signs of burnoutReverse – Undo the damage by managing stress and seeking support Resilience – Build your resilience to stress by taking care of your physical and emotional health

Plus other ways:

Learn to cope and find ways to renew

Renew your teaching routine and develop professionally for more job satisfaction

Teacher development – a term used in literature to describe the process of continual intellectual, experiential and attitudinal growth of teachers (Lange 1990)

Continued growth before and throughout a career

Goals of teacher development:

• To eliminate burnout• To raise motivation• To find novelty in a routine job• To increase self-confidence• To find ways to cater for changing learner needs – to understand how our roles

change according to the kinds of learner we teach• To understand the process of L2 development better• To understand classroom decision making better

Reasons for teaching development

• To acquire new skills and knowledge• To upgrade skills• To satisfy the need for change• To get an increase in income (higher category etc.)• To comply with school requirements (credits)• To have an impressive line in CV• To overcome isolation (teaching as an egg-carton profession)

and meet like-minded people - build and become a part of a network of professionals

• To get a confirmation and reaffirmation that what we do is worthwhile etc.

Some other reasons?

Reflections on the training programme

Questions for discussion:

How have you been able to apply what you learned in your TESL/TEFL studies since you started teaching?

What contributed most to your becoming the best teacher you can be?

Has the need for ongoing professional development beeen part of your training programme?

Ingredients for professional development

Choice

Trust – openness and honesty

Exposure (willingness to expose weaknesses)

Mutuality (equal contribution and willingness to learn from each other)

Teacher development continued -activities

individual One-to-one Group-based institutional

Self-monitoring/reflectiveteaching

Peer coaching Case studies workshops

Journal writing Peer observation Action research Action research

Critical incidents Criticalfriendships

Journal writing Teacher supportgroups

Teaching portfolio Action research Teacher supportgroups

Action research Critical incidents

Team teaching

Implications and inspirations - which one to choose?

Before choosing

• Identify needs• Decide what you would like to learn about teaching/learning• Set goals• Identify a strategy and/or a format to explore the field that you are interested in

plus select participants to work with if necessary• Decide what support you will need

After completing• Evaluate what has been learnt• Disseminate results – inspire others and get feedback

Examining different teacher development activities

Different activities to cater for different needs and preferences

Task: at the end try to find activities that might be relevant to your context

and needs and think about how you would impement them

workshops

Benefits: • input from experts• offering teachers practical classroom applications• raising teacher motivation• developing collegiality• supporting innovations• short-term and flexible nature

plus relying on teacher contributions – interactivity

Self-monitoring

• Can be done formally and informally

• Videotaping – it can provide objectivity and the recording can be viewed and

analysed later

• Sharing – feedback from a different point of view

Benefits: privacy (if done individually), objectivity, raising self-awareness

Teacher support groups

Flexible focus and goals: reviewing and reflecting on teaching, materials

development and sharing/exchanging etc.

Possible activities:

• Inviting speakers

• Developing research projects

• Planning seminars/projects

• Trying out new teaching strategies and textbooks

• Peer observation

Teaching journals

• An ongoing written account of observations, reflections, thoughts about teaching,

which serves as a source of discussion, reflection and evaluation

• Setting goals and/or a time-frame

• For the teacher him/herself or for an audience

Peer observation

• An excellent way to break down barriers and begin conversations that lead toprofessional development

• Different forms: with a colleague or taking part in a demo lesson and observing a trainer

• Being openly and attentively present in another teacher’s classroom, watching orlistening to classroom interaction primarily for reasons of professional growth

• Problems: threatening/frightening, conducted mostly by administrators, difficult toavoid evaluation and judgement --- solution: it can be effective when initiated bythe teacher

• Benefits: effective tool of staff development

Teaching portfolios

• A real issue in Hungary (compulsory for career advancement)

• Content: artifacts, reproductions, attestations, productions etc.

• Potential positive outcomes: it can facilitate teacher development (basis for

reflection and review) , provides a sense of recognition, can result in payrise ☺

• Problems: annoying feeling of having to prove somebody’s knowledge, time, too

much paperwork, paper is flat while teaching and learning are 3-dimensional ☺

Analysing critical incidents/case analysis

• Often done informally

• Formal case analysis - documentation and analysis in order to learn from themand improve practice

• Benefits: greater level of self-awareness, sharing - mental release, opportunitiesfor action research, building a community of cricital practitioners, providingresources for teacher development

Peer coaching (collaboration of teachers)

• Often done during the training period• Aims: to help one or both teachers and improve some aspect of their teaching

Problems: time

Solutions: collaborating only in some aspects of teaching (planning or analysingtogether)

Team teaching

• An essential part of teacher training programmes

• Teachers can share the responsibility for teaching a class (sharing planning and

follow-up work or the actual teaching by dividing the lesson into 2)

• Roles: ‚coach’ teacher and ‚learner’ teacher

• In real life – not really realistic, but it does occur (classes shared by teachers –

native/non-native combination)

• Taking advantage of the individual’s strengths

• It can spur creativity

• It can provide better decisions

• it improves collegiality

• Combining expertise

Action research

Systematically changing some aspect of your professional practice in response to an issue/problem, collecting relevant data about the changed practice and interpretingand analysing the data - self-reflective enquiry

Steps: 1) Identifying a problem2) Preliminary investigation3) Forming a hypothesis4) Planning intervention and ACTION5) Monitoring and collecting data6) Observing the outcome7) 2nd cycle: reflecting and then planning intervention and ACTION

Problems: administration, it hinders teaching, time, no recognition, lack of teacherskillsSolution: careful planning and starting small, collaboration with colleagues, considering less time-consuming and less challenging alternatives

Other ways of development

- Online courses (OTA etc.) – detailed information later

- Attending professional events (conferences etc)

- Finding new resources – textbooks and/or supplementary materials

- Taking part in material evaluations, piloting projects

- Finding new formats and techniques - going digital (IWBs, Ipads, mobiles, apps

etc.)

- Taking part in projects, competitions

(Headway competition etc.)

many other ways according to individual preferences

Oxford Teachers’ Academy in detail

- Online self-study professional development

- Completion of the courses is certified by Oxford University Department for Continuing

Education

- Self-study with with elements of communication and sharing between participants

- Access for 12 months

- Access can be purchased by individuals or by institutions

- 2 courses are available now: Teaching English to Young Learners and Teaching

English to Teenagers

- Suitable for teachers with initial qualification and some experience

- 30 hours of core material spread – flexibility of use

- Media-rich, interactive learning encouraging reflection and critical thinking and providing

suggestions of possible answers and solutions

- Forum (chat and discussion)

OTA – general introduction

OTA – course structure

Session structure• Session aims• Activate• Discover• Try out• Evidence of learning• Further reading/resources

In order to get theCertificate of Completion , teachers have to submitAn Evidence of LearningJournal (evaluation criteria)

OTA – input in different ways (reading texts, videos, activities etc)

OTA – tasks and additional resources

OTA – tasks

OTA – downloadable reading materials

OTA – forum/sharing

Professional development plan

• Do you think you would like to engage in any of the professional development formats mentioned before?

• Which one(s)?• Make a rough plan

Any questions??

Thank you for your attention

Páli ÉvaOxford University Press

eva.pali@oup.com30/6933679