#ELTchat Summary 14 March Professional Development for Teacher Trainers

 Who was around?

Today’s topic is Professional Development for Teacher Trainers – Who is around? #eltchat pic.twitter.com/ViHB0n24Af

— Angelos Bollas (@angelos_bollas) March 14, 2018

Moderators: @angelos_bollas @Marisa_C @SueAnnan @tesolmatthew

Participants: @fionaljp @KateLloyd05 @whatisit @Patrick_M_Huang @este_moscow @aydanacaryavuz  @SproulBreana @ddeubel @adi_rajan  @scottroydouglas

What we talked about

The chat included ideas and information about teacher trainer professional development in the following areas:

• Online resources
• Journals
• Conferences
• Sharing ideas
• Training courses and Qualifications
• Books 
• Blogs

Online resources

We all agreed that CPD was out there online. However, as @angelos_bollas pointed out, there is far more focus on teaching and learning than on teacher training.

Do you think trainers do much, though? Most PD opportunities seem to be focused on teaching, not on training #eltchat (e.g. local conferences, workshops, 2-day seminars, etc.) https://t.co/mLFDz1uDaq

— Angelos Bollas (@angelos_bollas) March 14, 2018

He also made a very valid point that a trainer’s workload on full-time courses, sometimes even doing back-to-back courses, can restrict opportunities for PD.

One of the reasons for limited PD activity among trainers is the work itself. A full-time trainer works 40hrs/week non-stop (if not more). A full-time teacher (should) work half that time. #eltchat

— Angelos Bollas (@angelos_bollas) March 14, 2018

Then #CELTAchat got a mention – a monthly online chat inspired by #ELTchat and specifically for CELTA and Trinity CertTESOL teacher trainers –  as a source of online CPD.

@fionaljp added that @JoGakonga has created a site for trainers – TeacherFeedback.ORG

There is also CELTATrainers.com and @SueAnnan told us that there is a portal for Trinity CertTESOL trainers to share ideas and queries too.

@SueAnnan suggested watching Gabriel Diaz Maggioli on YouTube for his training ideas.

@fionaljp provided a link to her Scoop.it topic: Teacher Training, Reflection & Development

Journals

@angelos_bollas mentioned that The Teacher Trainer Journal had published an article about #CELTAchat this month. The Teacher Trainer Journal is specifically for teacher trainers and a great source of practical ideas for professional development.

@tesolmatthew mentioned elted journal as a go-to journal. However, @scottroydouglas noted that the last issue seems to have been December 2016. 

@scottroydouglas then shared links to three, free, open-access Canadian journals:

Canada has some free and open-access journals you might like checking out #ELTchat:

TESL Canada Journal (@TESLCanada): https://t.co/eDkMFtV2lQ
Canadian Journal of Applied Linguistics (@ACLA_CAAL): https://t.co/wXh1GFysHd
BC TEAL Journal (@bcteal): https://t.co/Ud495zWM9m

— Scott Roy Douglas （スコット） (@scottroydouglas) March 15, 2018

Conferences

@Marisa_C told us about the Cambridge English Teaching Awards Symposium, which took place in Sheffield last year. This conference has a specific focus on the trainer and training.

@SueAnnan highlighted IATEFL, which is being held in Brighton this year, and the fact that there are lots of sessions aimed at trainers and teacher training.

Sharing ideas

Despite the increase in online chats, it was felt there seemed to be a general lack of sharing training activities and that any sharing was generally restricted to between colleagues and within the confines of individual centres. 

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Not all. I think there can still be a wee bit us and them #eltchat

— Sue Annan (@SueAnnan) March 14, 2018

@fionaljp suggested making sharing input session training ideas a topic suggestion for the next #CELTAchat in April and, if voted for, creating a platform for this to happen.

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Maybe this could be a #CELTAchat topic – sharing training activities #ELTchat

— Fiona Price (@fionaljp) March 14, 2018

@tesolmatthew said that in his experience trainers don’t share unless prompted. He said that when he’s asked, he has found a sometimes enthusiastic willingness to share and compare input sessions and assignments.

I work with 40 other trainers in a sort of loose team, Celta and non-celta, and not one of them shares activities unless you’re team training with them. There just isn’t a culture of sharing. #eltchat

— Adi Rajan (@adi_rajan) March 15, 2018

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js Matthew wondered what the reasons were for this and felt maybe it was a question worthy of research.

@fionaljp referred to @JoGakonga again as she has recently set up a new page at CELTATrainers to share resources . 

@tesolmatthew mentioned that there is a share element set up on CELTATrainers.com but it was pretty much cobwebs.

Training Courses and Qualifications 

@angelos_bollas told us about a new course in Athens called Train the Trainer Course and asked what we would have liked to know about on such a course. Responses included experiencing being observed and observing with practice acting as a trainer and giving feedback. Angelos also asked what we could do for our own CPD and comments included teaching – getting back into the classroom, experimenting with new ideas and keeping up with research.

@SueAnnan shared a link to training courses from the British Council.

@fionaljp put forward the option of becoming an online teacher trainer and doing an online training course.

@este_moscow talked about how she was getting on with doing her DELTA and her plan to do an MA and become a trainer.

@Marisa_C and @angelos_bollas discussed their experience of doing an MA in pursuit of professional development. Angelos told us how his MA lacked a focus on teacher education. @Kate said that was one of the great aspects of the DipTESOL as it includes a whole section on it.
This was followed by an interesting discussion about doing trainer development modules: 

Good idea – I took one at Reading Uni with Jon Roberts, first time I got into the background of teacher education #eltchat

— MarisaConstantinides (@Marisa_C) March 14, 2018

Books
The chat included an interesting discussion about lesser known (in my opinion) books for trainers:

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A book of activities for trainers https://t.co/FpZQ5M6LuU #eltchat

— MarisaConstantinides (@Marisa_C) March 14, 2018

… and for teachers in training: 
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Me too. I also like Gower’s Teaching Practice book https://t.co/ufikEX8gB1 #ELTchat

— Angelos Bollas (@angelos_bollas) March 14, 2018

@tesolmatthew told us about John F. Fanselow’s new book

Blogs
@ddeubel shared a link to his blog that has lots of wonderful resources for teacher training:
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Try my https://t.co/0NxtPXITy7 Lots on there. Never put anything behind a paywall for TTs. Also lots on my blog or EFL Classroom. I still spend time each week replying to teachers with resource requests and advice. Just what you have to do as a trainer … #eltchat

— David Deubelbeiss (@ddeubel) March 15, 2018

Another great blog with a focus on teacher training was mentioned:
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This one? https://t.co/4GEx7TYMto #eltchat

— Fiona Price (@fionaljp) March 15, 2018

And finally, not mentioned in the chat but will include now, the CELTAchat blog.

Here is a Padlet with all the links above mentioned under the various headings:

https://padlet.com/embed/cdu3z46jrgpd

If you’d like the link to this Padlet, click on the icon in the top-right corner to open in a new window and save. 

Does anyone know where the next CETA symposium will be?  If so, and/or if you can think of any other sources of teacher training development, please add to the Padlet… 

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