Teaching Teachers

I may have to do this over the summer. I don't know how. I especially don't know... wait for it... how to teach language teachers how to teach language.

So, what do you teach when you're teaching teachers to teach?

If it was me and depending upon the level / type of teachers, I would discuss some of the theories of Krashen, Cummins, and Swain and how they apply to the classroom.  Just to name a few.  You could always discuss sheltered instruction which encompasses a large array of strategies.

What if I told them, hey, you guys, find out about Krashen, Cummins, and/or Swain, and then tell us? then we workshop. Then we do some activity. I can reasonably be "the teacher" in that kind of environment. More like a coach than an instructor.

See, I don't know pedagogy. I'll look it up, but I don't want to start acting like I can give instruction on it. Ideally, if there were practical activities plus periods of reflection and self-assessment, then I could be the overseer. It'd make sense then to have roped me in and I could use some of my many years experience as a guide (which I'd make available for critical inspection too).

Basically, I can't be the instructor. But I could try out being the flashy workshop guru. Is that still teaching teachers to teach?

Think about what makes you a successful teacher and go from there.  Read up on the main theories of SLA and use it to support your pedagogy.

Think of you as a facilitator and periodically inject reflection and round table with what ever activities you decide to use. 

If you want links to readings for SLA, send me a message. 

Have fun.

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So how did it go?

Sartre's idea of hell was to be stuck in a garishly decorated room with two other people you don't get along with, my idea - well, one of my ideas - of hell is having to teach teachers how to teach.

You sure you're not channeling Dante?

Anyway, teaching teachers is my regular job now. Fifteen years previous experience got me the job, despite having had a stroke in the summer of 2014 (while teaching teachers). My previous uni cancelled my contract because of the stroke. My current uni has a strong teacher training program and was looking for someone with experience like I have. I wasn't ready to give up teaching as my previous school suggested. Despite my now limited mobility, I can still make it to the classroom and deliver decent lessons, albeit sitting down. The bad-I no longer can do the dancing monkey routine like I used to do sometimes.
 The good, I am no longer expected to be a dancing monkey by either my admin (god bless them for giving me the app to stay teaching in China), nor my student/trainees who express their love, support and appreciation everyday I hobble to class.

Teaching teachers is currently my heaven and saved me from hell. Just got my latest schedule today and we have three more groups of Chinese middle school teachers starting next week as one group is leaving Friday. I love this job!

 Old34, good on you mate!

My mother's dissertation was on teaching teachers to teach other teachers to teach.

Pretty much it came down to critiquing videos taken in classrooms and then designing customized coaching based on any weaknesses noted.

It came not to pass. Perhaps the FAO's plan to school the teaching students went bust or possibly she just believed me when I said I couldn't do it. Either way, I didn't teach teachers. Which is good. I realize China specializes in asking me to perform amateurish feats of strength and be miserable in half-assery, but teaching remains so novel to me I have no idea how I'd teach it to others. There's no way for me to say my methods and practices are universal. I have no background in pedagogical theory. I know for sure that I emphasize some aspects of learning and not others. I could teach teachers to teach if I first learned how, and I haven't earned how.

So as far as teaching teachers goes, too soon, man, too soon. Plus there was no indication it'd pay any better than an overtime rate so, pffft.

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Aint no Satan here. I can teach and I canteach teachers to teach. 15 years experience doing it. and it's my favourite part of teaching in China. Sorry it doesn't work for you.

All I know is: build up concepts; initiate practice; provide feedback. That requires that you have some grasp of your subject's concepts and some notion of suitably graded practice. That schema is so not universal and in the absence of some pedagogical foundation it's even more strictly restricted only to those things I have naively decided are okay for use in a classroom. So, me teaching teachers is a questionable proposition. But I can imagine how it could be fun to be involved with a group of people who wanted to learn about learning. Unfortunately for them, they're probably already acquainted with more of the subject than I am.

I reckon I'm probably pretty good within my area, and I don't know much of what's going on outside my area. One doesn't want especially to admit to limitation nor to overly entrench their current limits, but heaven's to betsy, if I can't say teaching teachers is an expert's job then how can I ask for lots and lots more money? /strategy

But I can imagine how it could be fun to be involved with a group of people who wanted to learn...

That's it in a nutshell - if the 'students' want to learn, the 'teacher' is in heaven; if the 'students' don't want to learn, the 'teacher' in in hell.

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 I don't know how this would go over in China but I did a lot of teacher training in Korea through the EPIK program.  I would use topical debates that followed  Dear Ann Landers. I would also pick up on other hot topics like Do you eat dogmeat?