I will be offering the EAL in the Mainstream professional development course again this year to teachers and teacher’s assistants from all school sections. I really recommend investing your time in this course as it helps participants to develop and trial ways not just of supporting EAL students but also of teaching language through content in the mainstream classroom in general.
The programme;
- identifies the language-related needs of EAL students and develops teaching practices that address their needs in a holistic and explicit manner,
- develops teachers' awareness of how to accommodate the cultural and linguistic diversity and experiences of EAL students,
- provides a positive context for teachers to trial suggested strategies and reflect critically and openly on their teaching,
- shows how to develop collaborative working relationships between teachers (across subject areas) through a shared understanding of how to support ESL students. (Unlocking the World, 2015).
The course is taught over 9 modules (more info in the brochure) which will take place on Tuesday evenings at 16:00 in the Conference Room (2.012) As well as attendance, completion of the course also requires between-module assignments in the form of readings and practical activities you can carry out in your own classroom and then reflect upon.
Here you can find the official brochure from the course too, which tells you about the different modules.
If you would like to take part in the course, please let me know via email (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) by Friday, September 23rd.