This
blog post is based on a 100-word proposal for TD Success Stories From Around the World
for the TDSIG Web Carnival on 24 February 2018.
It was submitted using the given brief:
It was submitted using the given brief:
- A
description of local context and what TD looks like there
- A
narrative account of TD initiative
- How
this could inspire and inform elsewhere
- How
PLN contributes to success
TD for CELTA teacher trainers is provided by Cambridge Assessment
English via Fronter. It takes a top-down, prescriptive approach to
successfully achieve its objective for standardisation.
Also
for the purpose of standardisation, all CELTA courses are externally assessed* initiating dialogues between external assessors, trainees and course tutors,
which can be extremely valuable for personal, course and centre development.
This establishes a connection from top-down to bottom-up development but is
fairly isolated and generally confined within the boundaries of Cambridge, the
specific course and the course centre provider.
Working
together on a CELTA course in Rome while sharing ideas and discussing
developmental issues around delivering initial teacher training, we thought how
wonderful it would be to connect with other like-minded trainers to share ideas
and discuss TD on a much wider, open platform.
We
looked to technology to deliver something completely different to the top-down
provision of Fronter and external assessment and came up with the idea of
creating a #hashtag group on Twitter and calling it #CELTAchat.
Meeting
top-down TD halfway, #CELTAchat is an example of a bottom-up initiative.
#CELTAchat provides TD in a
collaborative, global space on Twitter, taking a descriptive approach with
online monthly chats based on elected topics, summarised into blog
posts.
@GioLic1976 “Although
I've been a resident trainer in Rome for the last 5 years, I make it a point to
work at a different CELTA center every summer. I find that this has really
helped me develop as a teacher trainer as you get to observe how things are
done in different contexts. Darren and Fiona first came into my CELTA world in
Rome a couple of years ago. It was soon clear to me that we had a long story of
collaboration to write! It was probably one of our end-of-course espresso
breaks that did it. We all agreed that more bottom-up CPD opportunities were
needed for trainers and Fiona (our technology mentor) had the answer! “
@bellinguist “I became a freelance trainer to learn
how other centres and trainers approached the different aspects of the CELTA
course and to extend my knowledge. Now, with #CELTAchat, I can do exactly this
on a monthly basis as well as exchange good practice with so many other tutors.
Giovanni, Fiona and I would often chat and exchange ideas during our breaks or
at the end of the day, and we decided to open up the dialogue using social
media as the platform for our discussions.”
#CELTAchat was informed and inspired by #ELTchat and in turn could
potentially inform and inspire any group wishing to take the initiative for
bottom-up TD.
#CELTAchat
is on the first Monday of the month from 7-8pm
GMT/ 8-9pm CET on Twitter and then goes into asynchronous mode for 24 hours for
those trainers that can't make the live chat. Topics are suggested on the monthly Padlet that
gets posted a week or so before, then trainers vote & (hopefully) join in
the chat on the specific chosen topic for that month.
Any
group of teachers could potentially create a specific #group on Twitter for
teacher-generated, bottom-up, personalised TD. #groups can set their own
perimeters and boundaries in terms of participants and time and be as open or
closed as required providing flexibility. In terms of #CELTAchat, we have
a global audience of participants from all over the world. The chats are
not exclusively for CELTA teacher trainers - all trainers are welcome and we
are lucky to have both CELTA teacher trainers as followers and Trinity
CertTESOL trainers followers too.
The success of #CELTAchat, and any #group, is dependent upon its
PLN to generate monthly chats on a range of topics, sharing ideas and best
practice because as a bottom-up, online initiative it is teacher-led.
As
#CELTAchat is online using Twitter as the platform, participation encourages
successful development of digital literacies, for example:
- Using
social media for TD - e.g. Using Twitter
- Using
Tweetdeck or Tweetchat to follow #groups more easily
- you need to sign up for Twitter first
- Understanding how
hashtags work
- Following
threads in #chats
- Sharing
links
- Volunteering
to write summaries of chats
- Blogging
- summaries are written up on the CELTAchat blog
So,
how does it work?
If
you or your colleagues are teacher trainers and you haven’t got a Twitter
account - sign up. Put #CELTAchat in the search box in the
top right-hand corner and
write a Tweet to say hello - don’t forget to include #CELTAchat so we can see
your tweet. Follow #CELTAchat and the
participants in the chat.
Just
like initial teacher training courses, participating in #CELTAchat is
experiential, so just join in and give it a go!
TD
- Teacher Development
PLN
- Personal Learning Network
*a
situation currently undergoing change
By Fiona Price
By Fiona Price
