As part of our 70th-anniversary celebrations, we are delighted to announce the launch of IH Talks.
This is a series of engaging talks from our IH community delving into topics that are taking our industry by storm.
Dealing With Complacency as an Experienced Teacher. What are different ways you can push yourself and keep yourself engaged as a teacher when you feel like you’re hitting that wall of complacency? Phoebe Gomes from IH Palermo Language Centre did an IH Talk which will probably hit a note with lots of teachers. She has some great thoughts and interesting experiences about pushing her limits as a teacher.
Study Skills for Teens. James Egerton from IH Rome Accademia Britannica asked himself before the IH YL Conference in 2022 what he would have wanted to learn when he was growing up that he didn’t get taught. The answer was study skills. James shares techniques he has been developing to engage and motivate teen learners inside and outside the classroom. As well as some fascinating ideas and practical suggestions, James uses some beautiful metaphors.
Exploring Teacher Beliefs for Teacher Development. Understanding or being aware of the beliefs of a teacher allows for better communication in development and greater opportunity for development. Danny Norrington-Davies, Teacher Trainer from IH London, shares his own experience of working with teaching beliefs in this episode of IH Talks. He tells a fascinating story about how one teacher experienced a revelation about not only their own teaching but their behaviour in everyday life as a result of discussing and challenging their teaching beliefs.
This episode falls under the theme “Teacher Training and CPD”. “Observations should not only be useful but they should also be a positive thing”. Estelle Hélouin argues that observations need to change focus. They shouldn’t be something that teachers and observers dread. Instead they should be highly valuable developmental tools. How do we do this? Remove the paperwork and criteria. Focus on what the teacher wants to work on and the learning that is happening. One class cannot be seen as an isolated event, learning is an ongoing journey. If this sounds too revolutionary to you, hold that thought. Estelle presents a very convincing argument in this episode of IH Talks. See for yourself:
Have you heard of language coaching? Language Coach, Verdell Brookens-Capps, speaks in her IH Talks about what being a language coach involves, the differences between coaches and teachers and the relationship between the client and the coach. They cover the following questions: How does someone become a language coach? What does being a language coach involve? How do you establish a client base? What is the difference between a teacher and a language coach? How do you help the client understand their goals with coaching?
This episode falls under the theme “In the Classroom”. Want to develop confidence and skills such as public speaking and generating new ideas in teen and YL classes? Milena Montalbano, DoS at Team Lingue, discusses how she does this through the use of Ted Talks and Show and Tell sessions. Team Lingue introduced a project around this idea to build learners’ confidence in speaking a different language, the project has now been running for 2 years. Watch the full talk to discover what made students so motivated and engaged in the project.
This episode falls under the theme “The Role of the DoS”. Xana de Nagy offers fascinating food for thought regarding using thought-provoking storytelling in the classroom. Do you think stories can be too controversial for the classroom?
This episode falls under the theme “The Role of the DoS”. Lucie Cotterill explores how helping students and teachers reach their full potential is not about having the right answers but actually asking the right questions. She shares the five things that asking the right question at the right time does. Watch the full video to find out.
Teacher Talk Time, is it such a bad thing? Glenn Standish from IH Toruń tackles this topic in conversation with Christopher Walker in this week’s episode of IH Talks. Glenn explores when and how TTT can be valuable and shares some activities to help ensure it is used strategically.
This episode falls under the theme “In the Classroom”. Want to make your YL lessons more engaging and improve motivation? Andrea Littlewood from IH Madrid shares valuable techniques and activities in this week’s episode of IH Talks. She also highlights how motivating teachers can have a huge influence on learner’s engagement.
This episode falls under the theme “Voices from the IH Journal”. How can teachers develop word recognition subskills in listening with students learning EFL? Daniel Tse from IH Milan tackles this topic in this episode of IH Talks. Daniel works with Young Learners, teens, and adults across the full range of CEFR levels.
This episode falls under the theme “Voices from the IH Journal”. Pilar Capaul from IH Buenos Aires – Belgrano explores strategies and ideas for teachers to motivate students to read in language learning.
This episode falls under the theme “The Role of the DoS”. In episode 9 of IH Talks, Chloé Pakeman-Schiavone from IH Pescara, discusses how the Director of Studies can change the way they support their team by analysing what their team needs.
This episode falls under the theme In the Classroom. Do you practise social emotional learning in your school? Do you want to start practising it? In the latest episode of IH Talks, Jennifer Hillhouse from IH Bucharest explores elements of specific teacher training in the area and how it is key to implementing an effective programme.
Episode 7 of IH Talks is all about Concept Checking Questions. Stephen Tarbuck talks to Christopher Walker about why CCQs are a great learning tool for both students and teachers. Stephen wrote about his method for generating grammar CCQs for the IH Journal. In this episode, he discusses what lead him to focus on this topic.
This episode falls under the theme Teacher Training and CPD. How can experienced teachers encourage newer teachers to teach reactively and work with student-focused practice? Marie Pepper, DoS at IH Manchester discusses techniques she and her team use. There are some great takeaways from this episode!
Episode 5 of IH Talks is a must-watch for academic managers or those thinking of moving into academic management. Betti Sewell, DoS at IH Riga, gives an inspiring talk on the importance of building trust in school teams.
This week we have a fascinating conversation between Milena Montalbano and Marco Marzoli from IH Team Lingue and Chiara Passantino from IH Language Centre Palermo. Milena and Marco spoke about how language learners often struggle to interact fluidly in a conversation. They look at different practical ways to develop speaking subskills to keep the conversation alive, ask for clarifications, take turns, interrupt, respond naturally and appropriately, both verbally and non-verbally.
This week, Kata Ujvarosi, freelance EFL teacher and course designer, spoke to Christopher Walker, Editor of the IH Journal, about learning (and teaching) English as a process. Kata reassures teachers that they can’t do everything for their students and explores practical ideas to encourage learners to be more autonomous. She uses the appropriate metaphor of going to the gym and explores how learners need to be active in their learning and how teachers can personalise their teaching to motivate the students.
This episode is with Richard Chinn from IH London. Richard has recently published a book with Danny Norrington-Davies called “Working With Emergent Language”. As part of the research, Richard observed and supported teachers in carrying out dialogic reflections on critical moments from class. In this episode, Richard talks about the results of these reflections and tasks and prompts they included in their book to encourage this process.
This first episode is with Jennifer Holden from IH Palermo Language Centre! Jennifer talked to Lucie Cotterill about the importance of understanding women’s health and breaking down the stigma with both staff and students.