ELTWeekly Issue#19, Worldwide ELT news

Feldman is Howard County Teacher of the Year

Kimberly Feldman had no idea what was happening when Superintendent Sydney L. Cousin and other top-ranking school officials entered her class at Oakland Mills High School with a bouquet of flowers.

Her students were thrilled by a mock trial lesson, which her principal said is indicative of the type of innovative, engaging lessons that make her a star teacher. It was these types of attributes that made Feldman the Howard County Teacher of the Year.

Read the complete news here: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/howard/bal-ho.teacher10may10,0,3281657.story

ELT schools feel pinch

Staff lay-offs will become inevitable in the English Language Teaching (ELT) industry, and schools may even have to shut down if student arrivals continue to drop, the Federation of English Language Teaching Organisations in Malta has warned.

Almost 57 per cent of the 23 ELT schools that took part in Feltom’s industry survey for the first quarter of this year reported a drop in student arrivals compared with the same period last year. Only 21.7 per cent reported an increase.

Read the complete news here: http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20090510/local/elt-schools-feel-pinch

British Council’s first English language teaching centre soon

Chennai , Apr 24 The British Council will soon open its first English language teaching Centre in Chennai , offering language courses for professional and personal development, specially tailored to needs of Indian learners.

The centre would initially open in three classrooms in the Regus Citi Centre, while existing premises on Anna Salai would be renovated, a British Council press release said here today.

The Council is equipped to offer courses to more than 750 adult students and would have 12 teachers from India and three academic managers from the UK.”All of them are specially trained to deliver courses using an interactive,&aposlearning through doing&aposapproach,”it said.

Read the complete news here: http://www.indopia.in/India-usa-uk-news/latest-news/557437/National/1/20/1

Teachers need education as well

ALL quarters of society lay great emphasis on the need for a qualitative improvement in education. The quality rhetoric usually focuses on a new curriculum or an improved education policy.

 

Therefore, each new government embarks upon curriculum reforms as a first step. Although the curriculum is an important factor in education, the key players who execute it in classrooms are teachers. It is a teacher’s interaction with students, teaching tools and the school environment that gives birth to a real and vibrant curriculum.

The notion of quality education is thus incomplete without the empowerment of teachers as quality education is hugely dependent on what goes on in class. The professional development of teachers is considered pivotal for the profession. In Pakistan, a number of teacher education colleges offer degrees and diplomas, such as M.Ed., MA Education, B.Ed., and others at different levels. But in the last six decades, although a large number of teacher training degrees have been awarded, the impact of trained teachers remains questionable.

Read the complete news here: http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/pakistan/11-teachers-need-education-as-well–07