Speaker abstracts and presentations (Second Policy Dialogue)
Speaker’s Name
Abstract/Title of presentation
Mr David Graddol
Managing Director of
The English Company (UK) Limited and Author of ‘The Future of English’ (1997) and ‘English Next’ (2006)
David Graddol is well known as a writer, broadcaster and lecturer on issues related to global English. David's publications include ‘The Future of English?’, a seminal research document commissioned by the British Council (published in 1997) and, ‘English Next’, an analysis of global trends in English and English language education published in 2006. His work on English and globalisation is frequently cited in the media and has been influential in strategic management responses by governments and large organisations around the world.
David is Managing Director of The English Company (UK) Ltd which provides consultancy and publishing services in applied language studies and is Managing Editor for linguistics for Equinox books and journals and is joint editor of ‘English Today’.David previously worked for 25 years in the Faculty of Education and Language Studies at the UK Open University where he was responsible for developing open learning and audio visual materials related to the study of English.David has worked as a consultant on various ELT projects in China, India and Latin America since the early 1990s.
ABSTRACT: English in India: realising the potential
Most analysts agree that the availability of English-speaking workers has been a key ingredient in India's recent economic growth. But this conclusion raises many troubling questions, such as Does India have enough English speakers to support continued growth? Is English quite so important as the global economy is rocked by the recent banking crisis? And if not, what kind of English does India need? In this presentation I will examine these and other questions and describe how innovations in English teaching in vernacular-medium schools could transform the future of English in India.
Mr Ashok Sangwan
Additional Director & Deputy Secretary School Education, Government of Haryana, and Member Secretary, Utkarsh Society Ashok Sangwan is presently Additional Director & Deputy Secretary School Education, Government of Haryana, and Member Secretary, Utkarsh Society. Responsibilities include planning and implementation of ICT schemes for school education and coordination with Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India. He was a key resource in the conceptualisation, planning and installation of the Haryana EDUSAT network, which is one of the largest satellite education networks in the country. As Member Secretary of the Utkarsh Society, which is responsible for the implementation, operation and maintenance of the EDUSAT network, his responsibilities include day-to-day operation and management of the network, broadcast management, content development, coordination with the Indian Space Research Organisation and the user departments.
ABSTRACT: Edusat As An Effective Technology Platform For Delivering Uniform, Quality Education To The Largest Numbers.
With liberalisation and globalisation, the service industry has spurred the demand for qualified and suitably equipped manpower. Therefore, besides General Education, it has become imperative to offer opportunities for improvement of vocational knowledge and skills to enhance students’ employability. Quality education is still the domain of a limited number of institutions across the country. Delivering universal, quality education remains one of the most important issues for the government. The need is to reach out to the largest numbers with the best inputs. One viable alternative is to use Information and Communication Technology. EDUSAT has provided a platform to the States to carry out this task effectively and efficiently. My presentation will be about the use of EDUSAT in providing distance education and teacher training/ capacity building. It will have a brief presentation on the Haryana EDUSAT project and the need for English language training for education and employment: how EDUSAT can help bridge the gap.
Mr Gavin Dudeney
Project Director for the Consultants-E and author of ‘The Internet & The Language Classroom
Gavin Dudeney is Project Director for the Consultants-E. Author of The Internet & The Language Classroom (CUP 2000, 2007) and co-author of How To Teach English with Technology (Longman 2007). He has worked in teaching and training with ICT for 19 years. He currently spends a lot of his professional time in Second Life as Dudeney Ge, training educators to use 3D spaces in their teaching practice.
ABSTRACT: Continuous Professional Development and Self Access
This session looks at the use of language laboratories and self-access centres in continuous professional development for teachers, and covers a number of issues from software and hardware considerations through implementation and upkeep. We will also consider how the development and nurturing of 'champions', mentors and online support communities are key to the success of large-scale teacher development projects of this nature.
Presentation: Communities the Learn
Ms Thelma Umeh
English Language teaching (ELT) Manager for Nigeria
Thelma Umeh has nine years experience as an English Language teacher trainer. She taught English in a teacher training institution until she joined the British Council as the English Language teaching (ELT) Manager for Nigeria. A member of the pilot group for the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) course for teachers of English, she later became a trainer on the programme and also a coordinator, overseeing the progress of the programme in 7 states in northern Nigeria. Thelma has worked with the National Teachers’ Institute and the British Council in Nigeria on various teacher development projects over the past few years. She is at the moment overseeing a teacher development project by radio and has successfully rolled out one of the English global products for learners of English via the newspaper.
ABSTRACT
This paper is an overview of technology - based professional (teacher) training programmes in Nigeria. It selects as case studies, the Continuing Professional Development course for teachers of English and the Teacher Development by Radio Programme of the British Council in Nigeria and attempts to ascertain what needs assessment results led to the initiation of both projects. The impact of the two projects, both on teachers and the students, is then analysed. Finally, the paper highlights the benefits of using radio as a medium for teachers’ professional development and recommendations are made as to what pre-requisites are required for embarking on a project of this nature and magnitude. An analysis of the risk factors involved is made and suggestions proffered, on how these can be overcome.
Adam Edmett
Consultant - Microsoft
Adam, an Online Education Consultant, has an MA in Online and Distance Education from the Uk Open University and is currently completing a doctorate with Bath University. He has worked in the field of online education for the past eight years – specifically the design, development and evaluation of online courses and conducting research into web communities. Most recently he has been working with the Turkish Ministry of National Education to set up a blended teacher development programme with the aim of providing in-service training for around 26000 primary school English teachers in state schools across Turkey.
ABSTRACT
English Teacher Training Online (ETTO) has just completed its first pilot phase with some promising results. A subsequent evaluation has provided thought provoking feedback from participants and stakeholders. We’ll examine a number of areas which transcend the Turkish context, such as, the power, both positive and negative, of surveillance; the English teacher and a number of other key contributory factors to success. The aim is to set this particular example of blended learning within broader trends and other themes in the field of online education.
Sadhana Parashar (Sharma)
Education Officer (Academic Unit)
Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE)
As Education Officer in the Academic Unit of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), Sadhana Parashar is Program Manager for several projects, which include managing the Adolescence Education Programme (AEP) —a UNFPA-funded Government of India Project that involves reaching out to adolescents across the country as part of the Central Board of Secondary Education.
She also manages and coordinates with WHO (India) and CDC regarding a Global Health Survey among adolescents. She handles the CBSE ELT Project, a ten-year curriculum reform project funded partly by DFID through BCD, India. Its implementation stages involve designing, training materials, needs analysis, arranging workshops, financing exercises, arranging for consultants, resource persons and support material generation. In addition she has various other responsibilities and her skills involve the training of trainers, administrators and educationists. She has also organised several seminars and workshops on education.
Dr Geetha Durairajan
Head, Department of Evaluation
EFL University
Hyderabad
Dr Geetha Durairajan is head, department of evaluation, EFL University, Hyderabad. She teaches post graduate and research level courses in language testing, bilingualism and bilingual education and in teacher development and supervises research in ELT, (M Phil and Ph D.). Her research interests are primarily in evaluation for pedagogy and in problematising plurilingualism in educational contexts in India.
Rama Matthew
Professor of Education
Department of Education
Delhi University, Delhi
Rama Mathew is Professor of Education in the Department of Education, Delhi University, Delhi. Previously she taught at the Central Institute of English and Foreign Languages, Hyderabad where she was involved in English language education with specific focus on language teacher education and assessment for more than twenty years. She has worked with teachers at secondary and tertiary levels especially in the area of classroom based assessment. The projects she has worked on have essentially focused on concretising the notion of teacher as researcher in the classroom. She was Project Director of a national curriculum evaluation study (1993-98) called the CBSE-ELT Curriculum Implementation Study. Her current interests include language teacher education, online teaching and testing and qualitative approaches to curriculum inquiry. She is presently coordinator of a project in mentoring in collaboration with the Open University, UK, under the UKIERI scheme. She is also coordinating the English Language Proficiency Course for the students of Delhi University which will have an end test that will assess all the skills of the language.
Romola Rassool
Head English Language Teaching Unit
University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka
Romola Rassool is head, English Language Teaching Unit, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka. A visiting faculty in the MA in Linguistics program, she teaches second language acquisition, and Communication for Managers for the MBA and Postgraduate Diploma in Human Resource Management programs. She was also a part of the team of writers who designed the General English textbook, which is used by A/L students in Sri Lanka.
Presently a Resource Person of the National Institute of Education (NIE), assisting in programs related to Bilingual Education and Teacher Development in particular. She is a Member of the Standing Committee on English of the University Grants Commission, Sri Lanka and Member of the Board of Management of the Postgraduate Institute of English, Sri Lanka. Romola is also Secretary of SLELTA (The Sri Lanka English Language Teachers’ Association)
Nick Charge
Examinations Manager
University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations
Nick Charge is an Examinations Manager at the University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations which is in turn part of Cambridge Assessment, Europe’s largest educational assessment organisation. Nick’s background is in language teaching, teacher education and school management and before coming to Cambridge ESOL in 1994 he worked at language schools in Sweden, Indonesia, New Zealand and the UK. At Cambridge ESOL he has had responsibility for the development and management of a number of different ESOL examinations, including the International English Language Testing System (IELTS). His current responsibilities are for the development of Cambridge ESOL Teaching Award schemes and examinations for teachers and the Young Learners examinations. He also has joint responsibility for e-learning strategy within ESOL and for the deployment of a Learning Management System delivering training to internal staff and blended learning courses in English language to external customers
Dr Ray Mackay
M Ed from Edinburgh
Dr Ray Mackay has an M Ed from Edinburgh University and his PhD supervisor was Roy Harris, Emeritus Professor of General Linguistics, University of Oxford. His teaching career has spanned the globe - Kenya, Morocco, Scotland, Poland, the erstwhile Czechoslovakia. In India, Ray has worked on behalf of the British Council in Assam, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Orissa and West Bengal. Ray has written several books and his numerous articles have been published in international journals like the Modern English Teacher, English Language Teaching Journal and Practical English Teaching. Ray is also a farmer and a member of a crofting community in the Scottish Highlands.
Ray’s most recent work in India has been with the West Bengal Board of Primary Education, where he has led a team of local writers to produce new materials for the state’s primary pupils. The Year One pupil’s book is currently being used by 3.3 million learners in West Bengal and the corresponding Teachers’ Book and Teachers’ Companion are being used by over 200,000 primary teachers in the state. Ray has also conducted extensive trainer training in West Bengal to ensure that materials are delivered as close to the original design and purpose as possible.
Ray will make the presentation with inputs from members of the textbook team consisting in Jaya Biswas, Arindam Sengupta, Janajit Chakraborty, Suchibrata Gupta, Sipra Bhaduri, Indira Sarkar, Anup Ghosh, Aditi Roy, Kuheli Mukherjee and Bijoya Ray.
ABSTRACT: Developing teaching materials at state level
In this presentation, we shall try to outline what we have learnt, as a team, through participating in the West Bengal Primary English Project. We shall try to answer the following questions, before inviting more questions from the audience:
- The context: Who are the users? What came before? Who loses? Why now?
- The process: Who is involved? Who is left out? How is a writing team assembled? How is the team supported? How is the team maintained?
- The product: How is it prepared for? How are the teachers supported? How does it change the existing classroom reality? How is it received?
Rina Ray
An officer of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), She is currently the Secretary of Education, Sport and Culture, GNCT of Delhi. In her current role she has been responsible for introducing radical improvements in education across the entire spectrum, from pedagogy, curriculum, capacity building, ICT to Infrastructure. The reforms introduced by her have resulted in a marked improvement in the results of students over the last three years. Additionally, this approach has led to India winning Bronze Medal in the Beijing Olympic Games.
Alison Barrett
State Partnerships for Project English
British Council, India
Alison Barrett started her career as a teacher in a government school in a remote part of Nepal. Since then she has worked as a teacher and teacher trainer in Japan, Pakistan, London, South Korea and finally India, where she has worked with the British Council since 1998. Alison is a certified Cambridge CELTA tutor, a Local Distance DELTA tutor and has designed and conducted a range of programmes for Indian teachers from a variety of different contexts. She is currently the Head of State Partnerships for Project English and is based in Chennai.
ABSTRACT: YUVA’ Joyful Learning for Teachers and Students in the NCT of Delhi
The Department of Education in the NCT of Delhi has been focusing its efforts on developing a joyful learning atmosphere in its schools and classrooms. This has paid off as the pass rates have increased from 48% to 84% in the last 3 years. One major challenge has been how to give teachers and students the skills and confidence to use more English in the classroom.
Department of Education, NCT of Delhi and British Council have collaborated on an ambitious Teacher Development programme to train 40 Mentors, 400 Master Trainers, 4,000 teachers which will impact on one million government school students.
Duncan Wilson
Teaching Centre Manager
British Council, Sri Lanka
Duncan has worked for the British Council since 1991, with postings in Egypt, Dubai, Vietnam and Sri Lanka. He currently manages the large and vibrant Teaching Centre in Colombo, which has 5,000 students each term and a team of over 50 teachers. He is also the Manager of Project English for Sri Lanka, which has a well established reputation for developing and delivering both large and small scale capacity building projects in the Sri Lankan state sector, for establishing effective networks of Sri Lankan teachers and for providing advice and consultancy services to the ELT sector in the country.
ABSTRACT
The TELT (Training for English Language Teaching Communities) Projects were delivered by the British Council in 6 districts of Sri Lanka in 2004 and 2005, as a partnership with the Ministry of Education and donor-funders USAID and UNICEF. Utilising a cascade model of trainer and teacher training in order to reach some X teachers in mainly remote areas, the projects were considered innovative and effective at achieving high impact for relatively low cost and have formed the model on which the BC’s Project English for the Indian and Sri Lankan state sectors is based. In his short presentation, Duncan looks at the structure of the projects and highlights the key achievements, he also looks at the less effective elements of the projects and highlights the lessons that have been learnt and their implications for the design of future large scale teacher training projects.
Seamus Harkin
Manager ELT Projects
British Council, Sri Lanka
Seamus Harkin has been teaching and training for over 20 years in a variety of contexts including Italy, Portugal, Brazil, Costa Rica, Vietnam and Thailand. As consultant to the Colombian Ministry of Education, he led the teacher development strand of the ambitious Colombia Bilingüismo programme for five years. Now based in Sri Lanka he is part of the Project English team working with local teachers in India and Sri Lanka.
ABSTRACT
In this very practical workshop, participants take part in a series of awareness raising activities which focus on learning processes. Participants will then draw conclusions about helpful classroom routines and behaviours. The activities in this session were developed by the British Council to help teachers uncover their beliefs and re-evaluate their role in the classroom.
