Rachel wins teaching award in China
Mon, 26 Mar 2012 12:07:00 BST
Rachel (Lu Dan), one of the teachers trained by the University in creative and student-centred learning techniques, has been awarded the Advanced Career English Teaching contest in Guangdong, China.
Teaching staff from the School of Education and Professional Development have been using techniques to train teachers across China in new ways of teaching. The University teaches an undergraduate top-up degree in China, the Education in Development BEd, at Guangdong Polytechnic Normal University. This link has led to the University successfully bidding to train staff from across the whole of China, in Guangdong, in a 12 month contract.
The contract involves training vocational teachers in creative and student-centred learning techniques, something which is in every day use in the UK but not yet in China. See the story about the contract here.
Rachel attended the course in June 2011 and trains English teachers in Shunde Polytechnic Guangdong. Mohammed Karolia, her trainer said that ‘she was a very proactive, motivated and participative student on the course who was always keen to learn and take on board new ideas.’
She entered the Advanced Career English Teaching competition, hosted by the Department of Education in Guangdong province. Over 50 colleges entered the competition, each choosing one member of staff. 18 were chosen for the final round, where she had to deliver a one hour teaching session. Rachel used an idea she had learnt in our training, where she used post-it notes in the shape of a thumb as a reward when students completed tasks and where the student with the most post-it notes received a present at the end. Rachel explained that ‘this resulted in the students being really active during the one hour teaching session and for which I won the first prize. I feel very happy and excited about it. Thank you once again for your useful method of encouraging students. ‘
