British Council pilots SHS and higher ed teacher development course with Central Colleges of the Philippines
British Council in the Philippines recently completed the delivery of the Academic Teaching Excellence (ATE) professional development course to 14 subject teachers from senior high school and college of the Central Colleges of the Philippines (CCP). The Philippines is the third country in Asia (after Japan and Vietnam) to offer the ATE course.
ATE is a foundation course in English as the Medium of Instruction (EMI), which was co-developed by the British Council and the University of Oxford’s Department of Education. It has been implemented since 2012 in many countries around the world, primarily in Europe. The course is an intensive week-long seminar designed for non-native English speaking college and university lecturers who teach their subjects in English, offering lecturers of all disciplines hands-on linguistic tools and teaching strategies in order to communicate their materials more effectively. It is not an English language course and would be beneficial to teachers with language levels of at least B2 in the Common European Framework of Reference.
The participants from CCP found the course very useful in improving their teaching strategies, particularly in the use of English in the classroom. “I did not expect that this training would give me more knowledge to improve my teaching style especially when dealing with students. I have been to trainings and so far this is the best above all,” shares one of the participants. Mr Aris Magmanlac, CCP’s Coordinator for Senior High School said, “the ATE course was truly a high-impact training for the Senior High School teachers of Central Colleges of the Philippines. The principles and techniques we gained from it are very useful in making our students learn their lessons while using English as a second language in a very interactive manner.”
The course coupled with methodological training in topics such as effective classroom management, student engagement techniques, and motivating classroom activities will help participants better deliver their lectures in English, improving student participation and learning outcomes.
The British Council believes that bringing the ATE Course to the Philippines will aid in the aspirations of higher education institutions to internationalise and for senior high schools to demonstrate impact by building on the lecturing and English language skills of their teaching staff.
The ATE course is designed as a five-day programme of workshops and microteaching. Mentoring and classroom observations may be included in the customisation of a holistic approach to teacher development in institutions, particularly in senior high schools. Enquiries about this course and the other teacher development programmes of the British Council may be sent to britishcouncil@britishcouncil.org.ph.