Reaching out to teachers: INSET and CPD at university Kevin Watson Department of Linguistics and...

Reaching out to teachers: INSET and CPD at university

Kevin Watson

Department of Linguistics and English Language

Lancaster University

k.d.watson@lancaster.ac.uk

INSET at Lancaster

Rationale (1)

– teachers feel they lack knowledge (/confidence) in particular areas of EL

– they don’t get to hear about new research until it is published

– they don’t have time to find & read new journal articles

INSET at Lancaster

Rationale (2)

– allows the Dept to make connections with the FE community

– cost neutral– we find out what students are taught before they get

to us– we create potential allegiances for research

INSET at Lancaster

What we do: in brief

– conference for teachers of A Level English Language– talks in schools/colleges– MA in English Language– online resources for teachers

What we do

Conference for teachers of A Level English Language

– runs every two years, at end of June– 5 x 1 hour sessions– lectures and workshops by members of the

department– panel/discussion session at end of day– focus on providing resources– …and sharing ideas

What we do

• Talks in schools & colleges

– To teachers and pupils– Relevant areas of the EL syllabus– Present some work in progress with some

background/extract of data analysis/provide some data/description of the state of the art

– Remove the ivory tower

What we do

• MA in English Language

– Started in 2005: full time, campus based MA– To start in 2008: part time, distance version

Online resources

• Fast access resources• Pre published material• Point of contact for teachers and pupils• www.englishdialects.co.uk

Benefits

• For A level teachers

• For A Level students

• For HE depts

• For HE students

Co-ordinated effort

• Distance of travel– (teachers generally don’t travel too far from

home)

Co-ordinated effort

• Distance of travel

• Areas of expertise– (even if same broad area is covered in

multiple places – e.g. accents and dialects – the focus will likely be different)

What there needs to be

• A co-ordinated effort

• Schools & FE to tell HE what they want

• HE to be receptive to it

• An awareness of the mutual benefits of this kind of collaboration