www.tttjournal.co.uk4 The Teacher Trainer Vol 22 No 2

A checklist for organising and running aworkshop for teachersBy the ‘January Trainers’!

the ‘time on task’ which many teachersthink is the final one. It isn’t, of course: ifthe task is not a very learning-rich one, thentime on task could result in very littlelearning. And then you get into discussingwhat ‘learning time’ really is.

TW: Thanks, Penny. I am really going tothink about this!

ReferencesRyle, G The Concept of Mind (1949)London: Hutchinson

AuthorPenny Ur was educatedat the universities ofOxford (MA), Cambridge(PGCE) and Reading(MATEFL). Sheemigrated to Israel in1967, where she stilllives today. She ismarried with four children and fivegrandchildren.

Penny Ur has thirty years’ experience as anEnglish teacher in primary and secondaryschools in Israel. She has recently retiredfrom the headship of the M.Ed program inforeign-language teaching at OranimAcademic College of Education, but

continues to teach M.A. courses at Oranimand Haifa University.

She is interested in all aspects oflanguage-teaching methodology, but inparticular issues of fluency and accuracy inlanguage teaching, language-learningactivity design and the implications forteachers of the development of English as alingua franca.

She has published a number of articles, andwas for ten years the editor of theCambridge Handbooks for LanguageTeachers series. Her books includeDiscussions that Work (1981), Five MinuteActivities (co-authored with Andrew Wright)(1992), A Course in Language Teaching(1996), and Grammar Practice Activities(2nd Edition) (2009), all published byCambridge University Press.

A workshop could be anything from a 45-minute session for colleagues in a lunchbreak to a four-day event for people wehave never met, held in a residentialcentre. The participants might be a groupof colleagues who know each other well ora mix of teachers who come from differentbackgrounds, have different levels ofexperience and who have never met before.The topic might be set by the institution, asyllabus or requested by the participants(Ps) themselves.

Whatever the reason, topic or setting of theworkshop, we need to plan carefully andkeep lots of things in mind.

Below, we try to provide a checklist thatcould help you before, during and after theworkshop.

Before the workshop• You might prepare a questionnaire or letterfor the participants and circulate it to findout what their needs and expectations are.This might really help your preparation

• If you don’t have enough information onthe topic of the workshop, do someresearch by asking colleagues, findingarticles, books or searching for informationon the internet.

• Find out what you can about the venuee.g. how much space you will have andhow many break out spaces for groupwork

• Plan in participation by means of a varietyof interactive activities that will sparkconversation and insights (role-plays,discussions, debates, case studies) andthrough a variety of patterns of interaction(group work, pair work, individually); Thesewill ensure the workshop is practical andwill involve the participants more deeply inwhat is going on.

• Prepare the materials, e.g. handouts,multimedia presentations etc.

• Think about the feedback you will get fromthe participants during and after theworkshop. Prepare the aspects you wouldlike to be evaluated beforehand so thatyou can distribute any forms in theworkshop.

• If you need other people to do certainthings along with you, decide on who theyshould be, what their role is going to beand what they should do (e.g. technicalsupport, help with registration)

• Plan the time

During the workshop• Introduce yourself to the participants (Ps)with information about your workplace,your background, expertise in the targetsubject, etc;

• Introduce guests or other lecturers thathave been invited to help you and makesure participants can get to know at least alittle about each other in an interestingway;

• Remember to establish a friendly, non-threatening atmosphere so that attendeeswill feel comfortable to ask and answerquestions and discuss issues;

• Remind attendees to fill in the feedbackform and hand it in before they leave;

• Go through the workshop agenda with Psto briefly preview what will be covered andto clarify any queries;

• Find out as much as possible about the Ps’needs and expectations so that you canmake alterations in the agenda or adjustyour plans if necessary as it is often thecase that participants come who are notexpected or that needs have changes sinceyou were last in touch with participants ;

• Negotiate with Ps the ground rules; that is,whether questions can be raised at anytime or at specifically assigned times, forexample;

• Because you have planned lots ofinteraction, also be prepared to deal withunexpected issues that might crop up (Seethe Fridge System on page 6);

• Refer back to the agenda at differentmoments of the workshop to recap topics/issues already covered;

• Keep track of your timing to avoid delays(and using up Ps’ coffee breaks!) and toensure all points will be dealt with;

• Change pace according to your Ps’reactions;

INTRODUCTIONTrainers will sometimes be asked by theirinstitution to organise and run aworkshop for in-house, in-serviceteachers. At other times you might feelthe need yourself to offer a workshop topre-service trainees on an exam course.We are also sometimes invited abroad togive workshops to people we have nevermet before. This kind of training issometimes called Fly In Fly Out (FIFO).

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• Have a number of tasks up your sleeve togive to people who either finish activitiesfirst or are latecomers;

• Summarize / recap the content covered atthe end of the session and invite attendeesto make final comments;

• Suggest / collect ideas for the nextworkshop;

• Provide everyone with a list of all Ps’ e-mails so that they can contact one anotherand remember to keep a copy for yourself

• Collect the feedback forms or have a placefor them to be put in as people leave;

• Thank Ps and guests lecturers at the end ofthe workshop;

• Remind Ps to get their certificates beforethey leave.

After the workshop• Keep a journal or diary after eachworkshop so that you will be able torecord your feelings/perceptions,thoughts on your plans, alterations madeeither by yourself or at attendees`request;

• Analyse your own data after a whileaiming at self-development;

• Think about how to organise the datagathered from the attendees` feedback;

• Analyse the data qualitatively (forinstance: you can have an overallimpression which will lead you to takefurther action) and/or quantitatively (forexample: you analyse the frequency oftheir answers and find important patternsthat may occur) according to your needs;

• Compare the results from both analysesand draw conclusions in order to improvefuture sessions;

• Remember to promote contact amongthe participants via discussion forums,blogs, e-mails, and so on.

• It might be a good idea to write anarticle about your workshop sessionstaking into account the wide range ofgroups you have dealt with, theirbehaviour, needs, feedback andreactions. Subsequently, compare andcontrast all these data with your self-feedback.

When running workshops for your owntrainees or for in-service teachers atyour own institution bear in mind that:

• All the steps above also apply to thissituation;The data collected can help you:1. understand your trainees better and

cater for their needs;2. analyse the usefulness of the session

and plan follow ups;Whenever you observe teachers after thesessions, the whole process of observation(pre-lesson discussion, lesson planningimplementation, post-lesson discussion) willalso help you as feedback for your future

sessions, and also gives you an idea ofwhether the teachers are putting theworkshop ideas into practice or not; Try tofind out why they are putting some ideasinto practice or not.

The special case of the FIFOtrainer• Try to find out as much as possible aboutthe history ,geography, climate, clothing,language, politics and social context ofthe place you will be travelling to.

• Liaise with host. Double check all travel,visa, accommodation, insurance,currency, expenses, float, meeting andcontact arrangements.

• Arrange your fees and the time andmanner of payment.

• Receive, if possible, some backgroundinformation about the participants, e.g.their CV’s or a paragraph about theirmost recent training experience.

• Check with local helpers and make surethey see to everything you need for theworkshop (e.g. Handouts photocopied?Technical support?).

• When travelling take all your workshopnotes, one presentable blouse/shirt andyour target address in your hand luggagein case your bag goes astray and youhave to do the workshop without itscontents!

• After the workshop give the participantsyour email address and encourage themto get in touch with you should theyhave any queries related to the topic.

• Remember to collect feedback sheetsbefore you leave. Take copies if necessary.

• Having kept all receipts, claim yourexpenses, fees, etc.

• Send a thank-you letter or e-mail to thehost and school personnel who helpedyou.

• Write any reports required.• Summarise the content of the workshopin a Power Point presentation file andsend it to the participants and the host?

ConclusionThe checklist we have provided here is apractical overview of how to organizeworkshops from both the content andlogistics points of view. A very wellorganized workshop is an effective tool forimproving personal and professionalqualities of all those involved in it. Beforereading this article you might have thoughtthat being a teacher trainer and conductinga workshop would differ completely frombeing a teacher and delivering lessons.However, as you can see, the essence oftrying to get a message across, no matter ifin a language classroom nearby or in ateacher-training room, maybe even abroad,is the same. We are talking about thenecessary interaction among minds,

knowledge, environment and souls whichwill allow some learning to happen. For thisinteraction to take place, carefulpreparation, execution and reflection todecide on further action are demanded. Tomake your life simpler we have preparedthis checklist so that you can photocopyand use it next time you are preparing for aworkshop.

Reading leadswww.glsenco.org/Educators/designing.htm (case sensitive)

www.educationsense.org/events/camp/

www.ifuw.org/ifuw2007/workshops/guidelines.pdf (international federation ofuniversity women)

www.icab.be/downloads/WB_SampleChapter10.pdf

excerpt from The Workshop Book: FromIndividual Creativity to Group Action.

For more information or to order pleasevisit www.icacan.ca.

All sites accessed in January, 2008

Authors Ana Beatriz Rocha dos Santos (Brazil)Ana Paula Tavares de Moraes Silva Cypriano(Brazil)Anette Heidler (Germany)Celia Elisa de Magalhaes (Brazil)Cynthia Pamela Cohen (Argentina)George de Azevedo Madeiro (Brazil)Maria Karaivanova (Bulgaria)Vera Lucia Pasa Puerari (Brazil)

Eight of us teacher trainers got together fordiscussions on a course in January 2008 inBroadstairs, Kent, UK with TessaWoodward.