Professional Development
Reflective Essay: Skills for Life
(1303 Words)
Embedding Skills for Life in ESOL Teaching: A Reflective Perspective
Skills for Life, particularly literacy, numeracy, and information and communication technology (ICT), are increasingly recognised as essential components of education. These skills represent fundamental competencies that students require in order to participate effectively in learning, employment, and wider society. The importance of developing these skills was highlighted by the Moser Report, A Fresh Start (DfEE, 1999), which reported that approximately seven million adults in England had literacy skills below those expected of an 11-year-old. This concerning statistic emphasised the need for teachers to identify opportunities to embed literacy, numeracy, and ICT within their teaching rather than treating them as separate areas of learning.
This essay reflects on my experiences of embedding Skills for Life within my teaching practice. In particular, I consider how the principle of “learning by doing” can support learner engagement and motivation. Research has suggested that embedding key skills within vocational and subject-specific learning can contribute to increased learner motivation (Roberts et al., 2005). My own practice has been influenced by Gardner’s (1983) theory of Multiple Intelligences, which I explored through a research project examining the learning characteristics of students within an ESOL class. This experience encouraged me to consider how different teaching techniques could be used to accommodate learners’ individual characteristics while simultaneously developing their language and literacy skills.
Multiple Intelligences and Learner-Centred Practice
Gardner’s (1983) theory of Multiple Intelligences proposes that individuals possess different forms of intelligence and may demonstrate strengths in different areas. For example, some learners may respond particularly well to physical and practical activities associated with bodily-kinaesthetic intelligence, whereas others may benefit from visual materials associated with visual-spatial intelligence. Although the theory has been subject to academic debate, it provided a useful framework for me to reflect upon the diversity of learning preferences and approaches within my ESOL classroom.
In an ESOL context, language and literacy development are fundamental. However, I found that these skills could be developed more effectively when incorporated into learner-centred and active-learning activities. Such approaches encouraged students to remain engaged with the task while continuing to use English for meaningful communication.
For example, I provided each student with a picture of a famous person accompanied by a short piece of biographical information. Students were also given grammatically structured questions and answers which they used to interview one another about their assigned person. This activity incorporated verbal-linguistic skills while providing students with a meaningful opportunity to practise spoken English. In a higher-level class, I extended the activity by asking students to obtain their information independently from the internet, thereby incorporating ICT skills alongside literacy and language development.
Initially, students were required to read the information and identify answers to a series of questions. They then worked with other students to ask and answer questions about their famous person, including where the person was from, their age, and an interesting fact about them. I subsequently collected the pictures and divided the students into groups. Each group had to ask questions and use the available information to determine which famous person I was thinking of. The activity was structured as a game-show-style competition, with the group that identified the correct person first declared the winner.
Although the activity was designed to be enjoyable, it also provided a structured opportunity for language development. I guided students towards producing complete questions and answers and supported the discussions taking place within the groups. In this respect, the activity demonstrated how literacy and language development can be embedded within an engaging and collaborative learning environment. It also reflected the principles identified within LLUK Standard BS1, which emphasises the importance of maintaining “an inclusive, equitable and motivating learning environment”. The competitive element, combined with interest and challenge, encouraged participation while ensuring that the development of English language and literacy remained central to the lesson.
Embedding Numeracy within ESOL
My experience of embedding numeracy within ESOL teaching provided another opportunity to develop key skills through practical and contextualised learning. On one occasion, I was teaching a class about nouns. I initially organised an outdoor activity in which students worked in groups to identify and describe objects in their surroundings. The activity took the form of a treasure hunt and encouraged students to interact with their environment while developing their vocabulary. Following the activity, students wrote descriptions of the objects they had found and presented their findings to the class. This provided a progression from identifying concrete objects to using nouns in more meaningful linguistic contexts.
I subsequently developed this activity around the theme of shopping. I wanted students to become familiar with prices and the language associated with purchasing goods. I therefore collected newspapers, magazines, and door-to-door advertising flyers containing a combination of written information, images, and numerical data. Students were asked to examine the materials, read the information, and select eight objects. They then cut out the relevant images and attached them to a large sheet of paper. This incorporated a practical, bodily-kinaesthetic element into the activity while simultaneously requiring students to engage with written language.
The prices of the selected products were deliberately omitted. Students were required to write descriptions of their chosen objects in preparation for a subsequent selling activity. On some occasions, I adapted the activity by using computers and asking students to create their own catalogues. This variation also provided an opportunity to embed ICT skills while reducing the practical preparation and clearing-up associated with the paper-based activity.
Once the catalogues or displays had been completed, students worked in groups to estimate the prices of the products selected by other groups. The activity developed both spoken English and numeracy because students had to discuss possible prices, justify their estimates, and communicate their decisions to their peers. I structured the activity as a version of The Price Is Right, explaining that students could not guess above the actual price of the item. The student or group whose estimate was closest to the actual price was declared the winner.
This activity demonstrated how numeracy can be embedded naturally within an ESOL lesson rather than taught as an isolated skill. Students were required to interpret numerical information, estimate values, compare prices, and determine whether their answers were higher or lower than the actual price. At the same time, they were developing vocabulary, sentence construction, listening, speaking, and collaborative skills. The competitive and practical nature of the activity also appeared to increase student engagement, demonstrating the potential value of contextualising essential skills within meaningful activities.
Reflection and Continuing Professional Development
In conclusion, this reflective discussion has demonstrated how my exploration of Gardner’s (1983) theory of Multiple Intelligences contributed to my understanding of learner diversity and informed my approach to embedding key skills within ESOL teaching. This work formed part of my ongoing continuing professional development (CPD) and encouraged me to reflect critically on how different teaching approaches could respond to individual learners’ needs.
My experiences have reinforced my belief that literacy, numeracy, and ICT should not necessarily be treated as additional or separate components of an ESOL curriculum. Instead, they can be incorporated naturally into meaningful learning activities. Literacy can be developed through reading, writing, speaking, and listening activities, while numeracy can be embedded through practical contexts such as telling the time, handling money, comparing prices, and purchasing goods. Similarly, ICT can be incorporated through research activities, collaborative projects, and the creation of digital resources.
Embedding these skills within ESOL teaching can therefore provide learners with opportunities to develop several competencies simultaneously. It also enables learning to become more relevant to students’ everyday lives and encourages active participation. Most importantly, my experience has reinforced the importance of “discovering, respecting, and meeting individual needs” (FENTO, 1999). Through reflection and continuing professional development, I aim to ensure that my teaching remains inclusive, learner-centred, and responsive to the diverse needs of students.
References
Further Education National Training Organisation (FENTO, 1999)
Moser, C. (1999), A Fresh Start. London: DfEE. Retrieved on 15 June 2008 from http://www.lifelonglearning.co.uk/mosergroup/
Roberts, C., Baynham, M., Shrubshall, P., Brittan, J., Cooper, B., Gidley, N., Windsor,
V., Eldred, J., Grief, S., Castillino, C. and Walsh, M. (2005), Embedded teaching and learning of adult literacy, numeracy and ESOL: Seven case studies. London: National Research and Development Centre for adult literacy and numeracy.
Professional Development through Thoughtful and Philosophical Teaching
(997 words)
There are always areas of any profession people are in to which they feel may need change and/or improvement. Teaching is no exception. Any teacher needs to be enthused to bring light to new areas of interest in their line of work. Having read many articles on professional teacher development I came across a document that inspired me with some core beliefs. It made me read more, delve deeper, and look at a specific area of the teaching profession that I hope empowers me. The document is ‘Teaching: the Reflective Profession’. It was published by ‘The General Teaching Council for Northern Ireland (GTCNI)’ to show competence for reflection and discussion. It was written to address the issues and recognise the complexities of teaching. In this appraisal, I will address how this document gave me an insight into an area I feel may be missed by teachers in their daily toil.
To begin with, one true fact is that children need to develop not just as ‘rounded individuals able to prosper in the world but, as importantly, to live together in a culture characterised by tolerance and respect for diversity’. These words speak volumes when I consider the position and the factors I face every day with my school. From observations of various teachers in my school, I feel, they do not, in reality, recognise their students’ true needs for the outside world they will be entering. The teacher is usually sat at a desk. A microphone is always used because the students are so loud. The students are there solely as listeners in nearly every subject. The situation reminds me of Charles Dickens ‘Hard Times’ where the students were learned facts and imagination were not on the syllabus. There seems to be no thought process involved. I see students turning off, then, just copying other people’s work to get a mark. I feel it is a culture of, ‘It’s there if you want it’ mentality. The brighter kids are at the front and the ones that really need help are at the back where there left behind. This cannot help them to survive in the real world. The students are only worried about final marks not what went into getting that mark, be it copying or cheating.
The feeling I get is that every teacher has to have an ethical basis and moral purpose to their teaching work. This means involving all the students with challenging material and getting them interested in learning. In many ways, they need to learn about how to learn. The documents state teachers should be ‘prepared to experiment with the unfamiliar and learn from their experiences’. Varying the strategies in teaching highlights the adaptability of teaching and the students’ abilities. It is true that each student’s learning and abilities differ. I also feel that the teacher’s integrity relies on the fact that variation not only makes the classroom an interesting place to be, but also the students feel a sense of worth and power their learning. This, in turn, develops the power of knowledge and creative minds. To be a true teacher your moral conscious should ask you, am I just doing a mundane job or am I creating a learning experience that not only interests you but also the students?
Moreover, Christopher Day in A Passion for Teaching reminds us that ‘Teachers, now, are potentially the single most important asset in the achievement of a democratically just learning society.’ He goes on to confirm that a central part of our mission is to develop and sustain within our pupils a sense of self-worth and to create for them an understanding as to present and future possibilities. The General Teaching Council for Northern Ireland (GTCNI) emphasises the integrity of a teacher valuing each student’s needs and value of education that pushes and challenges them. This enlightens me to my teaching not only as an educator but also a moral agent. A teacher as a moral agent opened my thinking because I have put so much work and study into my teaching. At the same time, I feel I have not given much of that time to recognise the moral and social purpose I hold within the school and community at large. I realise you have to be a responsible educator who wants to help shape young minds and impart moral values. My integrity, as a teacher, must also rely on the fact that I see an educational potential and development in every student. The Charter for Education states ‘education is the path to self-realisation, personal fulfillment, civic well being and economic prosperity’. This statement goes beyond what a teacher I think could be constrained with, within a curriculum. A teacher’s moral commitment allows him or her to see any student as a person who is growing up in the world. This person needs to be taught to, not only learn and value learning but also him/herself as a person. They need to see school not just as a place they are sent by their parents. The teacher as an educator has to apply a code that realises all aspects of life. This will get the students ready for the world far beyond life in school. The GTCNI’s document proposes ‘creative and innovative approaches’. They want pupils to ‘think creatively’. I strongly feel that a teacher as a moral agent must realise this purpose in education. This allows the students to feel as they are worth their place in the school and class and the world they live in.
In the appraisal, I feel I have shown how a deeper understanding is needed to push the teacher forward with moral purpose. This, I think, gives the teacher a greater role as an educator not just as a teacher. There is a reason students come to school and that is to better themselves. This means the whole person and it is the (teacher) educator who as the wiser must adhere to the highest principles.
References
Christopher Day, A Passion for Teaching, published by RoutledgeFalmer (www.routledgefalmer.com).
General Teaching Council for Northern Ireland
Teaching – The Reflective profession
Available from http://www.gtcni.org.uk/uploads/docs/GTCNI_Comp_Bmrk%20%20Aug%2007.pdf
Hard Times- For These Times. is a novel by Charles Dickens, first published in 1854
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Professional Development results can come in many ways
A report of the dissemination you have carried out to inform colleagues/teachers (either in your own school, neighbouring school or LEA), or young people, governors, parents. This report will include what they have learned from the process of dissemination (approximately 1,000 words).
I was on a teaching course for two months and tried different ways to promote professional development. I would like in this report to give an account of the benefit of the distribution of my efforts. One major fact involved in these endeavors, I found is that some teachers are inexperienced to teaching/professional development. It meant I had to look deeper to see salient points that highlighted recognition of the work I had been completing. I must say I did this report against some barriers, that being the Asian way of teaching which entails the students just listening to the teacher in a very passive way. The students must believe every word that comes out of the teacher’s mouth as these young minds sit in quiet obedience. It can be hard to change people’s methods in a short time. It is true the students dare not ask leading questions to their teachers which I must admit mildly extended to me but perseverance for professional development is a must.
The initial awareness of my development came through surveying 50 student’s ideas as to what a good teacher should be like. I noticed that there were high scores for most of the questions even though some questions were polar opposites. You either had to think one question was right and the other wrong, not the same. I questioned the answers the students gave and proposed my uncertainty to my colleagues. It certainly made them think about how the students answer surveys and the feeling was that, do they really understand what they are doing when they answer questions? It was noticed that the majority of the students just fill in the form not knowing what they are doing while others copy. It held true with my colleagues because the students were given a questionnaire by our training centre at the end of each term where they had to give a points score for their teacher. My colleagues firmly believed and used my evidence when the manager came to say that the students can not give a true representation of a teacher’s lessons by a score card.
I would like to add that through my survey of 50 students which I had designed the questions; the scores, as mentioned, did not seem to add up. I decided to let the students come up with the questions. I reviewed and edited it completely. This led to better results and a better understanding from the students on how to complete the survey.
I can certainly say that I have changed perceptions of teaching and shown a few teachers how I think a positive thinking teacher should teach. For example, I was asked by one teacher to help her teaching her class strong adjectives. The teacher’s approach was to just give the students pronunciation practice. I did the lesson in a constructive approach leaving time to have the students produce spoken sentences. She mentioned to me that she thought the material I used was great. I took the opportunity to explain that the book had many words that were too much for the students.
I also spoke to her about the students copying. I wondered how they can learn. She said ‘oh, when the test comes they will fail’. Basically, it was the students’ problem, not hers. It was attitudes like this I came up against. This teacher had already mentioned a few times that the students were bad. This led me to think that it was their learning skills, not their ability that was holding them back. It was examples like these that made me even more determined to show these teachers how students should learn in class. This meant creating a learning environment when they have to think for themselves. I did have some feedback from one teacher who said that the students enjoyed learning with me and found my lessons interesting. I had a chance to explain to this teacher that if the lesson is interesting and thought-provoking the students will feel they are part of a learning process.
Moreover, I have been continually giving advice to other teachers. This I found irritating at times. For example, I decided to teach one lesson for a teacher for him to see teaching from a new angle. I used one of my lesson plans that I felt fitted in with a more relaxed approach as this teacher had been told he was putting too much effort into his teaching. I showed him that with the right approach he can get the students doing the work for him and he just has to facilitate them and coax them along during the lesson keeping them on a learning path. I then observed him the next day teaching my lesson. In the feedback session, he did not really give me a great response when I asked him about my lesson and how well his lesson went doing my demonstration class. I wondered why he was evasive, was it he was not used to professional development, was it he was scared to show his failing, or was it he felt I was I intruding? I actually thought at one point that I should slow down on the teaching conversations. I wondered how I could help him with his teaching. The fact was the following days after I felt he began to notice how I worked and the detail I put into teaching. I began to see examples of professional development coming through. I saw his new sheet for his lesson plan. It looked not too dissimilar to my lesson sheet I had done with him and some of my material which he had seen on my desk. I also realized he was asking more questions and enquiring what I thought he should do for this learning process. At least, the advice was slowly getting through.
Overall, you must expect professional development to be a bit alien to some and teachers not enthused over trying new methods. However, the benefits are certainly there.
(1007 Words)
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