ForumEducation - training "Code for Teaching"
We are in the final stages of completing materials for teacher training and in-service training.
The aim of this two-step course is to shift the focus of teacher trainers and teachers from traditional classroom management to self-reliant learning.
Get to know the self-reliant learner
Write your own CODEX (Code for Excellence in Education)
Shouting? Me? Never!Course aim
The overall aim of this course is to provide teacher trainers and teachers with the tools they need to initiate a general transition from traditional classroom management to guiding students towards lifelong self-reliant learning.
A number of concrete course goals that support such a general transition are reached in two steps:
Step 1 - Get to know the self-reliant learner
Understanding general human potential
Understanding individual human potential
Understanding the concepts of knowledge, skills, and individuality, and also how they interplay
Understanding the learning brain, and what happens during learning sessions
Understanding how learners realize their potential
Understanding how a learner's metacognitive level can be improved
Understanding how a practical framework that supports brain-friendly learning strategies and routines can be consciously obtained
Understanding the processes that transform potential into competence
Step 2 - Write your Code for Excellence in Education
The concrete goal for Step 2 is to get course participants to use what they have learnt in Step 1 to write a CODEX* (Code for Excellence in Education), and to improve their understanding of the roles teachers and learners play in a dynamic educational environment.
* A CODEX is a document that regulates the work within a school, institution, subject, etc., and generally includes the following headings:
Basic views on human potential, knowledge, the relationship between teaching and learning, and educational policies
Goals - Interpreting curriculum goals and getting the learner to set his or her individual realistic goals
Using the right resources
Planning
Method
Assessment
Evaluation
Participation
Target groups
Teachers of all subjects and at all levels will benefit from taking this course.
Prerequisites
Course participation requires
a level of English of at least intermediate+
basic computer and Internet competence
motivation and time
Method and course routines
Step 1 ...
is a rather theoretical and highly structured part of the course. The way to self-reliance goes through the eye of the needle. Participants read the book The Seven Keys to Self-reliant Learning, regarding Step 1 as a thinking project. Assuming the role of a language learner, they experience the practical aspects of becoming a self-reliant learner by designing their individual English language course plans and using a complete learning log. They regularly go on-line to get feedback and assess their progress, to find more information, and to interact with other participants.
Step 2 ...
provides further practical hands-on experience. Using a reference library, the Internet, guiding documents, interaction, and cooperation with colleagues, participants write a complete CODEX. The process involves analyzing political educational goals and curricula, formulating one's own views on humanity and human potential, defining one's own interpretation of the relation between teaching and learning, and setting up a practical framework for guiding students towards self-reliance. For guided instruction, a "dummy" and a sample CODEX are provided.
Fringe benefits
All participants become better learners (!)
All participants get first-hand experience of a well-structured and creative on-line learning environment
Non-native speakers of English improve their language skills
As the sample learning environment is an English language learning site, ESL/EFL teachers get first-hand experience of well-designed course materials for self-reliant language learning
