We’re pleased to announce that we have another great teacher and speaker for June’s conference: Chuck Sandy of iTDi.
Chuck Sandy
Chuck is a teacher, teacher trainer, author & educational activist with 30 years of experience. His many publications include the Passages and Connect series from Cambridge University Press, the Active Skills for Communication series from Cengage Learning, and the English for Teachers course from iTDi. He is a frequent presenter at conferences and workshops around the world, and is a cofounder and director of the International Teacher Development Institute (iTDi).
Chuck believes that positive change in education happens one student, one classroom, and one school at a time, and that it arises most readily out of dialogue and in collaboration with other educators. This is the reason he has built a Facebook group with over 9000 teachers from 60 countries. It is also the reason he has worked to spread Design for Change across the world and why he’s become so devoted to the mission that drives iTDi.
You can read his blog at iTDi, follow him on FB or Twitter.
Chuck Sandy – Plenary: I’m Teaching. Why Aren’t You Learning?
- Why is there so often such a disconnect in language classes between what’s taught and what’s learned?
- How can the materials and methods we work with in class actually cause us to wind up with a take-away value that’s of questionable value?
I believe these issues arise in part because of an overreliance on one-dimensional materials rooted in methodologies that attempt to control learning. That is then amplified by an array of affective factors. What can we do to close the gap and increase the likelihood that what we hope to teach is not only learned but also usefully retained?
The answer may rest in activities and practices which rise up out of materials that are flexible enough to be used in a variety of ways at a wide range of levels and that promote critical thinking, collaboration and learner autonomy.
In this session, we’ll have a look at some commonly accepted models of teaching/learning before moving on to work with some activities and easy-to-implement techniques that encourage thoughtfulness, foster collaboration, and move learners towards autonomy while narrowing the gap between what’s taught and what’s learned.
With any luck, we’ll see that stepping back just far enough to allow learning to happen is perhaps the gentlest way of ensuring that our classes have real take-away value.
Chuck joins Penny Ur and Ken Wilson.
