British Council / Trinity: TYLEC course

• You will receive 34 hours of compulsory workshops on your TYLEC.
• These input sessions are intended to develop your existing knowledge and confidence when it comes to teaching your YLS, particularly in relation to use of age appropriate resources, classroom management and lesson planning.
• Workshop topics include Promoting Literacy by Exploiting Readers, Learning & Language Acquisition Theories, Task Based Learning, CLIL, and Classroom Routines and Management to name but a few! 

• You will be observed for five hours in total. One of these observations will be an unassessed diagnostic lesson. The other four hours will be divided into four assessed one hour observations. Where possible you will be observed teaching your own young learners.
• Your tutors will give you detailed guidance in the initial stages of the course in relation to lesson planning. As the course progresses, the amount of supervision and guidance will decrease.
• When possible your teaching will be assessed by two different course tutors so as to give you the opportunity to benefit from the widest possible range of teaching experiences.

• You will be required to observe your peers for a minimum of 6 hours in total.
• After each observation you will need to write an entry into your guided observation journal reflecting on for example, what you have learned as a result of your observations.  

• Guided observation journal (10%)
• Developmental teaching practice and action points journal (10%)
• Teaching practice and reports (observed lessons) (60%)
• Materials assignment (20%) – This will be externally moderated by Trinity College London.

• You will be required to write a 600 to 700 word report for Trinity about a set of materials that you have used during your teaching practice observations.
• During the interview with the moderator at the end of the course you will need to demonstrate what you have learnt about the effectiveness and limitations of certain materials, and their methodological implications.
• You will be assessed not only on your written work, but also on the content of the moderation interview itself and, as such, you will need to demonstrate your communicative, analytical and reflective skills in discussion with the moderator.
• To help you to prepare for your moderation interview, you will be given a chance to do a dry run with one of your TYLEC tutors. 

• To pass the course Trinity requires that you pass each individual element of the course.
• Once you have passed you will be the proud owner of your internationally recognised TYLEC certificate!

• 34-hour Input sessions will start from 7 April to 13 April a five-day course.
• Peer observations and teaching practice observations will continue until June.
• External moderation by Trinity College London will be scheduled on 10 December.

• Each TYLEC course segment will run subject to the collection of 8 course participants overall.
• For school partners who would like to reserve places for 8 candidates or more additional input, teaching practice and moderation dates can be arranged.
• The input only TYLEC is available subject to demand. On completion of the 34 hour input session programme and the submission of a completed input diary, the successful course participants will receive a British Council certificate of completion rather than the internationally recognised Trinity TYLEC certificate. 

STEVEN MURRAY: COURSE DIRECTOR / TYLEC TRAINER

I think we’re really lucky here in Taiwan having such an experienced and highly qualified group of teacher trainers. As a team we try to help our course participants get the maximum benefits from the input sessions, teaching practice observations and the various reports that they have to complete as they work their way through the TYLEC. 

It’s really difficult to choose my favourite part of the TYLEC since each element of the course plays an important role in terms of helping teachers to develop their repertoire of skills in the young learner classroom. However, when you see even experienced young learner teacher’s eyes pop wide open when they realize that they’ve successfully implemented a new teaching strategy then that can be very rewarding indeed.    

RACHAEL SARGENT: TYLEC TRAINER

I think the TYLEC is fantastic for teachers because it can give them support in a real classroom setting on fundamental topics such as class management and adapting course books. Sessions are hands-on and communicative reflecting the style that is expected in a modern young learner classroom.

The teaching practice observations were really worthwhile for the course participants because they learned to reflect on their own teaching methodology and after the course has finished can continue to improve using the skills that they have developed.

The thing the course participants appreciate the most about the TYLEC is that they receive a certificate that is recognized worldwide. It is a definite asset for career minded teachers as it is also proof for future employees that candidates have been observed in the classroom and met high standards set by accredited trainers.

JEREMY BEACOCK: TYLEC TRAINER

Being a TYLEC trainer has been a great experience for me. I've greatly enjoyed sharing my own ten years of experience as a young learner teacher with the TYLEC trainees, and have learned a lot from listening to trainees' experiences and observing their teaching styles. In particular, the observations have been fascinating. It's been great to watch teachers develop over the course, and to feel I've played a role in developing their strengths in the classroom. 

Overall, I feel the TYLEC provides an excellent route to help develop your skills in the young learner classroom. It offers a chance to reflect on the experience you already have and, through the input sessions, a chance to learn more about the methodologies and approaches that best suit young learners. What's more, the coursework and observations give you the opportunity to incorporate these ideas into your classroom practice and hone your teaching skills in a supportive environment. 

JOEL FINNESTAD

I've been involved in the TYLEC course at the British Council in Taiwan in a variety of ways, including delivery of input sessions, teaching observations, and evaluation of written assignments. The greatest reward for me has come from the positive feedback shared by the course participants. In particular, hearing that the TYLEC experience has helped teachers in the classroom in immediate, practical ways is great news, as this is the aim of much of what we prepare.

The TYLEC stands out from the countless teacher training courses offered online, because it provides live, "hands on" input sessions.  It’s one thing to read about a particular teaching technique, and quite another to get to try it, and to talk about it in a workshop environment with your peers. The observed teaching practice is also a major benefit of taking the TYLEC as many employers require live, observed teaching practice, in order to qualify for a position. 

The experienced instructors on this course come from a wide variety of backgrounds, and each offer a unique perspective on teaching young learners. Combined with the wealth of experience coming from the course participants themselves, I'm certain that everyone walks away from the TYLEC feeling more confident and better equipped in their teaching roles.

ADAM MALSTER

TYLEC is a fantastic qualification to gain because it focuses specifically on the skill set needed to teach Young Learners, which can differ dramatically in certain aspects from the methods used to teach adults.

The course is conducted by expert trainers who use their considerably varied experience to guide participants. Because the trainers are also practicing teachers, the teaching techniques covered in the course are used by them on a daily basis, and so are proven to be effective. Lesson observations often take place in your place of work so feedback is specifically tailored to be useful to you in your context.

Overall, TYLEC provides you with teaching strategies that work, and informs you of the theory to explain why they work. This gives rise to greater confidence in your teaching and makes you a more confident professional.

Amy

The TYLEC program makes me keep examining what I haven’t noticed before and what I should do before and while I am teaching.  Through the process of preparing diagnostics and assessments, I understood more clearly my role in the classroom and how I can make my teaching more effective. I can be friendly to my students, but I need to earn their respect as a teacher and not try to be their friend.  Motivating students to learn is the most important thing.  I see from the course that this is achieved by creating an environment to challenge the students and engage them in the learning process. I realize more clearly my role in the classroom and how I can make my teaching more effective. 

Daniel

Ultimately, the TYLEC has made me a much more knowledgeable teacher and has helped me add to, grow, develop (and at times, reappraise) my teaching practice to better meet the needs of my students. Another important benefit this course has provided my teaching practice is that it has given me the impetus to push myself outside of my comfort zone and innovate more, as I knew that I would be given valuable feedback on any new methods or materials that I had developed.

Katy

Although I have years of teaching experience, I know there is so much more that I can learn. On the first week of the course, which was the input sessions, there was a lot I had to learn and to absorb. The tutors were really helpful, showing us, the participants, the correct paths of the course and guiding us all the way through. During the input sessions, I learned about interesting and fun activities that I could use in my lessons in order to help learners. For example, the obstacles exercise where, in turn, one of my peers was blindfolded and the rest of us had to give directions to help him/her to navigate past all the obstacles to reach the finish line. This activity increased my awareness of using authenticity in my lesson. I asked myself if I was using textbook language more than authentic language. The course was harder than I thought it would be, but I must say that I have learned a lot from it, and I will continue to develop my teaching skills and to improve the areas that still need working on. I am glad I participated on this course with my colleague as we are now able to discuss our lesson plans and activities and adopt the things we have learned from the course into our lessons. I honestly believe that we teachers are often like scientists; we keep on experimenting until we get a good result. I would definitely recommend this course to others as, although it is tough, the rewards are well worth the effort. 

Zoey

Teaching practice was the most challenging but inspiring part. The tutors enlightened me a lot and all of their comments really led me to think more. In TP1, I found out that I did not engage learners to a deeper level of thinking and was teacher-centred. TP2 showed that I had to work on modelling and eliciting. After these two TPs, I realized that even though I had read these terms (student-centred, modelling, elicitation) several times and knew the definitions, I did not actually apply them to my teaching. Therefore, I followed my tutor’s advice to observe experienced teachers, from whom I finally understood how these terms were performed and what it meant by my tutor to have fewer stages but still increase the cognitive challenge.

Owen

Attending the input sessions, having my teaching assessed and observing experienced teachers has been highly beneficial to my teaching and the learning environment for my students. There are several key points which I have taken away from TYLEC. The first is that fluency leads to accuracy but accuracy does not lead to fluency. I was previously too focused on getting students to accurately produce target language. I now place a greater onus getting students to communicate freely with each other and to produce longer utterances. I have done this by introducing the Task Based Learning methodology, adapting course book material so that it can be personalised and contextualised to the students, and ensuring that students are aware of the procedural and functional language, as well as the target language, needed to complete communicative tasks. 

I have also learned that students are motivated best when they are learning new and interesting things about the world and when content is integrated with language learning. As a result of TYLEC, I have adapted course materials to enable students to learn about the tallest buildings in the world, a lady who travelled from the UK to Australia over land and sea, the tricks commonly used by pickpockets, and what to do if you see somebody choking. I have also encouraged students to share their own knowledge and tried to make my lessons less teacher-centred. 

Ruby

In the TYLEC input sessions I learned a wide variety of things that helped me to develop as a teacher. For example, I learned task-based learning. I used this to write my lesson plans for the teaching practice classes. In these I used some methods I had seen such as modeling, TPR (learning and language acquisition theories) so as to enable my classes to become more scaffolded and understandable for my students. The guided observations session provided me chances to learn from experienced teachers. I learned some skills, such as classroom routines and management, and task setting. Also writing the developmental action point log helped me think more deeply about what I had learned in the input sessions and I could imagine how I would apply these methods in my future classes. Overall, as a result of participating on the TYLEC I believe that I am more skillful when teaching.

Tara

Applying what I have learned on the TYLEC has definitely made my classes more dynamic, but also more learner-centred. I have realised that I spent too much time talking. I need to leave the talking to the students, let them drive the learning process while I as the teacher facilitate it. Teacher talk time is one area of teaching that I needed to improve. Through the assessed lessons and guided observations, I was exposed to ways that I could minimize TTT, adopting a more Discovery Approach, handing over questions to my students, handing over functional and procedural language to my students and utilizing elicitation techniques that stretch production. Most importantly, I shouldn’t underestimate what my students are capable of. In fact their responses and work ethic have amazed me throughout the assessed lessons! 

I now try to adopt a more holistic approach to my students learning, integrating all the skills of reading, writing, listening and speaking instead of merely focusing on only one skill for example in a reading lesson. The introduction of mini-whiteboards have transformed my classes and have been a flexible and adaptable tool in most of our classroom activities. It has allowed my younger class to build on their writing skills and vocabulary skills and to take risks when they were too scared to do so. Most importantly it has helped to lower the affective filter of my shy students who were always very reluctant to participate in class activities and to manage the class better.

David

Having completed the TYLEC course there has definitely been great improvement in my teaching. Firstly, I feel that this course has greatly boosted my confidence as a teacher in the young learner classroom. I feel that I have picked up and learned so many new techniques and strategies to become a more rounded teacher.

Secondly, this course has really opened my eyes and changed my way of thinking on how young learners learn in the classroom. The course has truly helped me to better understand how to push my students better, and in a much more engaging way than before. Things like differentiation in the classroom and terms like ZPD are now firmly edged into my way of thinking when I am planning a young learner lesson.

What I mostly value from this course is that it really made me think about my learners and how I can better adapt the material that I have to meet their needs. The session on adapting materials was one of the most important sessions for me because we as teachers sometimes get stuck with material that is not sufficient or engaging enough and the course really helped to exploit the material that I am currently using better. 

Michelle Hsu, Taiwan Ministry of Education English Curriculum and Instruction Advisor

The TYLEC course is a premium training program for teachers who are eager to provide their students with high quality learning experience.  On the TYLEC, you learn how to inspire your learners with creative teaching techniques using authentic English. Joining the TYLEC was the wisest decision I've made ever. Join the TYLEC and become a teacher like me. 

Freda Chen from Tainan 

I’m a certified Taiwanese local elementary school English teacher. After more than 20 years of teaching, I have never stopped searching for beneficial training courses. Last year’s TYLEC course at the British Council fulfilled my long term desire and has effectively helped me develop from a more or less traditional style teacher to a self- driven and constantly reflective teacher. Thanks to the solid training, including varied input sessions, energetic workshops, guided observations, non-stop peer discussions, and intensive teaching practice observations, I have more and more ideas and energy when it comes to designing and delivering my lessons. I sincerely appreciate the British Council’s help in improving the quality of English teaching in Taiwan. I’d like to invite you to join the TYLEC course. I guarantee your enjoyment. 

Wayne

Before I started this course, I felt my teaching ability was going in circles and always coming back to the same place. I felt I wasn’t moving forward and at times after I finished a lesson I would feel that I hadn’t done enough to reach my students. I would follow the school’s planned out teaching method of teaching by focusing more on pronunciation rather than the fluency of their English.

I now feel that this course has greatly shaped my understanding as a teacher. Having thorough input sessions, assessed teaching practices and access to observe six experienced teachers has been an invaluable learning experience for me as a teacher of young learners. 

I am able to reach my students on a more fun, challenging and interactive level. Now I feel equipped with greater knowledge of how to engage, encourage and help students achieve their full potential in class. There are many parts of the input sessions I use on a daily basis with my students, for example, story book reading times are now fun and interactive for my students. 

Having studied this TYLEC course I feel I am much more confident when planning and teaching students who are young leaners. Already I can see so many positive results through the increase of their daily language usage and interactions with the lessons I teach. My confidence levels have increased greatly through the knowledge I have gained during my course. 

Monica

TYLEC is a great course because it focuses on the skills needed to teach Young Learners. TYLEC provided an excellent way to help me develop my skills in the young learner classroom.

The guided observations gave me the opportunity to integrate many ideas into my classroom and improve my teaching skills, by providing my students with a motivating environment.

The teaching practice observations were really significant for me because I learned to reflect on my own teaching practices and this helped me to improve myself using the skills that I have learned.

Through my practice observations when I was preparing for my TBL lesson. I realized that I was underestimating my students abilities, which wasn’t good for my students because they would feel discouraged. So now I don’t give young learners too difficult or too easy tasks to avoid students losing motivation and their interest to learn. Instead I provide them with some challenging activities and my students are responding very well.

During the input lessons, I learned a lot from all the trainers, especially from Steven Murray. I learned a lot of things for example: classroom management, how to prepare an effective task-based lessons, how to develop reading skills, how to teach phonics in a more interesting way, how to develop grammar and vocabulary in my class and so on.