Professional Development for English Teachers
Professional development is not a certificate collected once. It is one deliberate change a term, tried in a real classroom and kept if it works.
A plan for one school year
First term: choose one problem
Pick the single thing that costs your lessons most, such as students not speaking, weak paragraph writing, or losing the class in the last ten minutes. Write it at the front of your record book.
Try one change for six weeks
Read about the problem (see Professional Reading), choose one technique, and use it in every relevant lesson for six weeks. Note in one line after each lesson what happened.
Second term: be observed
Ask a colleague to watch twenty minutes of a lesson with only your chosen problem in mind. Use the observation checklist. Offer to do the same for them.
Share what worked
Tell your department, or the teacher groups, what you tried and what happened, including what did not work. Explaining it is how it becomes part of your teaching.
Third term: look at the evidence
Compare student work from the start and the end of the year on your chosen problem. Keep the change if the work improved. Then choose next year's problem.
The Cambridge Teaching Knowledge Test (TKT)
The TKT is a Cambridge English qualification that tests knowledge about teaching English. It is taken in separate modules, so a teacher can sit one module at a time. The three core modules are:
Module 1: Language and background to language learning and teaching. Grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation and the four skills described from a teacher's point of view, and how learners differ.
Module 2: Lesson planning and use of resources for language teaching. Planning lessons and choosing and adapting materials and activities.
Module 3: Managing the teaching and learning process. Classroom language, interaction, correction and managing learners.
The TKT tests knowledge rather than observed teaching, so it suits both practising teachers and people preparing to teach.
Who awards the TKT
- The TKT is awarded by Cambridge University Press & Assessment. RCF English and RCF Online Academy do not award it and are not a test centre.
- In Sri Lanka the examinations are taken through the British Council. Test formats, dates and fees are matters for the test centre, so confirm them with the centre directly.
Training and support
TKT preparation course
A six-month online course at RCF Online Academy covering all three TKT modules.
Teacher groups
Telegram and WhatsApp groups for English teachers, with questions answered by Rohana Fernando.
Official training information
Teacher service, Efficiency Bar modules, NIE and the Regional English Support Centres.
Lesson observation and self-evaluation
An observation checklist and a self-evaluation form to use with a colleague.
Professional reading
What is worth reading and how to find it without a library.
Elocution diplomas
Preparation courses for the CALSDA elocution diplomas. The diplomas are awarded by CALSDA, not by RCF Online Academy.