Panama Bilingue Curriculum

Panama Bilingue Programme: Course Outline Rationale

The Panama Bilingue Teacher Training Programme is an introductory teacher training course for future primary English teachers. The trainees are a monolingual group of mixed-ability adults aged nineteen to forty, and they come from a diverse range of backgrounds. Some are already teachers, whereas others have no teaching experience or training. The course is twenty hours a week for sixteen weeks, and upon completion, trainees will return to Panama and have an interview to see if they will continue further with the program and teach in primary schools. The strategic aim of the Panamanian government is for educators to use SIOP (Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol), in which a subject is taught via a second or additional language, with the aim of developing both content and language proficiency. In order for this to be successful, the teachers must have a strong level of English so that instruction can be delivered primarily in English, as well as the teaching knowledge and skills to deliver high quality education to prepare learners for today’s complex globalized world. I instruct the course using SIOP, so that the trainees can observe and experience it being applied.

To create this course outline, I referred to a 100 hour TESL (Teaching English as a Second Language) Canada TESOL course, as well as a TEC (Teaching English to Children) course. I developed and delivered these courses several years ago, and the content is similar to the needs of the Panama Bilingue group; however, the Panamanian Programme features SIOP (Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol), and this required adjustments to the course content and assignments, but I did not include this on the course outline as I was still becoming familiar the role of SIOP on the course. I used the Camosun logo, as well as the new Camosun course outline template, but there was flexibility with the template as this course is offered by Camosun International, and is non-credit bearing, and therefore has not gone through a formal accreditation process. The language, both terms and concepts, was designed to be accessible for second language learners, but also to familiarize trainees with academic and pedagogical language, as this is key for this course, but also for their future professional development. I started with basic information such as my availability, and then moved to more specific areas such as outcomes and assessment.

There is a section for course materials, and this is twofold. Firstly, materials development is one of the most creative aspects of being a teacher, and this is an area where the art/craft aspects can emerge. Primary teachers have a lot of opportunity to develop creative and engaging materials, and this is more successfully achieved with suitable supplies. I wanted the trainees to experience teacher creativity and materials design, and as both take considerable time to develop, it was important to incorporate this throughout the course. Also, as a new teacher, it is incredibly helpful to have ready-made materials, and if they could create useful activities to use in their future classes, then this would be very beneficial. In fact, I still have some of the original materials I made on my TESOL course, and I remember the pride I felt when I was able to create engaging materials that the learners responded well to. They also serve as artifacts to reflect on to view our development as teachers, and developing critical reflection is an essential area of teacher training, and examining materials is more straightforward than analyzing teacher behaviour or identity for trainees. Additionally, ’Materials’ is a section on the lesson plans that we use, and by incorporating it on the course outline, it can also serve as a useful model.

The class schedule, rooms and class policies/trainee responsibilities are other key areas. Although the due dates are on the course outline and the separate assignment handouts, after taking PIDP 3210, it is clear that a second document with a weekly breakdown of the due dates for the assignments would also serve this cohort well. This would scaffold meta-cognition, help them become more autonomous, and also allow them to manage their time more effectively. I could not include the rooms on the course outline as over the sixteen weeks we changed campuses, and for the last part of the course we change rooms frequently, sometimes several times a day. It was also crucial to emphasize that in addition to homework, four hours of applied learning was expected per week, and computer labs and instructor support were available for this. Trainees were expected to email if they were absent, as well as use English exclusively in class, although these are both emerging skills!

This is the first time that I taught this course, and the course outline had already gone to the printer before I had finalized the weekly themes, but I gave these to the trainees during the first week. This is the sequence of the topics by week:

1) Warmers and Intros

2) Learners

3) Teachers

4) and 5) Stories

6) and 7) Classroom Management

8) Listening

9) Speaking

10) Writing

11) Reading

12) Materials Design and Technology

13) Vocab and Grammar

14) ISW

15) Special Themes

16) Review and Assessment.

I tried to present the information from the most to least essential, but also followed subject-matter tradition, as well as my previous courses. I also wanted to maximize opportunities to practice teaching throughout the course, but it was essential for their filmed lesson to be after we had done classroom management, as well as later in the course after their English had become stronger, and we did not start these until Week 8. I also focused on the development of the four skills (Listening, Speaking, Writing and Reading) after we had done two weeks on stories, where we had introduced the language skills, although had not gone into detail. I also addressed speaking and listening first as this follows the contemporary method of teaching children a language, and also mirrors their FLA (First Language Acquisition). There are ten learning outcomes as this is manageable, and I tried to align these with the formal assignments/assessments, as well as the course content.

The assignments were adapted from the TESOL and TEC course, other teacher training courses I have taught, as well as from other of EAL teaching including Academic and General English. There were no numerical or percentage grades for the assignments, and they are not weighted, which is why that information does not appear on this document. I did however include considerable formative and summative feedback, for both formal and informal assignments, and I tried to ensure that they applied the feedback via peer-teaching, They also had to identify their strengths and weaknesses based on feedback, and incorporate this into their reflective writing and share it with their peers. Depending on the assignment, some of the feedback was very direct and explicit, while at other times, it was more indirect with error codes and symbols for language areas, and questions for content areas. I also tried to scaffold the feedback uptake in the beginning of the course with the aim that it became more active and automatic as the course progressed. This is crucial as they will be responsible for giving feedback when they become teachers.

The first two assignments involve teaching: Two ten minute warmers (One pair and one individual) and a co-taught thirty minute integrated skills lesson, and their peers gave feedback. Trainees also submitted a formal lesson plan and short reflective essay for the filmed lesson. So much of learning to be a teacher is about practice and experimentation, as well as a safe place to do this, and a lower pressure approach without grades further decreased the pressure trainees were under. Additionally, throughout the course, there were many other opportunities for micro-teaching and practice giving feedback. These assignments align with outcomes 1-9, demonstrating that trainees had multiple opportunities to synthesize and apply course concepts, methods and materials, and by the end of the course, to varying degrees, everyone has succeeded at this, particularly as this is a pre-service teacher training course.

The online teaching portfolio is a project I am passionate about as I have spent a great deal of time creating my own, as well as researching and writing about its value in teacher training (Hadwin 2018). I wanted this course to have a very practical and transferable element, and this assignment allows for this as many educational organizations require teachers to have a portfolio. It also helps them organize their professional experience and skills, which can be very helpful in interviews. It also allows them to showcase their talents and accomplishments, which increases their confidence, and this is very important and beneficial for new teachers. The design and content of the portfolio is personal, and it could therefore align with each of the outcomes, in particular as it features a multi-media format and includes videos of teaching, audio files, photographs of materials and documents such as lesson plans and reflective writing.

The instructional strategies poster presentation was partially inspired from PIDP 3250 Instructional Strategies as well as from various other teaching contexts where I have seen poster presentations implemented successfully. In PIDP 3250, we screencast an instructional strategy, and I really thought this was a valuable experience. One of the aims of the Panamanian government is for trainees to use technology more effectively, and this assignment, along with the portfolio encourages this. For second language learners, poster presentations maximize communication in the target language as learners move from presenter to presenter spontaneously interacting with them and the topic. This also allows for much greater functional language than a traditional presentation and incorporates agreeing and disagreeing, giving opinions, asking for information, requesting clarification, etc. For teacher trainees, it removes and discourages the ‘sage on the stage’ element, which unfortunately happens all too often in teacher training and development. In order to ensure that trainees were engaged and motivated, I allowed them to choose their own topic, although they had to meet with me to discuss the appropriacy, and in many cases adjust the scope, and I also provided a list of possible topics to reduce the paradox of choice, as well as support less self-directed trainees. Depending on the area that trainees focus on, this assignment aligns with outcomes 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 and 10.

The reflective writing assignments (Two 250-300 word pieces on a course component, as well as a 250-300 word reflection on their chosen educational TED Talk seminar contribution), were designed to improve trainees’ ability to critically reflect on pedagogical areas. The TED assignment required them to assess their recorded performance in an academic setting, and this made them feel more comfortable about being filmed in our course, as well as on the ISW (Instructional Skills Workshop) later in the course. Completing the tasks in their second language allowed them to strengthen their metacognitive skills, as well as develop their metalanguage. These tasks were also included as trainees need to develop their English to be effective English teachers. These assignments align with outcomes 4, 7, 8, 9 and 10.

Panama Bilingue Curriculum Design: Classroom Management

Classroom Management (CM) and Importance for Effective Instruction

Determine different areas of CM for primary classroom

Critically reflect on CM from perspective of teacher and learner

Assess a variety of CM strategies

Classroom Layout and Organization

List classroom objects and identify suitability and appropriacy for specific contexts

Evaluate efficacy of various layouts for specific ages and purposes

Design detailed classroom layouts and justify decisions

Instructions

Compare aspects of effective and ineffective instructions in examples and videos

Sequence instructions in a logical order

Create instructions of a suitable length and complexity for primary English language learners

Produce comprehensible instructions including paralinguistic strategies

Grouping

Experiment with different grouping configurations

Justify the most effective grouping based on activity, learners and purpose

Group learners for a variety of classroom activities

Class Rules and Guidelines

Evaluate different methods for creating rules

Use case studies to select the most appropriate methods and rules

Construct rules of an appropriate length, maturity, language and quantity for primary learners

Identify measures to ensure that rules are consistently followed

Controlling the Class and Managing Behavior

Evaluate a variety of strategies to manage behaviour based on teaching and learning experiences

Explain methods to proactively and positively reinforce behaviour

Apply theories of child psychology and motivation to behaviour management

Discipline

Choose methods to reward positive behaviour and address challenging and disruptive behaviour

Use appropriate language and strategies for classroom discipline

Produce suitable discipline strategies in role-plays

Classroom Management Curriculum Design Rationale

Although the Panama Bilingue Primary English Teacher Training Programme fits into aspects of both Competency and Outcomes Based Approaches to curriculum design, it is best suited to the Competency Based Approach for several reasons. Firstly, the content is largely unfamiliar to most trainees, and it is therefore at an introductory level. Secondly, the trainees are learning to teach, and teaching has aspects of both a process and a procedure. Additionally, they are assessed in class through short reflective essays, micro-teaching, pedagogical presentations and an online learning portfolio, and are not required to complete any external standardized exams or practicums. The content and skills are learned incrementally, although they must be consolidated and reconfigured depending on the teaching situation, and in this sense, both the classroom and authentic task requirements are very similar to that of an Outcomes Based Approach.

Classroom management is a crucial part of effective education, and it therefore comprises a large part of pre-service teacher training courses. It represents two weeks of the sixteen-week Panama Bilingue Programme, although it is continuously explored and developed. Instructions are a key area of classroom management, and are needed to successfully accomplish pedagogical objectives. Panama is introducing Sheltered Instruction, and as a result, curricular content is taught through the second language, similar to immersion programmes in Canada. Teachers should therefore try to primarily use English, and this will be challenging with young, low-level learners. In order to do this as effectively as possible, teachers need to have strong instruction-giving skills. Effective instructions also help ensure that learners have confidence in their teachers, and additionally, believe that their teachers care about both them and the lesson.

Instructions are also very useful for developing functional language, which can be transferred to communicative situations both inside and outside of the classroom. Although young learners often take some time to begin to produce the second or additional language, instructions serve as a source of comprehensible input. Teachers can also use verbal and non-verbal responses to instructions to determine whether the learners understand the language, as well as the course content, and although factors such as clarity, length, language and sequence also affect intelligibility, responses to instructions are nevertheless a useful way to evaluate competency. This is particularly evident when using TPR (Total Physical Response) activities, where following instructions is the activity, and learners move and act according to the instructions to develop language.

This goal aligns with the instructional activities as the trainees have to lead a warmer, both in pairs and individually, to demonstrate teaching skills, and instructions are a crucial aspect of this. Their peers and I give feedback, and this is often related to the instructions. Additionally, they must also write practice lesson plans to improve their ability to plan lessons, but also to develop their writing skills, and they are often required to use the direct speech that they would use for the classroom instructions. They also try and anticipate challenges learners will have with the task, and much of this is related to the activity set up and instructions. Another activity that they do is create a task where the learners must follow their instructions (For example: “Draw a star in the centre of your paper. Write your name in the top right corner,” etc.), and we reflect on it from the perspective of the learners, as well as the teacher. We also watch several teaching videos and evaluate the quality of the instructions, and discuss how the trainees could incorporate successful strategies into their teaching. These tasks require them to think very carefully about the language they use in their instructions, along with the manner in which they are delivered.

Assessment is another area where instructions are key. Trainees teach a thirty-minute lesson, and feedback is given on the quality of the instructions. In their online teaching portfolios, they include videos of their lessons, and potential employers and supervisors might watch these, and ask questions about the pedagogical rationale and delivery of the instructions, so it is key that trainees reflect on their strengths and areas for improvement, in particular as instructions and reflection are areas that new teachers find challenging. They also submit a short reflective essay, and they can address instructions as a strength or area for improvement. Finally, we have a mid-term exam, and there were several questions about instructions that they were required to prepare for.

Creating competency-based outcomes has allowed me to reflect on the Panama Bilingue Teacher Training Programme, and as a result, I have revised several areas, which I believe will be beneficial for future groups. Additionally, the opportunity to receive feedback on this course is valuable for its development. I also feel that it is crucial that teacher trainers continually improve and explore their teaching knowledge and skills to be role models for trainees.

Panama Bilingue: Lesson Plan

Date: September 13, 2018

Teacher: Laura Hadwin

Course: Teacher Training

Level: Mixed Ability

Length of lesson: 2 hours

Room: Fisher 202

Notes:

The learners are a monolingual group of mixed-ability adults. Their ages range from 19-40, and they come from a variety of backgrounds. Some are already teachers, whereas others have no teaching experience or training. Many have or are finishing first degrees in English Literature, Translation or a related discipline, but some have just recently completed secondary school. The course is 20 hours a week for 16 weeks, and upon completion, they will return to Panama and have an interview to see if they will continue further with the program and be hired to teach in primary schools.

Content lesson aims/objectives:

Using their ‘Top Ten Quieters’ posters, learners will justify what they feel are the most appropriate and effective strategies for managing the Panamanian primary classroom.
Learners will collaboratively identify advice for and examples of rewards and consequences.
Learners will develop and strengthen their teaching personas by interpreting, evaluating and ranking the rewards and consequences examples, and then justify their rationales.
Learners will deepen their understanding of Bloom’s taxonomy by applying it experientially as learners in the activities.
In groups, learners will review, create and produce appropriate language structures to manage disruption in a class.
Learners will experientially discover the challenges of managing a disruptive class.
Learners will demonstrate the ability to give oral feedback to one another by evaluating the teacher’s skills during the classroom management role-plays.

Language lesson aims/objectives:

Learners will strengthen their English communication by using everyday functional language (Agreeing/disagreeing, making suggestions, clarifying, etc.) to complete all of the tasks
Learners will improve their skimming, scanning and reading fluency by completing the rewards and consequences activity

Timetable fit: This is the seventh week of a sixteen-week course. Earlier weeks have covered learners, teachers and the use of stories. Last week, we did the first week of classroom management, and covered classroom layout, instructions and grouping. This week, we are addressing behaviour management in the primary classroom, and yesterday we discussed classroom rules and guidelines, and how to quiet a noisy class.

Materials: Cut-up rewards and consequences cards, role-play cards, computer and projector, whiteboard and markers

Learning Activities:

Warmer and HW Review 15-20 min.

Learners post their ‘Top Ten Ways to Quiet a Class’ posters around the room, and everyone discusses, evaluates and makes notes on additional strategies they could use in future classes.

Rewards and Consequences Cards 30-35 min.

Teacher hands out colour-coded cut-up ‘Rewards and Consequences Advice and Examples’ cards, but does not tell the learners what they are about. In groups of four, they must put the cards into the coloured sections, and then decide what the title for each category is (Ex. Consequences: Advice). After, they must rank the cards based on what they think is most effective, and be able to explain why. Feedback: Task feedback, and how Bloom’s Taxonomy applies to task. Link to ‘Create’ and ‘Apply’ for next activity.

Classroom Language for Rewards and Punishments 20-25 min.

In groups of four, learners brainstorm expressions and language structures for rewards and consequences in groups. After, they write their responses on the board, and go over as a class for accuracy and appropriacy.

Challenging Situations Role Plays 25-35 min.

Teacher puts up potential challenging situation cards around the classroom (Ex., ‘The learners won’t listen when you ask them to be quiet,’ ‘The learners make the class very messy and don’t want to help clean up’ or ‘The learners are bullying another learner’). They must tour in groups of three. (Encourage them to really get into character!)

Wrap Up 10 min.

Elicit successful strategies for role-play task, and discuss emotional responses to managing disruption in the classroom, and ways to promote empathy for themselves, as well as coping strategies. Meta-Bloom CCQs (Concept Checking Questions). Apply: How would Bloom’s taxonomy be applied in the Panamanian classroom? Analyze: Could Bloom be used in the Panamanian class? Which classes/grades/contexts could Bloom be used in? Evaluate: Which are the most useful/relevant aspects of Bloom for the Panamanian class? Create: (For homework/later classes) Incorporate the HOTS (Higher Order Thinking Skills) into a lesson plan.

Panama Bilingue: Lesson Plan Rationale

I have been an EAL (English as an Additional Language) teacher and teacher trainer for many years, and increasingly, teachers from countries such as China, who are generally thought to have a high degree of classroom control, have requested support with classroom management, in particular, discipline. It was with this in mind that I created some of the materials for this lesson. My aim is to provide effective SLTE (Second Language Teacher Education), and I believe modelling appropriate classroom management strategies, such as how to deal with low and high-level disruption, is essential, and fortunately throughout the course I have had the opportunity to do this. However, I also recognize that it will be manifested differently in their diverse educational contexts, which are defined by social and institutional factors, as well as the ages and language levels of their learners. I use a variety of different dynamic instructional activities featuring active participation that they could adapt for their classes to keep their learners interested and engaged, and therefore further minimize disruption. The activities that I use also allow for differentiation based on ability, age and interest, and I try to integrate the four language skills (Reading, Writing, Listening and Speaking), and discuss my rationales and pedagogical approaches, in the hope that this can be transferred to their future teaching. Our class involves researching and applying educational theories, and at times they watch videos or I provide information, and we talk about what it is like as adults to be required to sit still, speak in front of the class or not know the answers. This builds empathy and creates teachable moments as a considerable amount of disruptive behaviour arises out of physical discomfort, fear or confusion, and this is often experienced more acutely in children.

The first activity is a review of the class yesterday where they present their ideas on how to quiet a noisy class. It is key to revisit and revise ideas, and after they have read, discussed and explored a skill/language area, we often synthesize the material by creating a ‘Top Five/Ten’ chart and share. This allows them to critically evaluate a topic with the aim of making new and often complex information more accessible and manageable. Also, because they have selected what they consider to be the most useful and relevant ideas, then some of these will be retained and transferred to our microteaching, or their future teaching. It is also essential that they can justify their decisions, and by discussing these with their peers, they engage with the material on a much deeper, and hopefully, more meaningful level. They also use a lot of functional and pedagogical English, which strengthens their language development.

The ‘Rewards and Consequences’ activity is designed to have content delivered in a communicative and less teacher-fronted manner. It also encourages trainees to strengthen their HOTS (Higher Order Thinking Skills), and discussion and reflection on this experience will assist in the application of these in the primary classroom. By not providing the titles of the categories, trainees must rely on their background knowledge, and as these do not have a considerable amount of complex or technical language, the content works well with this activity. They must work in groups, and after they have determined the titles of the categories (Rewards Advice and Rewards Examples and Consequences Advice and Consequences Examples) they rank the examples by most to least effective. This activity also allows us to revisit Bloom’s (Revised) Taxonomy, which is a key framework for teachers, and I elicit how it relates to the different stages, in particularly the HOTS. They have analyzed the cards and created a category head for each, and then evaluated the cards by ranking them. I then tell them that the next tasks will involve applying and creating. Experientially exploring the taxonomy in this way is much more salient for them, and they can understand it is a more meaningful way.

In the next activity, the trainees brainstorm expressions for managing the class using rewards and consequences. As with a lot of teacher training, the trainer/facilitator’s role is to bring trainees/teachers together to share their ideas, and this is often similar for this group. Although most are novice teachers, they can collaborate to successfully complete more challenging tasks. Working in groups, as opposed to the whole class, reduces negative affective factors such as pressure, a lack of confidence regarding language ability, as well as shyness of speaking in front of the class. It also maximizes the time that each learner can contribute, and ensures accountability because they are responsible for helping their group succeed. They are generally quite pleased with the results of group work/projects because it is evident that each of them has something to contribute, and the final result is impressive. Group and pair work has not always been easy for them, and they have said their traditional education system is teacher-centered and learners work individually. It takes awhile for them to appreciate its value, but once they do, they often say that they wish they had been taught using cooperative education approaches, and that they are glad that it features strongly in Sheltered Instruction. Additionally, they feel activities where the learning can be transferred directly to the classroom are very useful, and therefore motivation and participation are high for this task.

After having done considerable preparation in the rewards and consequences input and language brainstorming, it is time to synthesize and apply it. I post potential classroom scenarios around the room (E.g., The learners won’t stop talking when you ask them to; One of the learners is bullying another student, or They will not help clean up the class, and it is very messy’). I encourage them to get into their roles; they really enjoy acting like children, and as we’ve been in the course for some time, they feel comfortable misbehaving and disciplining one another. This allows them to experientially, in as authentic a manner as possible, explore the realities they will face as primary teachers. We give feedback on the activity, and discuss how role plays and cases/scenarios could be incorporated into their classrooms.

The final stage of a SIOP lesson is Review/Assessment, and we discuss what they liked/disliked about the activities, how they could apply this in their role as teachers and how/if they could adapt the activities for primary learners. We address their emotional responses to classroom discipline, as well as self-care strategies for teachers including having colleagues to confide in, mentors, a supportive principal/headteacher, and leisure activities to reduce stress, as well as clearly separate their professional and personal lives. Teaching is an incredibly stressful job, and many teachers leave the profession, but if they are supported and feel confident, it is more likely that they will stay in the profession, and the word needs more great teachers! Overall, they really appreciate being aware of the challenges of behaviour management and discipline, as well as having a variety of strategies to address these, and the opportunity to practice before they begin teaching.