http://ihjournal.com International House of Education and Development Wed, 23 Nov 2011 10:22:51 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 en hourly 1 http://ihjournal.com/issue-31-contents http://ihjournal.com/issue-31-contents#comments Wed, 23 Nov 2011 10:11:20 +0000 ihjadmin http://ihjournal.com/?p=2158                   Editorial Changing Worlds ‘What’s Rufus?’ -  Mark Forehand About changing worlds, core values and working at an IH school – Helga Kuipers Classroom Matters Teaching values and valuing teachers – Wayne Rimmer Management Matters What we say and what we do – changing the way things ‘just are’ – Neil Preston Young Learners The Two Faces of Values – Christopher Holloway and Alex Bishop Teacher Training and Development New Ways to Share Expertise – Zoe Taylor How trainers can support state school NNESTs in developing countries – Andrew Tweed CELTA promotional event – a recipe for generating a bit of interest – Nick Baguley A Tale of Two Communities of Practice -  Peter Frey My Tuppence Worth ELT secrets to Michelin-stardom – parallels between culinary acrobatics and classroom antics – Noreen Lam IHWO News – Lucy Horsefield, IH World Reviews The 2010 Ben Warren International House Trust Prize Winner Translation in Language Learning – reviewed by Dave Tucker, IH Santa Clara The 2010 Ben Warren International House Trust Prize Shortlist  CLIL – reviewed by [...]]]> http://ihjournal.com/issue-31-contents/feed 0 http://ihjournal.com/editorial-6 http://ihjournal.com/editorial-6#comments Wed, 23 Nov 2011 10:10:11 +0000 ihjadmin http://ihjournal.com/?p=2149 When we initially asked for contributions to this issue of the IH Journal and explained the theme was ‘Changing Worlds’ to reflect the essence and core values of what it means to be part of the International House World network we realised that it would be open to many different interpretations and give enormous scope for a wide range of articles.  Therefore, we are delighted to be able to include a varied and diverse array of excellent contributions which I think it itself not only reflects the diversity within the IH network but also the fact that we are united by these same values.  The articles range from a personal account of what it has meant for one teacher to work for IH schools, to how the values are incorporated into the workings of the YL department of another school,  to how one school has implemented the new branding project and a practical guide for [...]]]> http://ihjournal.com/editorial-6/feed 0 http://ihjournal.com/whats-rufus-by-mark-forehand http://ihjournal.com/whats-rufus-by-mark-forehand#comments Wed, 23 Nov 2011 10:09:46 +0000 ihjadmin http://ihjournal.com/?p=2136 At IH Kyiv we have begun the process of incorporating the new IH Branding policy as one of the initial rollout schools.  There are approximately 20 schools involved in this first phase of the project. This article hopes to provide a basic primer on the things to think about; the benefits as well as the possible drawbacks involved when implementing this IHWO project. Where to start? We chose to begin the change with our school website.  For us this was a logical first step due to the size of the website and how the website influences our overall marketing campaign on a yearly basis.  In addition, approval from IHWO’s advertising agency, In Touch was necessary.  After approval by In Touch of the branding materials to our website, a complete overhaul of branding and marketing materials began and continues to the date of this article. Initial hurdles The initial problem for IH Kyiv was ‘Rufus’.  This font, required for all [...]]]> http://ihjournal.com/whats-rufus-by-mark-forehand/feed 0 http://ihjournal.com/about-changing-worlds-cores-values-and-working-at-an-ih-school-by-helga-kuipers http://ihjournal.com/about-changing-worlds-cores-values-and-working-at-an-ih-school-by-helga-kuipers#comments Wed, 23 Nov 2011 10:09:26 +0000 ihjadmin http://ihjournal.com/?p=2133 It´s funny to write an article for the IH Journal shortly after finding out that our school will no longer be a member of IHWO – news that affected me deeply on a personal and emotional level. Why? “It´s not like you´ve lost your job”, some friends said the other day, “such a long time with the same organisation, maybe this means new opportunities for you – don’t you feel excited?” No, not really… Why not? I´ve spent my whole professional teacher´s life at IH, from my initial training and a few years of teaching and training at IH London to over a decade as a teacher, teacher trainer and DoS at IH Seville and then onto my present job at (still-) IH Berlin. And after all these years, IH is still IH. It´s not quite the same atmosphere as back in 1996 when being communicative was somehow linked to sitting on the floor in a circle, when [...]]]> http://ihjournal.com/about-changing-worlds-cores-values-and-working-at-an-ih-school-by-helga-kuipers/feed 0 http://ihjournal.com/teaching-values-and-valuing-teachers-by-wayne-rimmer http://ihjournal.com/teaching-values-and-valuing-teachers-by-wayne-rimmer#comments Wed, 23 Nov 2011 10:08:59 +0000 ihjadmin http://ihjournal.com/?p=2125 What do teachers want from us? Language teaching organisations (LTOs) often pose the question the other way round, what they want from teachers. This begins with post specifications at the interview stage and continues during employment with job descriptions, lesson observation criteria, student feedback, performance appraisals and a whole host of other yardsticks, not always formalised or even fair, to measure teachers up against the standards LTOs set. LTOs seem much less interested in the other half of the equation, what they offer to teachers. They regard teachers, and their other employees, as the providers of services rather than a resource to be serviced.  This attitude perhaps stems from a too narrow definition of who our clients are. For an LTO, learners of course are the main clients. Their paying presence in the classroom is our revenue. A huge amount of activity will thus naturally go into at least maintaining learner numbers. But, essential to this [...]]]> http://ihjournal.com/teaching-values-and-valuing-teachers-by-wayne-rimmer/feed 0 http://ihjournal.com/what-we-say-and-what-we-do-changing-the-way-things-just-are-by-neil-preston http://ihjournal.com/what-we-say-and-what-we-do-changing-the-way-things-just-are-by-neil-preston#comments Wed, 23 Nov 2011 10:08:32 +0000 ihjadmin http://ihjournal.com/?p=2120 I’ve been lucky that I’ve always been a DOS in already mostly functional and happy workplaces and staff rooms, thanks to the excellent work that has gone before me and all I have been left with is the task of keeping it going and making it better. The core values that IH embraces as its identity are at the core of this – it’s nice to see the “IH Onion” that so clearly puts these down as they have always been the cornerstone.  For me it’s always been about how to foster ways for these to come out. Happy teachers make happy students. In mid 2010 I attended a seminar at a conference that struck a chord with something I had been thinking about – how to stop our school philosophy / mission statement from being just a document and making it live and breathe. In short, to stop people just saying it but actually reflecting [...]]]> http://ihjournal.com/what-we-say-and-what-we-do-changing-the-way-things-just-are-by-neil-preston/feed 0 http://ihjournal.com/the-two-face-of-values-by-christopher-holloway-alex-bishop http://ihjournal.com/the-two-face-of-values-by-christopher-holloway-alex-bishop#comments Wed, 23 Nov 2011 10:08:09 +0000 ihjadmin http://ihjournal.com/?p=2112 The world is changing. The world has changed. We live in an age of companies named after fruit with their iThis and iThat.  We live in a world of instant access and instant information, a world in which Google tells you when a page is written in foreign language and then offers to translate it for you. An increasingly bilingual, or even multilingual world. The notion of bilingualism is especially relevant in Madrid (and Spain) where there has been a shift towards bilingual education and we need to address how that meshes with our role as language training providers. The world is changing for Spanish young learners and we can help them progress in that new world. In fact, at a lunch in February earlier this year Angel Gabilondo, Spanish Minister of Education said: “Este año es el año de la formación profesional, infantil e idiomas” | This is the year of vocational training, infants, and languages” He [...]]]> http://ihjournal.com/the-two-face-of-values-by-christopher-holloway-alex-bishop/feed 0 http://ihjournal.com/new-ways-to-share-expertise-by-zoe-taylor http://ihjournal.com/new-ways-to-share-expertise-by-zoe-taylor#comments Wed, 23 Nov 2011 10:07:38 +0000 ihjadmin http://ihjournal.com/?p=2107 Reflecting on the theme of this issue of the IH Journal, changing worlds, I was prompted to write about the biggest change in my teaching world over the past few months – participating in the first IH World Online Workshop in June.  By writing this piece I hope to encourage more teachers to take part in this exciting new initiative.  I had been a silent observer in a couple of Pearson Longman’s online sessions, and in a moment of braveness I decided that this was enough experience for me to respond to a call from Neil McMahon at IH World for volunteers to deliver teacher developments workshops live online.  Little did I know that this was to be one of the most challenging and interesting events of my year.   I had delivered a couple of workshops face-to-face at IH Lisbon, and chose one of them, on the topic of intonation, to adapt to the online environment.  So [...]]]> http://ihjournal.com/new-ways-to-share-expertise-by-zoe-taylor/feed 0 http://ihjournal.com/how-trainers-can-support-state-school-nnests-in-developing-countries-by-andrew-tweed http://ihjournal.com/how-trainers-can-support-state-school-nnests-in-developing-countries-by-andrew-tweed#comments Wed, 23 Nov 2011 10:07:10 +0000 ihjadmin http://ihjournal.com/?p=2096 Due to the rise of English as an international language many more people around the world are studying English as a foreign or second language. As it is now believed that non-native English speakers (NNESs) outnumber their native speaking counterparts (Jenkins, 2000), it is highly likely that there are more non-native English speaking teachers (NNESTs) than native speaking English teachers (NESTs). As these trends continue, a more democratic ownership (Norton, 1997) of the English language is emerging; this applies to the acceptance of Englishes, or varieties of English, as well as those who teach English.  English teachers can be grouped in various ways. We can categorize them, for example, in terms of whether they are qualified, experienced, or effective. We may also consider where teachers come from, whether or not they are native speakers, and how these factors impact their teaching. In my own experience, having trained, managed and worked alongside many native and non-native teachers, [...]]]> http://ihjournal.com/how-trainers-can-support-state-school-nnests-in-developing-countries-by-andrew-tweed/feed 0 http://ihjournal.com/celta-promotional-event-%e2%80%93-a-recipe-for-generating-a-bit-of-interest-by-nick-baguley http://ihjournal.com/celta-promotional-event-%e2%80%93-a-recipe-for-generating-a-bit-of-interest-by-nick-baguley#comments Wed, 23 Nov 2011 10:06:45 +0000 ihjadmin http://ihjournal.com/?p=2092   Preparation time: 2-3 hours Event time: About 2 hours (including 20 minute refreshments break) Serves: About 30 participants in a reasonably sized classroom Ingredients: 2 CELTA trainers 2 ex-CELTA trainees from the centre an International House teaching DVD 3 decent sized pictures of interesting looking doors decent sized pictures of a monk, The Great Wall of China and a class of English language students copies of a Week 1 CELTA course timetable an A4 CELTA information sheet and/or a CELTA promotional leaflet some nice refreshments Procedure on the day: Welcome participants, introduce trainers and ex-trainees and give a very brief outline of what the presentation is going to cover and how long it’s going to take. (5 minutes) Encourage participants to interact and ‘get to know each other’ a little bit with a fun EFL type pair work activity. Conduct limited feedback. (5 minutes Draw participants’ attention to pictures of 3 doors on the whiteboard. In pairs they discuss which country each door comes from and what’s behind it. During [...]]]> http://ihjournal.com/celta-promotional-event-%e2%80%93-a-recipe-for-generating-a-bit-of-interest-by-nick-baguley/feed 0