English Connects

As part of our English Connects strand of work, we have created a free digital resource for teachers called Get talking. The website was launched at the Teacher Connect Mela on 4 and 5 September 2021. 

This resource has been created for teachers (with lower English language levels), to enable them to use simple phrases in the English classroom. Using examples from real-world lessons where teachers use English for different lesson stages such as giving instructions, starting a lesson and saying goodbye, the interactive videos are also supported with examples from trainers. The downloadable language guides help teachers with more examples for teaching in a classroom. Participants receive a certificate when they complete 20 videos.

The content is mapped to the British Council’s Continuing Professional Development framework for teachers.

Register on the Get talking website now!

Started in April 2020 to support Indian teachers during the pandemic, this newsletter enables our audience to stay connected with us and provides them with ongoing professional development.

This resource showcases upcoming events such as webinars, shares articles on a variety of relevant topics such as online assessment and remote teaching and includes a fun quiz usually related to the theme of the newsletter. In August 2021, we introduced two new sections: one focuses on climate issues and the other features a personal story of development via a video or blog by one of our subscribers. 

If you would like to subscribe to the Teacher Connect newsletter, please sign up here or write to us at TeachEnglish.India@britishcouncil.org.

Teach English using these short videos. Covering a range of general English topics like colours, jobs, animals and places in town, these 30 videos help students learn related vocabulary. Supported by simple dialogues, students can practise the phrases instantly. Share the playlist with your students or use them in a lesson – the choice is yours!

Link to playlist on YouTube

We host live webinars on topical issues for teachers’ professional development. These webinars are free and will be relevant for primary and secondary teachers.

Join our next webinar Gender in language education delivered by Thomas Kral on Wednesday, 14 September 2022 at 5:30 pm IST.

Gender equality has become an increasingly important issue for language teachers and teacher educators as well as for many parents and students.  This webinar thus seeks to raise awareness and initiate a discussion on the topic of gender in language education and why the topic is relevant for language teachers.  Participants will have the opportunity to scrutinise gender stereotypes in teaching material, uncover language with an unconscious gender bias and reflect on how to overcome barriers which stand in the way of raising gender issues in the classroom.  Participants will then be introduced to interactive teaching resources and will experiment with practical activities which address gender topics.  

Join the Gender in Language Education webinar on 14 September from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. IST. The speaker, Thomas Kral will: 

• consider why language teachers should be paying more attention to gender
• examine gender stereotypes and biases in teaching material
• discuss ways of promoting gender equality in our teaching
• explore practical teaching activities which address gender topics.

Click here to register https://forms.office.com/r/mk6ue7V9KK

About the speaker

Thomas Kral is a Training Consultant with the British Council and a PhD Researcher with Lancaster University.  He has been involved in language education for twenty-five years, as a teacher, teacher trainer, materials writer and project manager.  He has worked on British Council teacher development projects in Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Thailand, Rwanda and most recently on the English Connects project in Sub-Saharan Africa. Thomas has been engaging with gender topics in language education for more than a decade and has frequently embedded gender-related themes into his teaching and teacher training.  He is currently based in Andhra Pradesh and is conducting research with first generation female students in higher education on the social justice implications of studying in an English-medium college. 

 

View recordings of our past webinars using the links below. PDFs of the presentation slides can be found at the bottom of the page. 

Inclusive Practices in the English Classroom - Part 1

Inclusive Practices in the English Classroom - Part 2

Turning experience into expertise

Tips to improve your spoken English

Integrating global issues in the creative English classroom

Climate action in language education

Assessing English Language Skills

Digital literacy for teachers

Better teaching, better learning with British Council resources

We connect with teachers across India through our social media channels. Join our community by liking our Facebook page and following us on Twitter.

We share relevant articles, useful classroom materials and interesting upcoming events. You can use these channels to connect with like-minded teachers across India and develop a bank of useful resources.

You will also find a wealth of resources on the TeachingEnglish website.

 

The Teacher Connect Mela, held on 4 and 5 September celebrated Teachers’ Day in India. Practical sessions ranged from blended learning, using visual routines and catering to a neuro-diverse classroom. The event had a total of 3,305 participants from across the country. One teacher said, ‘In the present online scenario, such a session was the need of the hour. Amazing tips and tricks to make the online classes stress-free were shared, all of which I would definitely put into use in my classroom.’  If you would like to view the recordings of the workshops, please visit this playlist on the British Council YouTube channel.

6th AINET International Conference (Online) 2022 - Participant Reflections We invited expressions of interest from our network of teachers and teacher educators to attend the 6th AINET International Conference (online) held from 7 to 9 January 2022. 32 educators were selected to attend the events. The aim of sponsoring their participation was to support their continuing professional development and provide a networking opportunity. In order to benefit the wider teaching community, they were asked to complete a reflection task to capture their learning from the conference with an aim to share it as a free resource. Compiled submissions are available in the downloads section below. We hope you will be able to use some of the ideas and resources for your teaching context!