Online Teachers’ Courses

The International House Certificate Online (IHCo)
Piloted by International House Newcastle, this is a distance learning option, which allows you to study at your own pace or with colleagues while working. There are two components to the course; theory and practice. You will need to have an approved local tutor (a local DoS or senior teacher) to observe and give feedback. The IHCo is a unique online teacher training programme. It has been designed for: • People who have no or little teaching experience, and want a recognised qualification. • English teachers with experience who would like a recognised qualification. • Experienced language teachers who would like to develop their teaching skills. Key Features of the IHCo: • Online teacher training input and assignments. • Learning at your own pace. • Six hours of assessed teaching practice per candidate. • 4 hours of observation of experienced teachers per candidate.
Why choose the distance learning option? The IHCo has been designed to offer flexibility to course participants whilst maintaining standards. Who will benefit? Working language teachers • The IHCo is for teachers who would like to continue working while they study. • An alternative to intensive face-to-face courses. • Candidates can work at their own pace, to reflect on ideas and theory and to incorporate these into their own teaching. Volunteer teachers • The IHCo will help you get into the teaching profession. • To assess candidates’ teaching skills during the course. As with any online teacher training distance learning programme, it is important that you consider carefully your own learning style and environment. To follow the IHCo programme, you need to be able to spend a minimum of 140 hours, over approximately 3 to 9 months, on course-related work. You need to be able to work to deadlines.
The IHCo programme consists of: • An online orientation course. • The 9 core modules plus optional extra specialist modules which cover the IHC syllabus and assessment. Candidates who follow the IHCo programme and successfully complete all assessed work, will receive the IHCo certificate at the end of their course. This is an internationally recognised teaching qualification.
Orientation Course The Orientation Course is an exciting and rewarding part of the programme, which: • Introduces you to the course. • Provides you with the chance to correspond with fellow course participants and share ideas. • Gives you the opportunity to plan for teaching with input from an experienced tutor. The Distance Component consists of: • Online teacher training modules. • Written assignments. • Observation of teaching (online video). • Development of practical teaching skills
Online modules Core course materials are delivered on a learning platform, in 9 units to be completed to a schedule over a maximum of nine months. Each unit of work contains information, tasks and guided reading projects to enhance your understanding of approaches, theories, and practical techniques in language learning and teaching. The units also contain unassessed tasks and assessed written assignments to send to tutors, which contribute to your overall assessment on the course. There will also be tasks for assessed teaching practice; candidates will need to write lesson plans for assessment by tutors. The dedicated website / learning platform also allows candidates to discuss ideas, reflections and queries with each other. This is monitored by an experienced tutor.
Written assignments: All course participants will complete four written assignments as part of the course. Assignments will be submitted to tutors by e-mail for assessment. Information about how to complete the assignments will be included on the learning platform. Observation of teaching (online) This is observation of experienced, qualified language teachers. These will be included as part of the online study modules, with observation tasks linked to the content of the study unit.
Development of practical teaching skills During the distance component of the course, you will be asked to plan, teach and write a reflection of seven assessed lessons. These lessons will be observed by a local supervisor who will write a report and send it to your tutor. Your planning and reflection of your teaching will be assessed by an experienced IHCo tutor, who will also monitor your progress and provide support throughout the course. During the course, all candidates will teach nine assessed lessons in total.
Who will help me? Throughout the programme, there will be a team of experienced IHCo tutors working with you to ensure you gain as much benefit as possible from the programme. In addition to the course materials described above, there are several key elements in place to ensure that your learning is supported: • You will be part of a study group (maximum 12 participants) who will participate in online discussions, monitored by an experienced tutor. • The course tutor team, comprising tutors from International House network, will provide guidance on your progress during the course and outline ways in which you might develop your ideas further. • A support team of a course co-ordinator and the course administrator are available should you need extra help. • Your nominated local supervisor will provide extra support at a local level and will observe your teaching.
How is my work assessed? • Distance tutors will monitor your progress and assess your written assignments and lesson plans. • Your local supervisor will observe your teaching and send recommendations to your distance tutor on your observed teaching. • Your distance tutor will assess your lesson plans and read your self evaluation on teaching. They will then send you detailed feedback and grade your lessons.
Who is the Local Supervisor? All participants on the IHCo may, if they wish, choose a person who will act as their local supervisor during the course of the programme. A local supervisor should: • Be an experienced and qualified teacher. • Have experience of teacher development work or have worked as teacher trainer. • Be working in the same school as you, or very nearby. • Be willing to spend approximately 2 – 3 hours per month watching you teach, monitoring your progress and offering you support. • Write a report on seven of your lessons and send these reports to the tutors. The role of local supervisor is voluntary and (s)he may work with more than one candidate(normally maximum 3). All local supervisors will be given a briefing pack and training before the course begins. The briefing pack contains: • An observation standardisation task. • Course guidelines. Course participants: Entry requirements Candidates must: • Be a minimum of 20 years old at the start of the course. In some circumstances candidates between the ages of 18 – 20 may be considered. • Be fluent and able speakers of English. The minimum level of English for candidates is equivalent to C1 (operational proficiency) on the Common European Framework of Reference. • Have an appropriate awareness of language, and language competence in English to enable them to follow the course and complete all assessed elements successfully. • Have an appropriate level of IT skills and access to IT equipment to study at a distance. • Have access to a camcorder to record and upload video of classes to our website.
Contact Information: For more information about all the above courses, please contact our school: International House Newcastle 7-15 Gallowgate Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 4SG UK Tel +44 (0)191 2329551 Fax +44 (0)191 2321126