British Council launches ‘Teaching for Success’

5 October marked World Teacher’s Day and to celebrate the dedication of teachers and their on-going professional development the British Council launched its free global online conference in Colombo. The Teaching for Success Online Conference delivered a wide range of engaging and insightful presentations covering all aspects of professional development for teachers in all contexts. It had over 60 scheduled talks and panel discussions by speakers from around the world. Each session was 30 minutes long and recordings of the sessions can be accessed online.

The launch event, held at the National Institute of Education (NIE), included the broadcast of the plenary session of the conference from the UK by Alison Barrett MBE, global Head of English for Education Systems, British Council, entitled ‘What’s the Starting Point of Change’. Here she presented the British Council’s Teaching for Success approach and outlined the importance of CPD and how to manage it. This was followed up by a panel discussion of academics in the field of teacher education who spoke on the importance of CPD locally. 

The speakers included National Institute of Education Director General Dr. Jayanthi Gunasekera, Post Graduate Institute of English Open University Director Dr. Harshana Rambukwella, University of Sri Jayawardenapura Senior Lecturer Dilini Walisundera and NIE Department of English Director Darshana Samaraweera. 

The launch event highlighted how Continuing Professional Development (CPD) is at the heart of the ‘Teaching for Success’ approach. The CPD framework for teachers is the organising principle of ‘Teaching for Success’, complemented by the CPD framework for teacher educators. Together, these frameworks represent the British Council’s understanding of, and global expertise in, teaching and teacher development. The services and resources for the teaching of English language and other school subjects are all mapped to the CPD frameworks and provide clear pathways for development. 

More information about the ‘Teaching for Success’ approach and the Frameworks of Continuing Professional Development can be found here: www.britishcouncil.lk/teach/teaching-for-success-approach.

How to view sessions: Anyone can view recordings of conference sessions by visiting the following site www.britishcouncil.lk/events/teaching-success-online-conference.