Group of teachers discussing professional development.

TeachingEnglish: Focus on professional development

How will the course help you?

By the end of Focus on professional development, you'll be able to: 

  • identify the most appropriate professional development tools for your context
  • select reflective tools appropriately to help develop your teaching practice

  • describe the skills involved in peer observation.

How can you enrol on the course?

Register for a free TeachingEnglish account or log in to your account.

Enrol on this free course

What resources can you access at any time?

  • A free workbook with extra learning content and resources connected to the course contents
  • A dedicated Facebook community of course participants with up-to-date insight, resources and innovative teaching ideas for you to try out (Facebook account required)
  • Learning content related to our courses on Facebook and YouTube
  • Live events and recordings with course tutors and language teaching experts on Facebook and YouTube
  • Teaching resources on the TeachingEnglish website
  • Sign up for our newsletter to keep up to date on when our courses open

What are the self-study modules in Focus on professional development?

Module 1 – Understanding professional development

The aim of this module is to introduce you to the concept of professional development and how it applies to you in your teaching career. You will define the term 'professional development', identify the most appropriate professional development tools based on your teaching and learning context as well as write a professional development plan based on your short-term goals.

Module 2 – Engaging with reflective practice

The aim of this module is to increase your understanding of reflective practice; the process of thinking about, evaluating, analysing and reviewing what takes place in the classroom. You will explain what reflection is and how to do it, select reflective tools appropriately to help develop your teaching practice as well as write a reflective action plan related to your own professional development.

Module 3 – Engaging with peer observation

The aim of this module is to increase your awareness of the importance of peer observation as a professional development tool and how you can use it effectively. You will recognise the importance and value of peer observation in your own professional development, describe the skills involved in peer observation as well as begin to plan a peer observation.

Course reviews

What have other teachers said about how Focus on professional development helped them?

"I've tried the pop in observation method and peer observation method which was a great push for me and my colleagues to try to improve our teaching skills, It has put us into the right path."

Course participant, Egypt

"I am conducting a research on teachers' self assessment so I found very important information about reflective teaching . next week I am going to visit many teachers for their professional development so the module about observation is very beneficial. thanks to  British Council, I am a lifelong learner. Thank you"

Course participant, Morocco

"I started peer observations with my colleagues to model and get used to this type of observation. I hope next year each teacher will choose their partner and the way they want to do it"

Course participant, Paraguay

Do you have more questions?

Please see our FAQs or access further support through our Help button.

Log in or register to post comments

I like this topic

I like this topic

This is good as it will help us teachers to professionally develop and help us teachers to further their knowledge. To improve ourselves.

I am very interested in this Course.

Yes

Looking forward to the training is

I do not know how to register for this course " Focus on Professional Development".
Any help?

Hi Elham,

Thank you for your interest in our courses. First, you need to be logged in to your Teaching English account. Then go to this page: https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/professional-development-pathways-focus-professional-development and follow the steps under "How do I sign up for the course?". 

Happy studying!

Philippa 

TeachingEnglish team

Profile picture for user DAVID.ESTEBAN.PONCE

Greetings from ECUADOR.

Profile picture for user Salma Waheed

Professional growth is one of the most important aspects of teaching. We need to equip ourselves not only with the latest trends but also modern techniques and this is only possible if we keep on striving and polishing our professional skills.
Hopefully this course will help us all to achieve this goal.

Profile picture for user Fazil Ahmad Faizy

Thank you so much for making such a great effort and contributing to and making arrangements for an excellent "Professional Development Pathway" course focused on professional development. I hope I can enrich and boost my knowledge in this area professionally.

Thank you in advance, and see you soon,

I like this course

Profile picture for user IBOURKMustafa

Thanks for sharing

Thank you for giving me such opportunity

Profile picture for user ayazahmed1792

So grateful for letting me have this opportunity.

Thank you for giving us this opportunity, I am really interested in learning who to teach English Language in a very professional way. I believe this is going to be a great chance where i will learn new concepts and models of teaching English Language .
Thank you once again for this chance.

I am looking foreword to learn from you

I am very glad for participating in this course. I thank British Council to give us this opportunity, I am sure we will benefit from it.
Hassan from Erbil - Iraqi Kurdistan Region.

I enrolled to this course several days ago but do not see any My Profile/ My Courses button under Home button. How should I attend the course?
Thank you!

Hi,

Thanks for your interest in our courses. Make sure you are logged into your TeachingEnglish account, and you should see “MY PORTFOLIO” as an option in the menu at the top of the page. Click on “My courses” to access your training. If you can't see MY PORTFOLIO, click on the course that you’re enrolled on and follow the steps under “How do I sign up for the course?”, or follow this link to take you directly to the course page: https://open.teachingenglish.org.uk/Home/ExploreProgrammes 

Happy studying!

Philippa

TeachingEnglish team

I am so glad to be working with you on this course. Thank you for sharing this course with us

I can't return to my course. I have already finished the first stage but I can't find anyway to return

Hi Hala,

Sorry to hear that and hope that the following advice 'does the trick' :)

Log out of TeachingEnglish on all devices, then log back in. You should see “MY PORTFOLIO” as an option in the menu at the top of the page. Click on “My courses” to access your training. If you can't see MY PORTFOLIO, click on the course that you’re enrolled on and follow the steps under “How do I sign up for the course?”, or follow this link to take you directly to the course page: https://open.teachingenglish.org.uk/Home/ExploreProgrammes 

Hope that helps!

Anne

TeachingEnglish team

I have the same problem of my colleagues, I can't see my course

Hi Carla,

Have you logged in to the site and gone to My Portfolio - My courses?

You can also click on / tap this URL to find your courses: https://open.teachingenglish.org.uk/Home/MyProgrammes

If you are still having problems, let us know.

Thanks,

Cath

TeachingEnglish Team

I have just enrolled in the course but I can't find the option (my course) to get into my courses.

Doesn't work.

Hi Wen,

We are currently having some technical issues. To access your training, please log in to your TeachingEnglish account and click or tap this URL https://open.teachingenglish.org.uk/dashboard

Hope that helps!

Anne

TeachingEnglish team

Hi
Every single time I try to find the course, but it always opens my profile page. I try toclick on "my courses" but still it disappears. I even saved the page as a bookmark, but it will always be very difficult to find the page. I can see every one here has the same complaint. Please help!

Hi areejbanat

Sorry to hear you are having problems accessing your course page. Have you tried logging out of your TeachingEnglish account on all devices and browsers, and then logging in again? Then click on "My Portfolio" in the menu bar at the top of the page. You can also try clearing the cache on your browser and try logging in again. If you are still having problems, please let us know.

Thanks,

Cath

TeachingEnglish Team

How can I find the enrollment button, please?

Profile picture for user Paul Braddock

Hi, Please follow the instructions on the page here:

How do I sign up for the course?

We are currently having some technical issues. To access your training, please log in to your TeachingEnglish account and click or tap this URL https://open.teachingenglish.org.uk/dashboard

Hi Farah,

I am sorry to hear that and I hope you have managed to get back in. There have been some technical issues accessing the site. To access your training, please log in to your TeachingEnglish account and click or tap this URL https://open.teachingenglish.org.uk/dashboard.

I hope that helps,

Anne

TeachingEnglish team

Profile picture for user Ebtisamjaber

I can't return to my course. I have finished module 2 . I can't find my learning on the menu

Profile picture for user Hend Mohamed Eltaher Ahmed

I can't find the link of the modules anymore. I have done the first one. I tired today to log out and log in again but also this is not work. I need to done my course before the deadline of the course, please.
note:
I tired all the tips that you gave under line nothing work, can't find my courses option or MY PORTFOLIO. TT_TT

Hi Hend,

I am sorry to hear that and I hope you have managed to get back in. There have been some technical issues accessing the site. To access your training, please log in to your TeachingEnglish account and click or tap this URL https://open.teachingenglish.org.uk/dashboard.

I hope that helps,

Anne

TeachingEnglish team

I got my certificate but my name is not correct. What can I do?

Hi Shaik,

On the course platform where you access your training, please use the 'Help' button to request a new certificate. Names on certificates are taken from your personal details in your free TeachingEnglish account. To change your name, click or tap on your name to edit your profile. Update the details on your profile page and save the new details - the new certificate will have your correct name on.

Hope this helps,

Cath

TeachingEnglish Team

I have missed the chance to take this course. Today is 26 October but it closed on 24 October. Can you tell me: Will this course open one more time? If yes, when can I sign in the course?
I really need to take the course to finish my master program. I hope you will reply my comment. It's very important to me. Thank you so much!

Hello Pham Thu Ha

We hope to run this course again in 2023, but I'm afraid we don't have a definite date yet. Please check back on our Training page for more information and updates on our courses: https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/training

You can also sign up for our newsletter on this page to keep up to date with all the news and resources on the site.

Thanks

Cath

TeachingEnglish Teams

 

Profile picture for user Aiuba Antonio Pinto

I am here to ask the correction of my name in the certificate. It's written like "Aiuba Pinto" but it should be written "Aiuba António Pinto".
Note: Aiuba Pinto ❌
Aiuba António Pinto ✅
I hope to get solution from the British Council.

Thank you in advance.

Hi Aiuba

The name on the certificate is taken from your TeachingEnglish profile. To change the name, you need to log in to the site, click on "Edit Profile" and then change your name. Save the changes and then use the "Help" button on the course page to request a new certificate with the updated name. 

Hope this helps!

Cath

TeachingEnglish Team

How can I resume my course? I have finished Introduction and Module 1: Unit 1 but I can't keep on taking the course. Is it because of duration for the course or anything else? I would like to continue my course until the end and try to get certificate. Thanks

Hello

I'm afraid that this course ended on 31st October, so the course material is no longer available if you have not completed it.

Cath

TeachingEnglish Team

Hello sir or madame, I did the course until the end, and I want to have a certificate please

Hi Juan

If you have completed the course but have not received your certificate, please contact the course administrators by using the "Help" button on the courses page.

Thanks,

Cath

TeachingEnglish Team

hi,
I've been trying to access the course in vain.NONE of the links you have posted work. They always take me to my profile page. Now the course has finished without me being able to access the course. Please help!

Hi areejbanat

Sorry to hear you are having problems accessing our courses. Have you followed the step by step instructions above?  This course has now ended, so it won't be possible for you to access it, although we hope to run it again next year. Once you have created your account and you are logged in, you should be able to see the "My Portfolio" tab at the top left of the page. If you click on this tab, you will see a drop-down menu with "My Courses", which will take you to the courses homepage. If you don't see this tab, then you are not logged in. For future courses, if you have problems, please write to us, and we will try to resolve them. Please remember that our courses are usually available for four weeks.

Thanks,
Cath
TeachingEnglish Team

Profile picture for user Ben Amor

I would like to thank The British Council team for being so helpful.
The course was very valuable and enlightening. Keep it up.