Professional development for teachers

Here you’ll find a wide range of free, self-access training and resources designed to help you build the skills and knowledge you need as an English teacher.

All TeachingEnglish professional development resources are aligned with the British Council Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Framework for teachers, to help you plan your learning and develop the areas most relevant to your professional growth.

You can explore resources in a way that suits your goals:
- by professional practices – to focus on specific areas of teaching where you want to deepen your skills and expertise
- by professional development levels – to find resources matched to your training and experience and see how they can help you progress within each area.

Each resource includes a timer icon to show how much time you’ll need, helping you plan your learning effectively.

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Teaching English through literature

Learn how to engage and develop your learners' English language skills through a range of literature-focused learning activities and related teaching approaches. Enrolment for Teaching English through literature is closed. Find resources connected to the course contents on this page, and sign up for our newsletter to keep up to date on when our courses open.

Teenage girl standing up in classroom explaining something to her classmates

Strategic repetition for accelerated speaking fluency

In this article, Nadia Elhabak gives us some ideas about how to use repetition techniques in class to improve learners' fluency when speaking.

An female Asian teacher works with a young female Asian learner in a classroom

An introduction to assessment

Assessment is a key part of teaching and learning, but what different types of assessment can we use, and what do teachers and learners need to know about assessment?

A group of diverse multilingual learners talk together in a classroom with a teacher in the background

Multilingualism: The benefits of using learners' (other) languages in the classroom

'English only' and the aim of creating an immersive environment in the English language classroom has dominated ELT for many years. However, there is now overwhelming research showing that the use of multiple languages in the classroom is an aid to learning.

Monitoring

When your students are on-task and engaged in a speaking activity where are you and what are you doing? This article explores four simple tips to ensure efficient monitoring.

view over teacher's shoulder of group of primary school sitting on the floor of the classroom

Setting up in the young learner classroom

This article looks at the techniques involved in setting up tasks in the young learner classroom with suggestions of how to implement them.

An introduction to reluctant talkers

Being faced with a class which won't speak can be very disappointing after all your planning. When there are rows of blank faces or questions that nobody will answer it can demotivating.

Establishing the ground rules

Good classroom management skills are essential to the smooth and efficient running of any classroom.

teacher talking to his diverse group of learners

Managing reluctant talkers to get them speaking

This article explores how you can get the best out of your learners by managing what you do in the classroom.

Lesson planning

Planning lessons on your own for the first time can seem like a daunting task. This article offers practical advice on how to stage the lesson and choose topics, and what to do if you run out of time or material.

Teaching resources