Ideas that changed my teaching – webinars

Join us on 11 December 2026 as expert teachers share the strategies that made the greatest difference to learner achievement. 

Register to join us on Zoom

You can also watch the event live on our Facebook or YouTube page. No registration is necessary to watch on Facebook or YouTube.

Please note that due to specific legislative requirements, this service is currently restricted in Russia and Iran. Please read further information about Russia or Iran if you previously registered in one of those countries.

About this event

In the third event in our webinar series on becoming the English teacher you want to be, expert teachers share the ideas that had the biggest impact on their classroom and learning outcomes. The first webinar explores how you can foster curiosity and learner agency by teaching learners to ask deeper questions. The second introduces a framework using portfolios to help both teachers and learners reflect and grow. 

About the sessions

Session 1: Teaching learners to ask better questions

Speakers

Sonali Bhattacharyya and Meena Sridharan

Time and date

12.00–13.00 (UK time) Friday 11 December 2026

Session information

Moving beyond the teacher as an answer-provider, this practical webinar explores how questioning fosters curiosity, learner agency and independent thinking. Through adaptable classroom strategies, you will learn how to scaffold learner-generated questions, shift classroom talk from response-driven to inquiry-driven and use questioning as a tool for deeper learning. Join to learn how questioning techniques changed our teaching, and leave with the tools to change yours. Suitable for teachers of all experience levels.

Session 2: Making classroom reflection meaningful

Speaker

Ahisha Haneef

Time and date

13.15–14.15 (UK time) Friday 11 December 2026

Session information

While reflection is essential for developing learner autonomy and progress tracking, it is often reduced to a token tick-box activity without the right tools. This session introduces the Reflective Learning Loop (RLL), which is a portfolio-based framework that transformed my own teaching by making continuous reflection intentional, visible and easy to apply. You will leave with practical strategies to integrate goal setting, feedback and reflection into your lessons and your own development as a teacher.

Social media Q&A

Got a question about questions in the English language classroom? Join webinar presenters Meena Sridharan and Sonali Bhattacharyya and a TeachingEnglish host on Saturday 19 December, 13.00 UK time, for a live Q&A event on our Facebook and YouTube channels. This is a follow-up to our webinar event and a fantastic chance to interact with our presenters and other teachers. No registration is needed to join this event.

About the speakers

Sonali Bhattacharyya is a teacher educator and content developer from Kolkata, India. She has extensive experience as a consultant with the British Council, training and monitoring institutions, colleges and universities across India. 

Meena Sridharan is a teacher educator from Bangalore, who has been a consultant with the British Council’s Teacher Development Projects across India for 17 years. Meena also volunteers with several NGOs, supporting teachers and learners.

Ahisha Haneef is a senior teacher for adult learners at the British Council Sri Lanka, with many years of experience as a teacher. She is involved in practitioner research and professional learning communities, with a strong interest in reflective learning.

Important information about our events – please read

How to watch the webinar

Our webinars are free. They take place in Zoom events. Click the ’Register to join us on Zoom’ button to register to join live. You can also watch the event on our Facebook page or YouTube channel.

Webinar recordings

All TeachingEnglish webinars are recorded, and you will find links to the recordings under the session information on this page between 24 and 48 hours after the live webinar has ended. You can also find the videos on the TeachingEnglish YouTube channel. Recordings will be available to watch for a minimum of six months and up to one year after the live event has ended.

Certificates and handouts

Certificates of attendance are available for all attendees. You will receive a ‘Thank you for attending’ email after the webinar if you registered and watched on Zoom. You should receive this within 24 hours of the live event. 

You should download the certificate to your computer. Once the certificate is saved to your computer, open it and type your name on the certificate. We recommend using Google Chrome or Internet Explorer to do this. You cannot do this from a mobile device.

A handout for each session will be provided with useful links and resources related to the session. You can download the handout from this page after the event.

Code of conduct – participants

Please be respectful at all times to other participants and the presenter. Our webinars are freely available to attend by participants in all countries. Please be aware that comments you make in the general chat may have a negative impact on other participants and their enjoyment of the webinar.

Do not use insulting or offensive language or comments towards other participants or the presenter.

Do not make comments that include cultural references or political references that may be offensive or upsetting to other participants or the presenter.

Any offensive or insulting comments will be deleted, and the participant making the comment will be removed from the webinar.

Do not share any personal information in the general chat that may result in other participants contacting you. This includes addresses, phone numbers and email addresses.

Do not share links to your website or any websites that you are promoting for the purposes of making money.

Comments that include links to paid-for websites for the sole purpose of promotion will be deleted, and you may be removed from the webinar.

Please use the Q&A to ask the presenter questions that are related to the theme or topic of the webinar only. If participant responses to questions are permitted, you should only make comments that are relevant to the question being asked.

Disclaimer

The views and opinions expressed in our live events are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the view or position of the British Council.