Understanding

educational policies
and practice
TeachingEnglish
Authors: Mary Gorman and Lucy Norris
British Council advisers: Kirsteen Donaghy and Zoë Tysoe
How to use this resource

Teachers
Work through the module at your own pace. Do the self-assessment activity on the page after the
Introduction to check your skills in this professional practice. The self-assessment activity will help
you to decide which elements of practice you want to improve. Each area has four sections:

A Analyse: Can you advise these teachers? This section looks at real teachers’ situations and
a part of the practice they’re finding difficult. Think of the advice you would give the teachers in
the case studies. This section helps you to think about what you already do, and gives you some
ideas to try in your own classes.

B Think: What do you know? This section gives an explanation of the area of practice. It might
have new terminology. It is a good idea to have an ELT glossary, such as the Teaching knowledge
database on the TeachingEnglish website, open for you to look up any words you don’t know. This
section also has a short task for you to check your understanding of the area of practice described.

C Try: How does it work? This section asks you to try something out in a class or over a number of
lessons. The tasks will help you to think more about the area of practice in Section B and also to
understand how the area applies to your teaching context. Some of the tasks need resources, but
many can be done without any special preparation. It is a good idea to read several in-classroom
tasks and then plan which task to do, with which groups of learners, and when.

D Work together: What will help your teaching? These sections have ideas for how you and your
colleagues can do the activities together and support each other’s professional development. If
you are working on your own, then choose some of these activities and think about the questions.
It’s a good idea to keep a journal of your thoughts.
If you can, make a regular time to meet in a teachers’ club or activity group, and together discuss
your self-reflections. Write a plan for the year, deciding which sections to look at each time you meet.
Make sure you consider the time you need for the in-classroom task, as you will need to do some
things before the meeting, and so that you have ideas to talk about with your teacher activity group.

Teacher educators
If you’re a teacher educator working with teachers, there are many ways you can use this resource.
Get an idea of the teachers’ strengths and weaknesses using the self-reflection page. You can also use
other needs analyses you’ve done with your teachers, such as observations of classes and informal
chats about their professional development.
Next, create a professional development plan for your teachers, choosing three to five of the most
useful elements over a school year. Ask the teachers for their input into the plan as well, so they feel
in control of their professional development.
If the teachers you are working with are in a group, you can use many of the Work together ideas.
If you’re working with individual teachers, you might like to work through sections yourself first, with
your own classes if you have them, or perhaps by team-teaching parts of your teachers’ classes, so
that you can discuss and compare ideas.

Understanding educational policy and practice 01

 Understanding educational policies and practice: Introduction

Educational policies are created at national, state and school levels. They exist to set standards of
quality for teaching and learning and the safety of learners and staff. They describe the expected
behaviour of staff and learners and aim to help schools meet the educational needs of all learners
fairly and consistently. Policies outline responsibilities and make a school’s position clear on
important topics. Policies also include step-by-step procedures to help educators manage everyday
responsibilities, and less common situations, effectively and safely. Teachers have a responsibility
to understand and follow a school’s policies and procedures. To do this, it is first necessary to
understand how any changes benefit your learners’ school and home life. This module will give
you some ideas to help develop your awareness of important areas of policy related to UNESCO’s
Sustainable Development Goals.

From our research and work with teachers, the six elements of this professional practice that most
teachers ask for help with are employing professional and pedagogical practices consistent with
applicable policies in:

1 Child protection
Schools and teachers have a special responsibility to safeguard the welfare of children in their
care, i.e. to make sure they are happy, healthy and safe. This means protecting them from all types
of abuse (actions that hurt them badly), whether emotional, physical, sexual, or through neglect.
Your duty as a teacher includes understanding your school’s child protection policy so that you
are able to recognise signs of abuse and respond quickly and appropriately.

2 Teaching large classes

Large classes are a reality all around the world and they present a number of challenges. There
are more people to manage. The more learners you have, the more ages, abilities, interests,
motivations, needs and learning preferences there are. There are more people to get to know
and more assessments to do. In this section, you will explore strategies and gather enthusiasm
for the next time you teach a large group of learners.

3 Behaviour management
Behaviour management plays an important role in creating positive, happy and safe environments in
which learners can learn and teachers can teach. Behaviour, whether positive or negative, is learned;
therefore, teachers can use strategies to encourage children to self-regulate (control their behaviour
and emotions) and work co-operatively with others. Behaviour management policies help set the
expected standards, provide advice for teachers and ensure that any problems are managed fairly
and consistently.

4 Learner empowerment
Who decides what to learn, how to learn and how to assess that learning? For most learners, the
answer to these questions is the teacher. Teachers have a lot of power over learners, but this power
can be shared so everyone benefits. Empowered learners have a say in what happens (learner
voice) and choices to make (e.g. how to contribute to or achieve learning goals). When lessons
are meaningful, and learning outcomes are achievable, learners want to participate.

5 Literacy
Literate people are able to communicate effectively, and understand and identify with the society
in which they live. UNESCO estimates that, globally, at least 750 million young people and adults
can’t read or write, and 250 million children lack basic literacy skills. Literacy is linked to success
at primary and secondary school. Families and caregivers with low literacy skills are less able to
effectively support their children’s learning; employment opportunities and social mobility will be
limited across generations.

6 The curriculum, syllabus and methodologies

Your school curriculum is usually prescribed by your government or Ministry of Education. It lists
what will be included and taught, e.g. knowledge, skills, values, attitudes, performance and learning
outcomes. A syllabus describes the topics included in different subjects and set by examination
boards or decided on by teachers. Methodologies are the pedagogic principles and teaching
strategies or procedures used to teach and cover the syllabus and curriculum.

02 Teaching for Success

Understanding educational policies and practice: Self-reflection

The table lists the elements that are included in this chapter. Consider what you already know and
what you’re good at. Self-assess by colouring in the stars. You can colour in more stars as you
progress. The page numbers show where you can find out more about the element and work through
some related professional development tasks.

Element Rating Pages

1. Child protection 4–7

2. Teaching large classes 8–11

3. Behaviour management 12–15

4. Learner empowerment 16–19

5. Literacy 20–23

6. The curriculum, syllabus and methodologies 24–27

Further reading
Amara, N (2010) Classroom management for young learners. British Council. Available online at:
https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/blogs/alexenoamen/classroom-management-young-learners
Harmer, J (2007) The practice of English language teaching. Harlow: Pearson Longman.
Shamim, F, Negash, N, Chuku, C and Demewoz, N (2007) Maximizing learning in large classes: Issues and
options. British Council. Available online at: https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/sites/teacheng/files/
ELT-16-screen.pdf
Thornbury, S (n.d.) Methods, Post-Method, Métodos. Available online at: https://www.teachingenglish.org.
uk/article/methods-post-method-métodos
Ideas for helping motivate learners to read: https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/blog-posts/brent-
vasicek/making-books-convenient-for-kids/
National Literacy Trust (UK charity) resources and information for teachers in early years, primary and
secondary: https://literacytrust.org.uk/
UK Literacy Association resources and information: https://ukla.org/resources
https://iatefl.britishcouncil.org/2015/session/plenary-harry-kuchah (large classes)
https://resourcecentre.savethechildren.net/search/site/keeping%20children%20safe?sort=score

Understanding educational policy and practice 03

1 Child protection

Introduction

Under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), schools and teachers
have responsibility for the welfare of children in their care, i.e. to make sure they are happy,
healthy and safe. This means protecting them from physical, emotional and sexual abuse, or
neglect. Abuse happens to children of all ages, from any country, social background or ethnic
group. It can take place in many forms and anywhere – the family, community, organisations or
on the internet. In this module, a child is defined as anyone under 18 years old.
Your duty as a teacher includes understanding your school’s child protection policy so that you
are able to recognise signs of abuse and respond quickly and appropriately when you think a
child is being harmed. The child protection policy should consist of two parts: preventive actions
that reduce the likelihood of a child being harmed, and an action plan for when concerns about a
child have been raised or abuse is suspected.

Aims
In this section you will:
• identify signs of abuse and learn about your responsibilities when a child tells you they have been
abused or you suspect abuse
• complete an assessment to find out how prepared your school is to protect children
• invite your learners to share something about their lives outside of school
• review your school’s child protection policy and procedures to prevent bullying.

04 Teaching for Success

1A Analyse: Can you advise these teachers?

Nan is doing an online training course on child protection. She is reading about situations where
teachers think there may be child abuse. Underline the things that are a concern for child protection
in each situation.

How to recognise signs of child abuse

A B C
An eight-year-old girl He used to be a happy, A 13-year-old student
joined our school this year. positive boy who had a spoke to me privately.
She moved to this area to lot of friends. Recently, She spends a lot of time
live with her aunty, uncle he has become quiet and at her best friend’s house.
and two younger cousins. doesn’t talk to his friends. She said her friend’s
Since joining the class, He is angry. He picks fights father has always made
she has only attended with his classmates and comments about her body
school about 50 per cent gets violent if he loses or and appearance. It makes
of the time. Last week, two doesn’t get his own way. her feel uncomfortable,
learners told me she has He gets a lot of bruises and but she thought he was just
been stealing food from injuries. One day I asked his being friendly. Recently,
their bags. parents why he didn’t do he followed her into the
his homework. He came bedroom and hugged her.
back the next day with a My student is embarrassed,
big bruise on his face. worried and doesn’t know
what to do. She doesn’t
want to lose her friend.

Reflection

• What type of issue is suspected/identified in each case? Is it physical, emotional or sexual abuse,
or neglect?
• What action, if any, should the teachers take to support the children in each situation?
What does your school’s child protection policy say?
• Nan needs to know how to respond if a child tells her they have been abused (like Case Study C).
What should she do and say?
• What can stop children from reporting their abuse? What can stop adults from doing anything
when they think abuse may be happening?

Now read the Answers and commentary section on page 28.

Understanding educational policy and practice 05

1B Think: What do you know?

A child protection policy helps you understand your responsibilities when it comes to keeping
children safe. It provides clear instructions to follow when you have concerns about a child’s
welfare so that you are able to respond quickly and appropriately.

Activity
Complete the assessment below to find out how prepared your school is to protect children.
Tick the statements that are true. Make notes beside any that you are unsure about.
1. Child protection policy
• My school has a written child protection policy that is clear and easy to understand.
• The policy has links to other important organisational policies, i.e. anti-bullying, online safety, etc.
• Clear procedures are in place that provide step-by-step instructions on how to report and respond
to child abuse concerns and allegations (statements saying someone has abused a child without
providing evidence) according to the laws of my country.
• There are written guidelines for staff about appropriate and expected standards of behaviour from
adults when working with children (a Code of Conduct).
2. Staff and training
• Staff members have child protection induction and training to learn about the school’s child
protection policy and how to recognise and respond to concerns about child abuse.
• There is a designated child protection person who has clear responsibilities and has had training.
Staff are aware of this person and know how to contact them for advice and support. There are
cover arrangements in place if they are unavailable.
• Staff members are recruited with child safety being a priority – including carrying out reference
checks, identification checks and police checks (where applicable).
3. Communication
• My school has a culture where children are respected and listened to.
• Children are taught about their right to be safe from abuse and harm.
• Staff, parents/caregivers and children have easy access to information about child protection,
including our policy, the designated child protection person and guidelines for working with children.
• Information about our commitment to keeping children safe is openly displayed.
• There are clear procedures for keeping information about child protection situations confidential,
for example keeping written records about abuse in a secure place.

Reflection

• What surprised you about the assessment? What, if any, areas does your school need to discuss,
review or plan for?
• Do you disagree with any of the assessment statements? If so, why?
• What other things do you think should be added to this child protection assessment?
• Have you ever used or needed your school’s child protection policy, child safety procedures or the
Code of Conduct? How did they help you (or might they have helped you)?

Now read the Answers and commentary section on 29.

06 Teaching for Success

1C Try: How does it work?

Resources: A letterbox (for example, a cardboard shoebox) with a space to post slips of paper, and
small pieces of paper to place on desks/tables
Time: One lesson

Rationale
In order to be able to safeguard children, teachers need to know their learners well. What are their family
situations? What challenges do they face in their lives outside of school? What are their likes, hopes and
fears? When the relationship between the learner, the school and the home is strong, teachers are better
able to support learners with their educational needs and recognise and respond to signs of abuse. This
activity from Kyle Schwartz invites learners to share something about their lives outside the classroom.
It went viral in 2015 (#Iwishmyteacherknew).

Instructions
• It is possible that a child will disclose abuse using this method. Make sure you know the procedures
to follow to report concerns and manage a disclosure from a child.
• Explain that you want to find out more about the learners so that you can teach them better.
• Write on the board I wish my teacher knew that ... using a shared language that will allow learners to
write their ideas easily and clearly.
• Give out small pieces of paper and ask learners to write and complete the sentence with something
about their lives outside of school that they want to share.
• Tell learners that they can write their names if they want to or remain anonymous, but you will not be
able to keep their notes secret if you are worried about their safety.
• Ask learners to put their papers in your letterbox when they finish.

Reflection

• Collect the ‘post’ and spend some time reading what your learners said. Make notes to add to your
learner or class profile. What have you learned? What surprised you the most?
• What changes do you want to make to your classroom and teaching as a result of this activity?
• Do you need to have a private chat with any learners about what they wrote? Do you need to talk to
your child protection officer about any concerns?

1D Work together: What will help your teaching?

1 Share your feelings about the activity in 1C. Remember to respect confidentiality and not share any
specific details or names.

2 Discuss the results of the assessments you did in 1B. Are there any areas of concern you all agree on?
Write a recommendation together to take to your school leadership.

3 As well as adult–child abuse, children frequently encounter child–child abuse in the form of bullying.
Review your school’s policy on the prevention of bullying. Are there clear and helpful steps to follow if
you discover bullying? Do victims of bullying know where to go to get help? Does the curriculum do
enough to prevent bullying? Record any changes you agree on to take to your school leadership. If
your school doesn’t have an anti-bullying policy/procedure, find a sample policy online and adapt it to
your situation, for example https://learning.nspcc.org.uk/research-resources/templates/anti-bullying-
policy-statement/

Understanding educational policy and practice 07

2 Teaching large classes

Introduction

What is a large class? Numbers vary greatly around the world, with some teachers managing
classes of more than 100. What really matters is a teacher’s feelings about the class. Does it
feel big in their context with the learners, classroom space, furniture and resources they have?
Teachers of large classes face a number of challenges. There are more people to manage.
The more learners you have, the more ages, abilities, interests, motivations, needs and learning
preferences there are. There are more people to get to know and more assessments to do. But
it is not all bad news. With more people come more experiences and opinions to share. With the
teacher less able to give learners individual attention, learners become more independent and
develop peer support networks. Whichever way you look at it, large classes are not going away
any time soon. Read on to explore strategies and gather enthusiasm for your next lesson with a
large group of learners.

Aims
In this section you will:
• identify some of the challenges of teaching large classes and suggest solutions
• select appropriate strategies to help manage large classes
• find out what things are important for your learners as they study in a large class, and try out
strategies suggested by the learners to solve some of the problems
• discuss other challenges with teaching large classes in your school and write tips for teachers
for setting up and managing different types of activities.

08 Teaching for Success

2A Analyse: Can you advise these teachers?

What is happening in each of the pictures? What problems can you see? Do you have any of the
same problems?

Reflection

• What advice would you give to the teachers?

• What other problems do teachers experience when working with large classes?
What do you think is the biggest difficulty?
• Do some research. What is the policy for teacher–student ratios in your country, i.e. recommended
class sizes? Has the number of students been increasing or decreasing? Why?

Now read the Answers and commentary section on page 30.

Understanding educational policy and practice 09

2B Think: What do you know?

In this section, you will think about other problems teachers have when teaching large classes and
consider strategies that may help with them.

Problems
A. Managing the lesson: It’s noisy, learners can’t hear, and there are a lot of distractions. It’s difficult
to organise groups. Some learners don’t do the activities.
B. Individual attention: It’s difficult to build rapport with learners and understand their individual needs.
Learners don’t get as much individual feedback.
C. Participation: It’s difficult to get all the learners involved. It’s easy for learners to ‘hide’ in a large
class and not participate. Shy and quiet students are afraid to speak up and can become invisible.

Activity
Look at the strategies for working with large classes and decide which of the problems above they
might help with. There may be more than one answer. The first one has been done for you.
1. Give more responsibility to the learners. Make a list of things that the learners could do and give
them jobs, e.g. calling the register, creating materials, decorating the classroom, keeping the
classroom tidy, handing out papers or moving the furniture. C
2. Speak louder than normal, but do not shout. Project your voice – use your breath to make your
voice strong, loud and clear.
3. Tell learners things about your life outside of school. It will help create a stronger sense of
connection for them.
4. Write important messages on the board so everyone can see them.
5. Use an attention-getting signal and train your learners to stop and listen as soon as they hear it,
e.g. raising your arm, clapping your hands in a pattern for learners to follow or ringing a bell.
6. Ask learners for written feedback on what they enjoy about the class and any suggestions or
questions they might have.
7. Use activities that encourage student–student and student–teacher interaction and sharing of
ideas and experiences.
8. Move around the class, even into the middle of hard-to-reach rows. Make sure you connect with
everyone.
9. Avoid using a lecture style (though it can be tempting with a large class). When learners are bored,
they will not engage with the lesson and there will be more behaviour problems.
10. Have learners change seats at the start of each week, for example move the front row to the back.
11. Vary the topics, activities and approach. Large classes have diverse needs and interests. Keep
everyone happy, at least some of the time, by mixing things up.
12. Wait until learners are silent before speaking to the class. Avoid shouting yourself as it just increases
the noise in the room.

Reflection

• Which strategies do you use already? Which ones would you like to try?
• Which of the strategies would it be difficult for you to use? Why?
• Think of two more solutions for each of the problems (A–C).

Now read the Answers and commentary section on page 31.

10 Teaching for Success

2C Try: How does it work?

Resources: Learner questionnaire – use, adapt or translate the one below

Time: 45 minutes over two lessons

Rationale
As well as your own thoughts and feelings about teaching a large class, it is helpful to find out how the
learners feel and involve them in finding solutions.

Instructions
Choose a large class you teach. Make copies of the questionnaire, copy it onto the board, or dictate it.
Explain it to the learners and ask them to complete it.

Being in a large class. What is most important to you?

Circle a number. 5 means it is very important.
1. Being able to see the board. 12345
2. Being able to hear the teacher. 12345
3. The teacher knowing my name and things about me. 12345
4. Getting help from the teacher. 12345
5. Speaking to the teacher. 12345
6. Having the teacher come to see my work during class. 12345
7. Speaking/answering questions in front of the whole class. 12345
8. Having a quiet class. 12345
9. Doing activities in class. 12345
10. Doing group work. 12345
11. Having opportunities to practise speaking English. 12345
12. Having my writing marked by the teacher. 12345
13. Getting feedback on my speaking. 12345
14. Other _____________________________________. 12345

• Analyse the results after class by adding up the scores for each question.
• In the following lesson, present the questions that had the highest scores to the class and discuss
the problems these create in a large class.
• Have groups brainstorm solutions and present their ideas to the class.
• Try out any ideas that could work easily in your situation. Get feedback from the learners.

Reflection

• What surprised you about the learners’ questionnaire answers?

• Which of the solutions you tried out were the most successful? Why?

2D Work together: What will help your teaching?

1 Share the results of your questionnaires and any successful strategies you have tried.

2 Discuss other problems that you have and possible solutions.

3 Work in pairs. Take one or two of these class activities (speaking presentations, role plays, group work,
listening) and write a list of tips for teachers for setting them up, managing them and giving feedback
with a large class. Come together to share and discuss your ideas.

Understanding educational policy and practice 11

3 Behaviour management

Introduction

Behaviour management plays an important role in creating positive, happy and safe
environments in which learners can learn and teachers can teach. Behaviour management
policies help set the expected standards, provide advice for teachers and ensure that any
problems are managed fairly and consistently. Behaviour, whether positive or negative,
is learned; therefore, teachers can help children to self-regulate (control their behaviour
and emotions) and work well with others. Relationships are at the heart of good behaviour
management. Learners are more likely to respond to discipline when they have had positive
interactions with a teacher, and are less likely to break the rules when they respect them.
When discipline is necessary, effective teachers respond in calm and respectful ways that
do not embarrass the learners.

Aims
In this section you will:
• find out how your school’s policies advise you to deal with different behaviour problems
• read about strategies for preventing and managing disruptive behaviour in class
• try out a new behaviour management strategy and reflect on the benefits for you and your learners
• discuss ways to manage disruptive behaviour in your classes, and evaluate your school’s policy for
managing serious behaviour problems.

12 Teaching for Success

3A Analyse: Can you advise these teachers?

Class rules:
1. Show respect
2. Listen to each
other
3. Try your best

On a forum you are part of, you see teachers discussing problems they have with their learners.
Look up your school’s policies on behaviour and write down the policy your school has for as many
of these problems as possible.

Behaviour problem My school’s policy

Arriving late

Wearing incorrect uniform

Deliberately breaking school property

Showing defiance, i.e. refusing to follow

instructions and talking back (replying rudely)

Fighting

Not doing the work that is set

Not doing homework

Add some more problems:



Reflection

• Which problems are not covered in your school’s behaviour management policy? How do you think
they should be addressed?
• When responding to a behaviour problem, it is useful to think about how serious the problem is.
Which of the problems above do you consider to be serious? Why?
• Which behaviour management problems do you experience most often? Are they common problems
in your school? What can be done about them?
• How easy/difficult were your school’s behaviour policies to find, use and understand? Were you
surprised by anything? What changes/improvements would you recommend?

Now read the Answers and commentary section on page 32.

Understanding educational policy and practice 13

3B Think: What do you know?

School behaviour policies usually have clear procedures to follow for serious behaviours, but what
about minor disruptions (things that stop the lesson continuing in the normal way) that happen in
class every day? In this section, we look at strategies you can use to prevent or manage disruptive
behaviour such as calling out, being noisy, or not paying attention.

Activity
Read the strategies and mark them as (P) preventing or (M) managing behaviour problems.
1. Choose topics and activities that learners will find engaging. P
2. Build good relationships. Get to know the learners as people, not just as learners.
Who are they outside of class? What do they like doing? What are their hopes and dreams?
3. Give choices so that learners have the power to choose to do the right thing, for example:
Tom, you can do your work now or come back and do it at lunchtime.
4. Use praise frequently and often, for example: That’s a thoughtful answer, Tom, thank you. This
group is showing excellent team work. Aim for five positive interactions to every negative one.
5. Move to stand near where the problem behaviour is happening
6. Stand and wait. If learners are talking while you’re talking, simply stop and wait.
7. Lower your voice. Do not speak louder to talk over the top of a noisy class.
8. Remind learners of the rules and expectations positively, for example: In this class, Tom, we put
our hands up when we want to speak. Use thanks to give instructions, for example: Thanks for
putting your chewing gum in the bin, Tom rather than No chewing gum.
9. Ignore any minor annoying behaviour if you think the learner is doing it to get attention.
10. Tell learners what you want them to do, then walk away and give them time to do it. They may
complain (especially teenagers), but they will usually do what you ask when you stop giving
them attention.
11. Learn your learners’ names. Many times, just using a name will stop a learner causing trouble.
It also respects them and shows that you care about them.
12. Give rewards for positive behaviour, e.g. stickers, team points or writing a note to the parents.
13. Include a variety of both quiet and active/energising activities.
14. Use non-verbal signs, for example putting a finger over your lips to show learners you don’t
want them to call out.
15. Get learners busy doing something within the first five minutes of a lesson. Bored learners with
nothing to do will cause problems.

Now read the Answers and commentary section on page 32.

Reflection

• Tick the strategies you use already, and put an asterisk (*) next to any you would like to try.
Are there any you would not use? Why not?
• What other strategies do you use? Add them to the list.
• Do you have a behaviour management plan for your classes? Planning your behaviour management
strategies is just as important as lesson planning. Make a list of all the disruptive things learners
do in your classes and then plan how you will respond to each one.
• How did teachers manage behaviour when you were at school? How have things changed since
that time?

14 Teaching for Success

3C Try: How does it work?

Resources: Sticky notes around your desk/work area and board to remind you to use a new behaviour
management strategy consistently (in the same way every time a particular behaviour happens)
Time: One week

Rationale
The behaviour management strategies in 3B allow you to encourage the behaviours you want in positive
ways. They avoid nagging (complaining about something a lot) and giving attention to disruptive
behaviour. Learners save face when you give them short, positive reminders about expectations and let
them choose to do the right thing. When you use your behaviour management strategies consistently,
learners feel safe and secure. They have confidence in you because your responses are predictable,
meaning you behave in ways that the learners expect. It seems fair.

Instructions
• Choose one of the behaviour management strategies from 3B that you would like to try.
• Decide which positive behaviour you want to encourage with your strategy, e.g. putting hands up or
listening when you are speaking to the class. It is helpful to focus on the behaviours you want rather
than the ones you don’t, for example: respect each other rather than no fighting.
• Prepare sticky notes to put around your desk and work area to remind you to use the strategy.
• Use the strategy with your class/classes over a week. If possible/appropriate, video record some of
your lessons so you can see how it works.
• Reflect on and make notes about how effectively the strategy is working at the end of each day.
– How did the learners respond to your strategy? Did they understand what you were doing and why?
Do you need to explain anything to them?
– How confidently and consistently did you use the strategy?
– What, if any, changes do you need to make?
– What other behaviour management strategies did you use today?

Reflection

• What did you find interesting/surprising about the strategy you tried?
• What, if any, benefits were there for you? What about the learners?
• Was the strategy more effective with some learners than others? If so, why do you think that was?
• What other behaviour management strategies do you use most often? What have you learned about
your behaviour management style?

3D Work together: What will help your teaching?

1 Write common behaviour problems you experience on small pieces of paper. Put them in an
envelope. Take turns to read out a problem and ask the group What would you say/do?

2 Role play a class situation where there is disruptive behaviour and take turns to be the teacher
and try out strategies from 3B.

3 Consult your school’s behaviour management policies. Discuss the suggested procedures for dealing
with serious discipline problems (e.g. fighting, stealing, bullying). Are they clear and appropriate?
What, if any, changes would you recommend? If there is no policy/plan, discuss and write a procedure
for teachers to follow for each situation.

Understanding educational policy and practice 15

4 Learner empowerment

Introduction

Who decides what to learn, how to learn and how to assess that learning? For most learners
the answer to these questions is the teacher. Teachers have a lot of power over learners,
but this power can be shared so everyone benefits. Empowered learners have a say in what
happens (learner voice) and choices to make (for example, how to contribute to or achieve
learning goals). When lessons are meaningful, and learning outcomes are achievable, learners
want to participate.
Learners who believe that what they are doing matters, that their work is important and their
contributions valued are empowered. Empowerment gives learners faith in their ability to control
their lives, make positive changes and feel hopeful about their futures. Teachers empower
learners by trusting and guiding them to feel valued and supported in an inclusive environment.

Aims
In this section you will:
• identify and consider how different areas of diversity affect empowerment
• evaluate some teaching strategies and decide if they engage and empower learners
• invite your learners to share some of the power and decision making in class and reflect
on how it makes them feel
• plan and discuss future lessons that will help in empowering your learners.

16 Teaching for Success

4A Analyse: Can you advise these teachers?

Read the comments from three learners below.

Anold

When my English teacher asks us

to talk about our houses or family
I feel sad and alone as I have no
family here. Our English book has
happy children, holidays, sports,
hobbies and pets. They are rich,
but where I’m living there aren’t
any books or a computer or
internet. Samuel
I don’t think my teacher knows my
name. English is my third language,
but I don’t speak the school
language very well. I sit at the back,
and I don’t like it when my teacher
gives me more English grammar
exercises when I finish early. When
we are in groups, I often do all the
Makeda
work, but my teacher never notices
me until I am noisy or I play around.

I have strong beliefs about freedom

and politics. I am afraid to say what
I really believe in English classes –
boys speak out more than girls. I don’t
want my classmates or teacher to
laugh at my opinions. ‘What does a
young girl know about the world?’ the
boys say. I want to talk about things
that are important to me, in the same
way as Malala and Greta Thunberg do.
But I say nothing. My teacher never
sees me when I raise my hand.

Reflection

• Which of these areas of diversity may be making these three learners feel disempowered?

age    disability    family and/or ethnic background    gender    language

mental and physical health    neurodiversity    political, religious or world beliefs and/or values
position in family     sexual orientation     socio-economic status

• What problems can you identify? In what ways are these learners disempowered?
• What signs of disempowerment are these learners’ teachers missing? Do you think any of your own
learners’ behaviour could be related to disempowerment? Why?
• What advice can you give teachers to empower and include these learners more?
• What references can you find to any of these areas of diversity and empowerment in your school
curriculum or teaching policy?

Now read the Answers and commentary section on page 32.

Understanding educational policy and practice 17

4B Think: What do you know?

How can we make our learners feel more involved and engaged in their learning? We know that
when their teachers and classmates value a learner’s contributions to class, this is empowering
and learning improves. In this section we look at different ways of promoting more engagement
and involvement, and evaluate which strategies could empower learners.

Activity
Do these teaching strategies involve and engage learners? Put ideas 1–10 on the scale below.
__________________________________________________________________________________
empowering disempowering

1. At the beginning of the year, I ask my younger learners to make up an ‘English’ name and they
become this character, creating imaginary parents, brothers and sisters, pets and homes.
2. I ask my learners to self-assess their own work, and I also use peer assessment.
3. At the start of term I share our learning goals and ask my learners their opinions about the topics,
and to suggest alternatives they prefer. I ask about their favourite class activities and they tell me
what they don’t like, and why. I use this feedback for future lessons, but I don’t change the curriculum.
4. I allow learners to choose the colour of their paper, their pens and who to work with. They decide if
they want to work on the floor or at their tables, or even outside sometimes.
5. To be honest, I teach to the learners who want to be in class, who work and behave politely. I usually
ignore the ones that say nothing or play around.
6. I give my learners choices on how to present and share their language work, in writing or audio,
live presentations or videos they record at home.
7. If my learners produce good written work, I ask them to share it on the wall near the school
entrance or publish it online for the whole community to read on our school website.
8. I adapt my coursebook because it is a bit ‘alien’ – my learners’ families don’t know or understand
English. I use the same target language from our syllabus, but I use photographs showing people
and places and things they can identify with.
9. I make my tests and assessments very simple so my learners can all achieve good results.
10. I often group my learners according to their ability so that they don’t get bored.
11. I have a system of good and bad points, and write them on the board next to the names of the
learners each lesson. I give points for behaviour, finishing work, getting right or wrong answers,
homework, etc. That way everyone can see who is a good learner and who is a bad learner in that
class. At the end of each week I give rewards or punishments to those with the most points.
12. I expect the learners who finish first to help the weaker, slower learners.

Reflection

• What is empowering and/or disempowering about these learning environments and the teaching and
learning strategies?
• What are your own strategies? Which empowering ideas do you use or would you/wouldn’t you like to
try out with your learners?
• How do you think your learners would respond to these ideas?

Now read the Answers and commentary section on page 34.

18 Teaching for Success

4C Try: How does it work?

Resources: Coursebook and lesson materials for two weeks of English lessons, paper to make notes/
observations, or a mobile phone to make recordings (audio, video, photographs)
Time: Two weeks with the same class

Rationale
Giving your learners opportunities to share their opinions about what and how they like to learn is
empowering. This activity explores how your learners respond to sharing power in lessons.

Instructions
• Before you teach, choose a class to work with and decide on language and learning outcomes you
want to achieve over a two-week period.
• Select the materials or coursebook pages that follow your curriculum. What decisions about content,
topics or types of activities could learners make? How could they share more of the tasks you usually
do (e.g. collecting work, making records of work done or vocabulary studied)?
• Ask for opinions or suggestions, for example, on topics, activity or games your learners like. Learners
work in small groups to decide, using their home language(s). Use their feedback to plan your lessons
for the two-week period.
• Before you teach the lesson, explain to your learners that they will reflect on how involved they feel.
• During lessons, give learners ‘on the spot’ choice, for example: Work alone or in pairs/groups. You can
stand or sit on the floor together.
• Ask learners to discuss in pairs or small groups how their choices helped them to feel ‘powerful’ or
motivated in this lesson.
• As you monitor and observe the class at work, make notes, take photos or record some of what you
observe. This will help you to reflect after the lesson.
• Learners complete an exit ticket on a sticky note to make a big class poster: We felt motivated/powerful
when ... because …

Reflection

• Look at the sticky notes/posters and think about what your learners said. What motivated them most?
Add what you learn to your class or learner profile.
• What changes will you make to your teaching and classroom practices as a result of experimenting with
shared decision making? Why?
• Would it be helpful to talk to any learners individually about what they wrote? Why?

4D Work together: What will help your teaching?

1 Reflecting on your learners’ feedback, describe your experience of how your lessons worked or
didn’t work to support and empower their learning over the two weeks.

2 Take turns to invite responses and ask questions about each other’s experiences.

3 Plan a lesson together from course materials, focusing on strategies to empower learners.
Use your learners’ reflections as feedback to help you.

Understanding educational policy and practice 19

5 Literacy

Introduction

Literate people are able to communicate effectively and understand and identify with the
society in which they live. UNESCO estimates that, globally, at least 750 million young people
and adults can’t read or write, and 250 million children lack basic literacy skills. Literacy is linked
to success at primary and secondary school. Social mobility and employment opportunities
are lower for children, and for their future children, when parents and grandparents lack basic
literacy. Families and carers with low literacy skills are less able to effectively support their
children’s learning.
What do low levels of literacy mean in practice? It will be difficult or impossible to make sense
of road signs, understand public transport timetables, follow instructions on medicine labels,
complete forms, or use the internet. Little or no early experience of language and literacy at
home makes it far more difficult for children to learn to read at school. Teacher understanding
and respect for diversity in learners’ family and language backgrounds is key to early literacy
development.

Aims
In this section you will:
• identify some strategies and challenges for developing literacy and suggest solutions
• select appropriate strategies helpful to literacy development and reading skills
• try out literacy strategies aiming to create a love of reading and writing for pleasure
• plan a schoolwide reading festival, literacy trail or a series of other extensive reading
and writing activities.

20 Teaching for Success

5A Analyse: Can you advise these teachers?

Read about the ways these English language teachers are supporting literacy at different ages, using their
school literacy policies. Which strategies and challenges are familiar to you?

I teach very young learners. I tell

Anita
stories and we sing action songs and
chants, so children make a lot of
noise and move around. They love
rhyming words, tongue twisters and
the ‘odd sound out’ game! They are
making circles with their arms, their
hands and all their bodies to develop
pre-literacy skills. I’d like to find
some more literacy resources for
my learners, but where can I find
good ones?
Sanjay

I teach English to six- and seven-year-

olds, and we do the same literacy
activities in our own language. I focus
on matching sounds and letters, or
recognising simple written words
in L1 with flashcards, word lists or
games like Bingo, Memory or Go Fish!
Learners read words by sounding
them out. In our home language,
sounds and letters match – but in
English they don’t! We have no books
in English suitable for the age and
level of my learners. How, then,
can I support literacy in English?
Bilal

Some of my secondary learners can’t write

well in English or in our home language.
We separate ‘learning to write’ and ‘writing
to learn’ (or writing that helps learning
about content) in our school literacy
policy. There are after-school writing
workshops with volunteer and peer tutors.
I record audio feedback on writing and
ask learners to assess their own and each
other’s writing in peer groups. Teachers
of other subjects think language teachers
should teach writing and reading, but
aren’t we all teachers of language?

Reflection

• How do the strategies from the teachers’ school literacy policies help learners’ literacy?
• Can you answer the teachers’ questions? What advice can you give them?
• Which literacy strategies are you familiar with? How well do/don’t they work? Why?
• Have you got a school or country literacy policy? Where can you find it? How often is it updated?

Now read the Answers and commentary section on page 35.

Understanding educational policy and practice 21

5B Think: What do you know?

Reading and writing are key literacies for school achievement. Reading improves our ability to
concentrate, aids brain development, develops empathy and imagination, improves language skills
and vocabulary, and reduces stress. How can teachers develop their learners’ literacy and reading
skills? In this section we look at different ways of doing this and decide which ideas are most useful.

Activity
Read strategies A–J below. Label them H (helpful) or N (not helpful) in developing literacy and
reading skills.
A. Popcorn reading: Ask learners to take it in turns to read aloud to the class.
B. Engaging questions: Ask questions about a story book you are reading in class, e.g. What do you
think will happen to …? Why does ... feel so unhappy? What would you do? Why?
C. Reading books to test comprehension: Select a suitable book (i.e. level of text) for a learner to
read and test them on the content to check understanding.
D. Partner reading: Ask learners to share a book or text and read it together, one sentence or one
page at a time. Alternatively, one learner reads aloud while the other follows and tracks the words
as they listen.
E. Paragraph shrinking: Learners work in pairs and switch between the roles of ‘player’ and ‘coach’.
The player reads a paragraph aloud. They stop after each paragraph, identify the main idea the
paragraph is about and summarise the information in ten words or fewer.
F. Word walls: Words and language chunks connected to topics, themes or spelling patterns are written
in large letters and displayed individually on the classroom wall. Add new words, move words around
and play games with learners.
G. Teacher reading and translating texts: Read a passage or text out loud while learners listen and
write answers.
H. Mini-books: Learners write, illustrate and create story books to share handwritten, word-processed
or digital multimedia books with younger learners, peers and families.
I. Drop everything and read: At least once a day everyone in school – you, learners and all staff –
reads their own books or reading material silently for ten minutes.
J. Sound/word hide and seek trail: Hide items and pictures with key sounds or word cards from
different stories around the school for learners to find and bring back to class, e.g. the same initial or
end sounds (i.e. big, dog). Play literacy games like ‘I spy’ or matching or sorting games with them.
K. Retelling: Encourage learners to tell a story again or share the information from a text in their own
words (or their own language) with someone else (e.g. family, friends, a learner from another class).
L. Learner translation: Ask learners to translate and write out texts (e.g. stories, plays, other reading
content in English) as homework, so you know they understand.

Reflection

• Which strategies did you label helpful to learner reading and literacy? Why?
• Which strategies would you like to use with your learners? Why? Think about learner age, reading
ability in L1 and the resources you need.
• What literacy challenges do you face with learners in their L1/L2? In English?
• If you have a school literacy policy, is reading for pleasure included?

Now read the Answers and commentary section on page 37.

22 Teaching for Success

5C Try: How does it work?

Resources: Reading resource materials depending on your choice of task (see list below to
help), paper to make notes, or a mobile phone to make recordings
Time: One or more lessons over a week, or after-school sessions, a reading festival or book day

Rationale
Exploring and extending literacy to enjoy shared reading and writing can engage learners’ families,
caregivers and the whole teaching and learning community. This activity explores how learners respond
to an activity related to literacy. Literacy development very much depends on the age and developmental
stage of your learners.

Instructions
• Before you teach, talk to teachers responsible for developing literacy in the learners’ own language.
You could share ideas and strategies from Section B, and collaborate to develop literacy skills in
both languages.
• It may be more difficult for learners with low literacy and reading levels in L1 to feel motivated or
likely to succeed in English. Having reading materials in different languages will help.
• Select a task from Section B to try with your learners.
• Decide what resources you will need. This list may help you: white or plain paper, coloured paper/card,
coloured pens or pencils, pictures to glue and stick, story/reading books, comics or graphic novels,
big picture books, computer and printer, glue, stapler, blank cards, sticky tack, objects or word cards
and images.
• Tell learners about what you hope to achieve with your chosen activity.
• During or after the literacy activity or activities, make notes and recordings to help you reflect later.
• Ask learners to discuss in pairs or small groups how the activity helped them to enjoy literacy and
read or write more confidently.
• Learners can provide feedback by making We love reading or We love writing posters with reasons, for
example: We love reading when/if ... or because ... These may be produced in learners’ own language.

Reflection

• What did you find most interesting/unexpected about the strategy you tried?
• What literacy benefits and love of reading or writing could you see from your learners’ posters and
as you monitored?
• Was the strategy more effective with some learners than others? If so, why do you think that was?

5D Work together: What will help your teaching?

1 Reflecting on your notes, photographs or recordings and learners’ feedback posters, describe how your
chosen activity supported literacy, learning and enjoyment of reading. Discuss any questions or ideas.

2 Is family involvement part of your school literacy policy? Evaluate how well you meet the
requirements.

3 Work together to plan a schoolwide reading festival, literacy trail or a series of other extensive
reading and writing activities (see Answers and commentary for ideas).

4 Look for volunteers from the teaching and learning community to get involved, raise money for books
or come in to school to help readers with low levels of literacy.

Understanding educational policy and practice 23

6 The curriculum, syllabus and methodologies

Introduction

Your school curriculum is the guidelines for the academic content to be taught in your own
part of the educational system, i.e. primary, secondary. It is usually prescribed by your Ministry
of Education. It lists what will be included and taught, e.g. knowledge, skills, values, attitudes,
performance and learning outcomes.
A syllabus describes the topics included in different subjects and set by examination boards or
decided on by teachers. The syllabus can (and maybe should) be available to learners and their
families/caregivers so they know what they are expected to achieve. Language coursebooks
often contain a syllabus or list of skills and language to help teachers and learners.
Methodologies are the pedagogic principles and teaching strategies used to teach and cover the
syllabus and curriculum. A language teaching method includes a set of procedures that teachers
follow, based on their beliefs about language learning.

Aims
In this section you will:
• evaluate teachers’ strategies for planning with the school curriculum
• identify and reflect on how your beliefs, values and attitudes to language learning and teaching
affect the methods and classroom practices you use
• consider alternative teaching strategies and try a new method in a principled way
• discuss a plan for accessing and contributing to future curriculum policy and keeping up to date
with and refreshing your thinking about teaching and learning.

24 Teaching for Success

6A Analyse: Can you advise these teachers?

Read the strategies these teachers use when planning lessons.

Ayşe
At the start of a topic, I look
at what the learners are
expected to be able do at the
end. Yes, I start at the end
and work backwards! The final
task helps me determine the
objectives, the content and
the order of the learning
sequence for that topic over
the lessons we have leading
up to the final lesson and
assessment.
Pim
At the start of term I check our
school/country websites for
updates on the curriculum. I draw
out a mind map that starts with
the wider national or state-level
objectives with my syllabus
objectives around those and my
coursebook and assessment
objectives around those. I colour
code and draw arrows to show
the connections. I then highlight
in my coursebook where the key
objectives are and look at what
comes before and after that point
in the book where I can support Karim
those objectives.

At the start of the week I look

at the outcomes in my syllabus,
check the UN Sustainable
Development Goals (http://
worldslargestlesson.globalgoals.
org/) and look for any ideas I
can use in my lessons.

Reflection

• What are the strengths and weaknesses of each teacher’s approach?

• Which of these lesson-planning strategies do you use? Which new ideas are helpful? Why?
• What advice could you give these teachers to address their planning weaknesses?
• How easy/difficult are your school’s curriculum and language syllabus to find, use and understand?
What changes/improvements would you recommend?

Now read the Answers and commentary section on page 38.

Understanding educational policy and practice 25

6B Think: What do you know?

In this section you will evaluate the ways in which your beliefs, views and attitudes to language,
learning and teaching affect the methodologies or classroom teaching practices you use.
Do you teach in the same way that you were taught English? Why? Or why not? Most teachers play
with ideas from different teaching methodologies, and the idea of using only one set method is
perhaps a little outdated. In many school classrooms around the world, coursebooks that are
approved by governments or ministries of education inform classroom teaching. The coursebooks
or teaching materials answer some of the questions teachers may have, for example: What language
should I teach learners at this age or level? and How can I do this? The answers will be linked to your
national curriculum or language syllabus. But questions such as Why? or How can I best help my
learners to learn? are, in fact, even more important for language learning and teaching success.
Science and educational research continues into language, successful learning and the way our
brains work. This can provide language teachers with evidence-based teaching and learning
strategies. It is good to explore the reasons behind why we do what we do in (and out of) class
language learning and teaching, and in relation to school and national curriculums and policy.

Activity
Beliefs about, views of and attitudes to methods of teaching are developed from the way you answer
these questions. Read and answer questions A–F. Completing the sentence starters will help you to
connect your answers to the questions with your classroom methodology. Using your own language
will help you to reflect more deeply.
A. What are the essential features of language? What is it for? How does it work? I believe ... so I ...
(do X and Y) in class.
B. How do people best learn languages different to our own? I believe ... so I ask learners to ...
C. What are the school’s/my desired outcomes for English language learning? English language classes
in school are ... for learners to ...
D. What curriculum and language syllabus do I have to follow? The language syllabus/curriculum says ...
and/but/so I ...
E. What part do teachers, learners and teaching materials play in language learning? I think ... so I ask
learners to ...
F. Which teaching and learning strategies, activities or procedures work best? Why? How do I know?
X works/doesn’t work well because ...

Reflection

• Which questions did you find most/least difficult to answer? Why?

• Do you need to find out more and discuss answers to any of your reflection questions? (Look at the
examples in the Answers and commentary.) How will you do this?
• How do you use your school or government language curriculum or syllabus? How do they help you?
Are any methods or teaching strategies mentioned?
• What areas of the language curriculum or syllabus does your department or school need to discuss or
review? Why? Are ideas about language and methodology up to date?

Now read the Answers and commentary section on page 39.

26 Teaching for Success

6C Try: How does it work?

Resources: Coursebook and lesson materials for two weeks of future English lessons, paper to make
notes, or a mobile phone to make recordings
Time: Two weeks with two different classes

Rationale
Giving yourself time and permission to do something differently can be very empowering for teachers.
This activity explores how your learners respond to a change in one method or teaching strategy you
usually use. Making a principled decision to try out a new idea or make a change is taking responsibility
for your own professional development.

Instructions
• Before you teach, choose a class to work with and decide on language and learning outcomes
you want to achieve over a two-week period.
• Select the materials or coursebook pages that follow your curriculum. How would you usually teach
the content, the language (grammar or vocabulary) or skills?
• Look back at the questions you answered and reflected on in 6B. Read your own follow-up
questions again.
• What teaching strategy or attitude to language learning could you reconsider?
• Choose one to answer by trying out an alternative strategy or method. For example, you may
want to try ‘handing over’ to learners more often and not worrying about losing control.
• Think about how exactly you will do this. You could talk about or practise your alternative strategy
with colleagues (or friends).
• Tell learners what you are going to try only if you think it will help.
• Try the same idea with two different groups if possible.
• During or after lessons, make notes and recordings to help you reflect later.
• Ask learners for feedback – their opinions or suggestions for improvement – by completing an exit
ticket (a note they write at the end of the lesson) or short survey (learners’ own language will probably
work best).

Reflection

• What was unexpected, interesting or surprising about the strategy you tried? Was this the same with
both classes? All learners?
• Was the method or strategy a success or failure from your perspective? Why? How about learners’
perspectives?
• What did you learn from their feedback? Will you do the same thing again, or adapt the strategy?
Why? How?

6D Work together: What will help your teaching?

1 Discuss and compare your ideas and questions from 6B.

2 Reflecting on your answers to the questions in 6C, describe how your chosen strategy worked.
Did it confirm your beliefs and values or not? How? Why (not)?

3 Provide feedback on, respond to and discuss any questions or ideas within a time limit.

4 Discuss a plan for accessing, understanding and keeping up to date with any changes you need to
make. How could you inform and contribute to future curriculum policy in school?

Understanding educational policy and practice 27

 Answers and commentary

1. Child protection

1A Analyse: Can you advise these teachers?

What type of abuse is suspected/identified?

A. Neglect is suspected, i.e. not providing for a child’s basic physical and psychological needs –
e.g. food and clothing, a safe home and adequate supervision – where the parents/caregivers are
able to do so. The girl in this study may not be getting enough food at home. It is possible that she
is not coming to school because she needs to care for her younger cousins. This would mean she
does not have enough adult supervision, and her own right to an education is being neglected.
B. Physical abuse is suspected.
C. Sexual abuse is suspected or there is concern about the threat of sexual abuse in the future.

What action, if any, should the teachers take to support the children?
A. The teacher needs to report the concerns to the person responsible for child protection (e.g. the
principal or a child protection officer), who should be trained in child protection. The school’s policy
for responding to suspected cases of harm or abuse must be followed. It is not a teacher’s job to
investigate or assess whether abuse has occurred. Teachers have a responsibility to pass on
concerns to the child protection officer so that action to protect the child can be taken if
necessary.
B. See Answer A.
C. See Answer A. When a child discloses information to the teacher, it is important that the teacher:
• stays calm, controls their emotions and doesn’t show shock
• tells the child they were right to tell the teacher and that they believe the child
• asks for more information using open questions, for example: Tell me what happened
• avoids putting words into the child’s mouth or finishing their sentences, for example:
Did he hit you?
• listens carefully to get a clear understanding of the problem
• is honest and avoids making promises they can’t keep
• tells the child what they will do next, including telling someone else who can help
• writes down accurately what the child told them using the child’s words as much as possible; is
careful not to make assumptions (i.e. guess that something is true without the child saying it)
• reports the situation to the child protection officer or principal immediately; follows their advice.

Don’t second-guess yourself

Unless you see abuse first hand, you can never be 100 per cent certain. But don’t let this stop you
from acting. The nature of child abuse means that it is hard to collect evidence. Child abuse is more
than bruises or broken bones. While physical abuse might be the most visible sign, other types of
abuse, such as emotional abuse, are not always clear to see. In our work with children we are more
likely to be faced with indirect statements from children, non-verbal clues and signs which can be
confusing and inconsistent. Even when a child makes a disclosure, they may change their story later
because they are afraid. For this reason, when faced with child abuse, we are more likely to have a
feeling of concern or suspicion that something is wrong but doubt our judgement. It is therefore
useful to have an understanding of the signs of child abuse to give you the confidence to act if you are
concerned. Every child responds to abuse differently, but there are some likely patterns of behaviour.

28 Teaching for Success

Some possible signs of abuse include: frequent bruises and injuries; strange stories to explain
injuries; injuries in places where children don’t normally get injured (e.g. stomach, back, neck,
buttocks or thighs); not liking to be touched; being nervous and ‘jumpy’; being aggressive and/or
violent; not being close to the parent/caregiver; being afraid of doing something wrong; being
afraid of going home; running away from home; being quiet; not interacting with other children;
acting either too adult or too childish; being interested in sexual acts inappropriately for their age;
and having difficulty sitting or walking.
Some possible signs of neglect include: regularly being smelly and dirty; dirty clothes; illnesses
and injuries that are not treated; being hungry and very thin; stealing food; often being tired; high
absenteeism; and/or being left alone without adult supervision.
Seek advice and support
Even if you simply suspect a child is being abused, talk to your head teacher/principal immediately
and seek advice from the child protection officer.
Some reasons children don’t report abuse
• They think no one will believe them.
• They think it is their fault; they caused this to happen.
• They want to protect the abuser.
• They have been threatened that something bad will happen if they speak up.

It is important that children understand their right to be protected and safe from harm. They need to
understand your school’s policy for child protection and what to do if they are being abused/harmed.
Some reasons adults don’t do anything when they think a child may be the victim of abuse
• They doubt their judgement and think it can’t be true.
• They worry they have misunderstood the situation.
• They don’t want to make a problem if it isn’t true.
• They are worried about their own safety if anyone finds out they made the report.

It is important that teachers discuss any concerns they have for a child’s welfare with the child
protection officer – even if it is only a feeling that something is wrong. Teachers spend a lot of time
with their learners, sometimes more than their parents/caregivers, and are therefore in a special
position to notice signs of abuse and any changes in behaviour.

1B Think: What do you know?

Answers will be different for different schools and teachers.

For more information on what your school’s child protection (safeguarding) policy and practice should
include, please visit: https://learning.nspcc.org.uk/safeguarding-child-protection/writing-a-
safeguarding-policy-statement/

Understanding educational policy and practice 29

 2. Teaching large classes

2A Analyse: Can you advise these teachers?

Picture A: This teacher has a large class. The learners are not engaged with the lesson and many are
not paying any attention. The teacher seems to be lecturing the class, which could result in a number
of problems. Perhaps learners can’t hear, perhaps they don’t understand, or perhaps they’re just
bored because they are not involved/doing anything.
Possible advice for the teacher
• Think about the lesson plan. Is there enough variety? Have the learners been sitting and listening
for a long time? Is there a variety of active and quiet stages?
• Change the layout of desks in the room, change where the learners are seated, or ask them to
move to a different part of the room themselves.
• Discuss the problem with the learners and ask them to come up with rules for the class.
• Use more pair work, group work and learner-centred activities. Smaller groups and independent
work will encourage learners to participate and take the pressure off the teacher.

Picture B: There are not enough coursebooks. Large classes often lack resources.
Possible advice for the teacher
• Make a text or questions from the coursebook into a dictation, and keep it interesting by using
different dictation techniques (see Dictation: New methods, new possibilities by Paul Davis and
Mario Rinvolucri, or do a web search for ‘different ways to do dictation’).
• Write important parts of the coursebook on the board before the class.
• Allow plenty of time for learners to copy notes into their notebooks so that the notebook becomes
the coursebook.
• Ask students to find resources written in English in their environment and think about how they
could be used to learn about English. Involving learners in designing lesson activities empowers
them, especially when it is announced in class that the lesson for the day has been made possible
thanks to research and ideas by student X. Thanks to Harry Kuchah for this suggestion.
• Help students to develop their own text about themes that are of interest to them and their
environment/culture/context, and encourage them to design pictures for each text. They can then
develop comprehension questions around their text and other activities that they think would help
other students explore the texts and learn English better. Thanks to Harry Kuchah for this
suggestion.

Picture C: It is difficult to give enough feedback to individual learners in a large class.

Possible advice for the teacher
• Use peer and self-assessment to give more feedback to learners. Give learners plenty of support
as they develop these skills, for example, by providing success criteria (i.e. things that a successful
piece of writing would contain) or writing a similar text containing errors that the learners assess
all together.
• Let learners produce a piece of writing in groups. This allows learners to support each other
with the challenge of writing, e.g. giving ideas or proofreading, and reduces the amount of work
to be marked.
• Reduce the number of errors to correct by preparing learners for writing/speaking. Review key
vocabulary and structures that they will need before they start.
• Provide answer keys for practice exercises and homework. Allow plenty of time for learners to
check answers. Monitor as they correct their work and take a note of common errors to discuss
with the whole class.
• Assess and give feedback on speaking to one group of learners per lesson.

30 Teaching for Success

2B Think: What do you know?

Answers: 1–C; 2–A; 3–B; 4–A; 5–A; 6–B, C; 7–C; 8–A; 9–A, C; 10–A, C; 11–A; 12–A.
There are no quick and easy fixes when it comes to large classes. What works in one environment
may not work in another. We hope you will find some of these strategies effective in your context.
1. Managing the lesson
• Create a class noise meter to show learners visually what is an acceptable level of noise at each
stage in the lesson. Or try an online noise meter.

k
wo r G ro u p
et wo
ui rk
Q
rk

To
wo

o
nois
Silent

• Have ‘whisper’ periods in your lesson.

• Go outside if a speaking activity is going to be very noisy (but make sure you set this up well).
• Language classes need to be noisy if you want learners to be able to communicate. Talk to your
principal about your classroom and its location if this ‘good noise’ (i.e. learners on task, speaking
English) is causing problems for other teachers/classes.
• Use a variety of activities, some that are active/energetic and some that are quiet.

2. Giving individual attention

• Find ways to give the quiet learners (the ones that are too shy or quiet to speak up in a large class)
the opportunity to connect with you. For example, you could use email or social media, or choose
three learners a day to have a one-to-one chat with during the lesson.
• Use name tags/labels. Learn names and use them often. It helps learners to feel like an individual
who matters.
• Move your eyes around all parts of the room. Avoid giving your attention to only one group of
learners.
• At the start of each course, use a lot of ‘get to know you’ activities so that the learners are
comfortable with each other and have friends in the class. Rapport between learners is equally
as important as teacher–learner rapport.
• Provide for differentiated learning, for example by having different tasks or levels of support for
the different abilities in the class.

3. Participation
• Use effective questioning. Only some learners in a large class will have the confidence and
motivation to answer questions. The rest may stop paying attention. To keep everyone involved,
you can:
– make sure everyone hears/sees the question
– give thinking time before asking for answers
– let pairs discuss the answer before getting feedback
– ask learners to put up their hands to answer and wait until a lot of hands go up before choosing
someone to answer
– choose different learners to answer each time and choose people from different parts of
the room.
• Adjust your seating plan or the arrangement of the desks in the room.

Understanding educational policy and practice 31

 3. Behaviour management

3A Analyse: Can you advise these teachers?

This activity is to help find and understand the behaviour policies your school has. Do you know
who to speak to if you have a problem with a learner’s behaviour that’s not covered in the policy?
The most serious of the behaviour problems in the table were deliberately breaking school property,
showing defiance and fighting. However, the other problems could become serious if they were
repeated. For example, a learner who is frequently in incorrect uniform may be breaking the rules
as a form of defiance. A learner who never does homework may fall behind in their studies.

3B Think: What do you know?

Answers: 1–P; 2–P; 3–M; 4–P; 5–M; 6–M; 7–M; 8–M; 9–M; 10–M; 11–P; 12–P; 13–P; 14–M; 15–P.

4. Learner empowerment

4A Analyse: Can you advise these teachers?

Anold Samuel Makeda

Which areas of Socio-economic Language, ethnic Gender, world

diversity may status, lack background and diverse beliefs and/or
be involved? of family level (possibly a gifted values, age.
background. language learner?).

Problems Learner feels Learner feels invisible, Learner feels that

different and that he doesn’t matter. what she (and
unsupported other girls) says
Learner’s current ability in
with no family or thinks doesn’t
English is higher than his
unit, and matter as much
knowledge of the school’s
poor living as boys’ thoughts
language of instruction.
arrangements. and opinions.
Learner feels that there is
To this learner,
no point in finishing tasks
boys seem to
because he is ‘punished’
have more
with extra work, and with
opportunities
more than his peers have
to give opinions
to do.
in class.
Learner only gets teacher’s
attention when he
misbehaves or makes
trouble.

32 Teaching for Success

 Anold Samuel Makeda

Signs The learner can’t The teacher never uses the The learner says,
identify with the learner’s name. ‘My teacher never
people and their sees me when I
The teacher doesn’t know
lives represented raise my hand’.
what to do except give this
in the learning
learner more work when he The learner is
materials. He finds
finishes early. afraid to give her
it impossible to
opinions and feels
participate in The learner is exploited or
she may be
tasks when, as he taken advantage of by peers
laughed at.
says, ‘I can’t think who sit back and let him do
about things I most of the group work.
can’t imagine,
The learner seeks attention
I don’t have the
by acting up to get the
words’. Asking
teacher to notice him.
him to talk about
family and
possessions he
sees as outside
the possibilities
life offers him at
the moment feels
cruel, and makes
him sad.

Advice and Find out as much Teachers must know and Maybe this
suggestions as you can about appreciate their learners as teacher is
learners. It might people wherever possible, unaware that the
be educational and using names correctly amount of talking
to ask learners helps, as does ‘noticing’ is not balanced
to show you and learners (which can be a fairly between
your colleagues smile or positive eye the genders.
around their contact) and making them Recording a
neighbourhoods. feel welcome and valued. lesson and
When planning analysing it will
Teachers often feel
lessons, make help. And perhaps
threatened when learners
sure you consider ask this learner to
are more skilled or
how the pictures count or map the
confident in English than
and tasks will ‘talking time’ and
them or others in class.
appear to all contributions
They could change this
learners. Give from boys/girls.
around and use this to their
options, for
advantage. Make the learner Teachers need
example: Choose
feel valued, and respect to make sure that
two questions to
his progress in English by they are giving
discuss or Answer
asking him to co-teach, equal chances
as (name of local
help correct or peer teach to everyone,
or national hero
language, or monitor and and that diverse
or heroine). Adapt
help as an alternative to opinions are
tasks that do not
working in groups with respected,
reflect the reality
those who are not at his welcomed and
your learners
level. It might be a better encouraged.
face.
idea to help him with the
school’s language of
instruction, and ask group
members to teach him in
exchange for his help with
English.

Understanding educational policy and practice 33

 4B Think: What do you know?

Empowering
2. This encourages language awareness and learner autonomy. Self- and peer assessment can
be powerful if done appropriately – it is not about marking or grading but about assessment
for learning.
3. This feedback from learners is invaluable in helping lessons go well and addressing learners’
preferences and needs. Do you allow students to choose (one or two of) the goals they work
on each day?
4. Yes, learners are encouraged to make some choices. Overall, this is less empowering than 3 as
the choices learners are asked to make are not so important for language learning and pedagogy.
6. This helps learners to feel in charge and in control of how they want to communicate. It is good
to encourage a variety of responses (written and spoken).
7. Writing for an audience (i.e. not just the teacher) is motivating and is a ‘real-life’ activity. It can
help learners feel that they have a powerful voice and message to give others.
8. This teacher shows sensitivity to their learners.
10. Sometimes learners need to be with others of their own ability to challenge them to progress
further, so they are not bored and so the work is shared equally. Mixed-ability groups can work
very well if learners have a clear role and a suitable task that involves all learners (for example
problem solving).

Disempowering
1. Some would say that this is not helpful to a learner’s sense of their own identity, as this is a ‘fake’
person who can’t express any ‘true’ personal responses, feelings or opinions. Is it giving the
message that English is part of only this imaginary world? Others would say this empowers
younger learners to take part in imaginative play.
5. This teaching strategy only caters to the learners that show the teacher that they are ‘good’,
well-motivated learners. It describes the ‘Matthew effect’, which, in foreign language learning,
means that the lack of learning has an effect that builds up over time. The more learners don’t
know, and don’t learn, the more this will continue and lead to even worse motivation and
achievement.
9. This fails to allow all learners the chance to show the full range of their abilities and language skills,
or to identify learners’ potential. A range of different assessments for learning, with a portfolio
approach (so learners can choose some of their ‘best’ work), would be more empowering.

11. While this might be empowering for the learners who get lots of good points, and rewards, it is the
opposite for those who get bad points. Being shamed in public, especially for teenagers, is likely
to have a very negative effect, and these learners will not feel motivated to learn anything. If the
same learners always get the good points, they may get teased outside class. It may be better to
discuss and decide rewards as a whole class, to encourage co-operative behaviour management.

12. This may not be as helpful to the slower learners as this teacher thinks. It depends on how kind the
faster learner is. Or how they make the slower learner feel. Do they get on well together? How
might the faster learners feel? What might happen if the same people are always the faster or
slower learners?

34 Teaching for Success

 5. Literacy

5A Analyse: Can you advise these teachers?

Teacher Strategy/Question How it develops literacy

Anita Action songs and chants Skipping, marching or dancing in time with
music helps develop awareness of rhythm.
Keeping to a beat (for example, tapping
out syllables) in rhythm helps to process
the timing of language sounds, and action
rhymes with gestures help learners
remember words.

Tongue twisters and Language patterns (for example, in rhymes)

rhyme games (for help learners to develop awareness of
example, odd sound out) sounds, and their order in speech. This
recognition (e.g. identifying phonemes,
syllables, rhymes) helps develop the ability
to read and write.

Movement (for example, Movement promotes balance and co-

circles for development ordination, and embeds the sounds of
of motor skills) language. Circular movements develop
motor skills needed for letter formation.

Stories Telling stories helps develop awareness

of sounds, words and speech patterns
as well as helping children value books
and reading.

I’d like to find some more Ask your colleagues and online personal
literacy resources for learning network for ideas and some
my learners, but where resources to help you:
can I find good ones? • www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/
reading-young-learners
• www.literacytrust.org.uk/resources/

Understanding educational policy and practice 35

 Teacher Strategy/Question How it develops literacy

Sanjay Developing literacy skills Literacy skills developed in one language

in both languages transfer to others.

Matching sounds Mapping sounds to letters helps learners

and letters to decode words when reading.

Sight recognition of Learners need to recognise words used

simple written words often when sounding them out will not
work (e.g. the, once, does, put). Sanjay’s
flashcards, word lists and games help his
learners by repetition and exposure to
these words.

Sounding out words Breaking words down into smaller parts

is a strategy to help learners ‘decode’ by
identifying vowels and consonants, and
blending letters together. Some schools
teach children to read by using a ‘phonics’
method.
Find out more:
• www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/
first-class-very-young-learners

We have no books in Try asking colleagues in other schools, or

English suitable for the countries, and consider asking learners to
age and level of my write their own books for each other and
learners. How, then, can create a class library! Some resources to
I help literacy in English? help you are:
• https://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.
org/short-stories
• www.freekidsbooks.org/about/

Bilal After-school writing If retired, teachers, visitors, family

workshops with members, colleagues or peers can share
volunteer and some time to help learners after school or
peer tutors at lunchtime. More expert writers can ask
learners to speak or say what they would
like to write. This is then written by the
‘experts’, who use it to help learners
see how to structure sentences and
understand that the grammar of speech
and writing are two very different systems.

Recording audio Written feedback on writing may be more

feedback on writing difficult for learners to follow than listening
to teachers give oral feedback (live, which
learners can record, or teachers can send
audio comments). If you have very large
classes, of course this strategy will not be
helpful – it will be too much for you. You
could select a small group (for example, of
low literacy learners) to try this idea with.

36 Teaching for Success

 Teacher Strategy/Question How it develops literacy

Learners review their Use clear guidelines, direct questions

own and each other’s (e.g. What was difficult to understand?) and
writing in peer groups learners’ own language(s). Think about how
you would like learners to work together.
Some resources to help you are:
• www.edutopia.org/article/giving-peer-
feedback-helps-writers-grow
• www.readwritethink.org/professional-
development/strategy-guides/peer-
review-30145.html

Teachers of other Yes, every teacher is a language teacher.

subjects think language Language is how we communicate our
teachers should teach knowledge and, mostly, is the medium of
writing, and reading, but assessment and testing.
aren’t we all teachers of
language?

5B Think: What do you know?

Wider literacy benefits include learner and community empowerment, an increase in employment
and education success, a decrease in poverty, crime and violence, and greater wellbeing and living
standards. Many places in the world do not have a written word culture of reading but share stories
in an oral tradition.
A. N This is embarrassing and boring for learners. Note: Reading aloud well is a skill that is difficult in
your own language, so should we expect different literacies in L1 and L2? Yes, reading aloud in L1
may be required but as English is not phonetic it is more difficult for learners (and expert users!).
B. H Teachers can use the context and the pictures to engage learners and involve them personally
in thinking more deeply about a story and make personal connections.
C. N Learners need to be able to choose their own books and stories. Having to read something
chosen by someone else does not empower readers, and it can put learners off reading. Reading
should be a pleasure, and passion for reading is not helped by being ‘tested’ on comprehension.
Instead, ask learners to make spoken or written book reports or recommendations.
D. H (?) It depends on your learners’ ages and abilities, but be aware that what we require in L1
reading might not be appropriate in L2 reading skills (especially as English isn’t phonetic).
E. H (?) Possibly, but be aware (as above in A and D).
F. H Teachers need to keep word walls constantly moving, and use activities that prompt and motivate
good use of the words and language chunks. See: www.readingrockets.org/strategies/word_walls
G. N Reading skills are to be developed by learners, not teachers. This strategy doesn’t involve
learners and isn’t motivating. When learners can’t see a text, they aren’t able to interact with it.
H. H Personal responses and interacting with peer-created texts can empower learners and help
develop respect for literacy and a culture of reading and writing.
I. H When learners see everyone engaging in silent reading there is the chance to make a culture of
reading for pleasure.
J. H Playing games and being physical stimulates the imagination and promotes enjoyment of
decoding language.

Understanding educational policy and practice 37

 K. H This adds to the pleasure and enjoyment of reading, sharing stories and information. By telling
a story again, adding some personal or new ideas, learners work on their communication skills,
adjusting words used so that listeners understand.
L. N This may bore your learners. There are some good translation activities, but writing out word
for word is very difficult, even for skilled translators. And what is the purpose? Who is going to
read and check translations? There are free online translators, and you could use one to focus
on part of a text in a lesson, looking at the similarities and differences between English and your
own language(s).

5D Work together: What will help your teaching?

Ideas to help with a literacy trail, book day or reading/writing festival:

• www.pop-up.org.uk/project/festival/
• www.booktrust.org.uk/books-and-reading/tips-and-advice/
• www.worldbookday.com/

6. The curriculum, syllabus and methodologies

6A Analyse: Can you advise these teachers?

Teacher Strengths Weaknesses

Ayşe This is a good strategy and helps This may involve solely concentrating
provide support and meet specific on what the task will cover, to the
learning outcomes. exclusion of other key objectives.
It helps learners to know at the
start of a topic what they will be
asked to do by the end.

Pim This is a good strategy to ensure This strategy doesn’t identify the
the teacher is focused on the methodologies the school supports
learning outcomes and can see (the procedural content).
the relationship between the
coursebook, the lessons and
the school curriculum.

Karim The curriculum defines the why, The teacher should be sure to
what, when, where, how and with check that the school agrees with
whom of learning, which includes the same values and principles that
values and citizenship. are chosen.
It can be useful to search and use The teacher needs to make sure they
resources from external sites. are still meeting the skills, attitudes
and values the school has defined in
its curriculum.

38 Teaching for Success

6B Think: What do you know?

There are various answers, depending on your view of the nature of language, its place on your
national curriculum, its role in the lives of your learners and their communities, the contents of
your syllabus, and your coursebook and teaching materials.
To help reflection, here are some examples from English language teachers with the follow-up
questions they discussed with colleagues afterwards.
• English language classes in my school are for learners to pass an exam to enter university.
(But what about those who don’t need it? Is it important for their future? Why? How?)
• I believe people learn better together so I use group work and pair work in class. (But what if
someone wants to work alone? How do I know this is working as well as I think? What if I gave
learners a choice, sometimes?)
• I think speaking and thinking in English is really important to help learning, so I ask learners to use
English only. (What about those with a low level of spoken language? And how about multilingual
approaches and inclusive practices? Should I find out more about our school ‘English-only’ policy?
Could I talk to the ministry adviser about recent thinking?)
• Reading aloud doesn’t work well, because the learners hate it, some refuse to do it, nobody can
follow the text or understand the pronunciation, and it’s boring. (All true, so why do my colleagues
do it? Is it included in the school teaching and learning policy? Could we help each other to
understand more about alternatives to this method?)
• The language syllabus/curriculum says learners should be reading novels in English suitable for
their age and interests. But we don’t have access to any, so I can’t make it happen. (Why is it on the
syllabus if there is no library? Who writes the curriculum? Can I have a say, and discuss the contents
and expectations of the school policy?)

Understanding educational policy and practice 39

Photography: © Mat Wright
Illustrations: ETi asset bank

© British Council 2019 / J105

The British Council is the United Kingdom’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities.