Practical English Teaching (PET)

New teachers often begin planning with an activity they like. Experienced teachers begin somewhere else: who is this for, and what do they need? This unit teaches you to start from the learners and the context, and to turn what you find out into clear learning outcomes.

By the end you will be able to

• explain what a teacher must consider before planning a workshop
• build a learner profile and state what it means for your design
• write an aim and two or three measurable learning outcomes

What you will learn

• The four things a teacher considers before planning: the learners, the context, the purpose and the risks
• Learner profiles, and why the "implications" are the point
• The difference between an aim, a learning outcome and an activity
• Writing observable outcomes ("By the end of the workshop, learners will be able to…") instead of "understand" or "enjoy"
• Choosing a topic that is useful, focused, doable and interesting to you

Between sessions

One-page workshop proposal (about 300 words): working title, audience profile with implications, context, aim and outcomes, and a one-sentence idea of what learners will do. Due before Unit 2.

In Unit 1 you decided who you are teaching and what they will achieve. In Unit 2 you decide how. You learn a flexible structure for workshops, how to design and sequence activities, how to estimate timing honestly, how to plan for things going wrong, and how to check that learning has happened.

By the end you will be able to

• structure a workshop in logical stages
• design activities with suitable interaction patterns and scaffolding
• estimate timings, choose materials and plan contingencies
• plan how to check that learning has happened

What you will learn

• The five-stage workshop structure: opening, input, guided practice, freer practice or product, and closure
• Interaction patterns, and the sequence individual, pair, group, whole class
• Scaffolding, and how to reduce it; core, stretch and support options for mixed levels
• Giving instructions that work: attention, short steps, demonstration, checking
• Realistic timing (plan 55 minutes for a 60-minute slot), materials, and a Plan B for every stage
• Checking learning without asking "Do you understand?": monitoring, concept-checking questions, exit tasks, peer and self-assessment

The five-stage structure

Between sessions

Full draft plan on the PET plan template, for a workshop of up to 60 minutes: timed procedure, materials, at least four anticipated problems with solutions, and how each outcome will be checked. Due before Unit 3.

A plan on paper is not a lesson. In this unit you learn the techniques that bring a plan to life, then shrink your 60-minute workshop into a 15-minute micro-teaching version. You also learn how to observe a colleague in a way that helps them.

By the end you will be able to

• give and check clear instructions, elicit, question, monitor and respond to errors
• adapt a 60-minute plan into a focused 15-minute segment
• observe teaching using evidence rather than opinion
• give structured feedback to a peer

What you will learn

• Delivery essentials: instructions, eliciting, questioning, monitoring, handling errors, board, voice and rapport
• Micro-teaching: choose one outcome and one core activity, and decide what to keep, shorten or drop
• Observation: describe, do not judge; evidence-based notes; seven focus areas
• The feedback model "I noticed, I wonder, I suggest"

Between sessions

Final plan and micro-teaching outline. Revise your plan using trainer and peer feedback, complete the micro-teaching adaptation, and rehearse aloud twice with a timer. Due 48 hours before Unit 4, so your observers can read it first.

The performance unit. Each participant teaches a 15-minute adaptation of their workshop to the other seven, who act as both learners and observers. You see eight different approaches to the same challenge, and you practise observing, describing and giving feedback.

By the end you will be able to

• deliver a focused 15-minute segment of your workshop
• observe peers using evidence-based notes
• give and receive constructive feedback
• identify specific changes to improve your own plan

What you will learn

• Eight slots of 15 minutes: 12 minutes of teaching, then a 3-minute changeover with brief oral feedback
• Observing through a focus area: A instructions, B interaction, C timing, D engagement, E language, F board and materials, G feedback and outcome check
• Completing the PET Observation Form and keeping a copy for your file
• Receiving feedback: listen, ask for examples, look for patterns, decide on two or three changes

Between sessions

500-word reflection and observation file (copies of your seven completed forms), within one week. A revised plan is optional but recommended.

Unit 5 gives you something few courses offer: a real audience. You deliver your complete workshop (up to 60 minutes) to learners at an external partner institute, and the institute issues you a separate certificate.

How it works

• Open to participants who have completed Unit 4 and submitted their final plan
• The course coordinator matches you with a suitable group and agrees a date
• At least a week before: you send the partner a one-page summary, and have a 15-minute pre-visit call
• You rehearse the full workshop, with printed back-ups, and arrive at least 20 minutes early on the day
• Afterwards: your certificate, an optional 300-word reflection and, on request, a 20-minute debrief with a PET trainer

The partner certificate is separate from the PET course certificate.