Oxford Education Deanery hosts Language Teacher Conference
On Friday 16 February, the Oxford Education Deanery hosted the annual Oxfordshire Association for Language Learning Network conference. Primary and Secondary school languages teachers were treated to a packed schedule of sessions focussed on motivating and engaging language learners throughout their journey through formal education.
Suzanne Graham kicked off the day with a session focussed on supporting students from Key Stage 2 to Key Stage 3, sharing insights and practical implications from her research into effective language pedagogies at both Primary and Secondary schools.
Workshops throughout the day included: Esmeralda Salgado speaking about how to implement meaningful project-based learning into the Key Stage 3 classroom; Suzanne Graham exploring what makes for successful transitions from GCSE to A Level; and Jonathan Patterson looking at how teachers can support their A Level students to make successful applications to university.
Two local teachers led workshops based on their Oxford MSc research projects and the way that these have led to lasting innovations in their teaching: Esther Roberts spoke about the collaborative Secondary-Feeder Primary school project she has set up, creating dialogue and understanding across Key Stage Two and Three. Sarah Sheppard demonstrated how teachers can utilise the linguistic resources of all of the students in their class through regular, short multilingual translation tasks.
Last, but not least, Maud Waret rounded the day off with a plenary focussed on steps that languages teachers can take to decolonise the curriculum and promote the values of diversity and respect.
In their feedback, participants left exclusively positive comments, including:
“It was a brilliant event and has inspired me very much!”
“the positivity of all the event speakers is very contagious.”
“All the seminars brought on some thinking. I woke up not sure I had the energy, I leave revived”
We can’t wait for the next Deanery language event for Chinese teachers on the 26th June – watch this space!
