PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT MATTERS

Our world has changed dramatically and irreversibly in the last year, and for our students in ways perhaps unseen by us adults. For a school-based model of teaching and learning to remain relevant, and in order to ensure engagement and success for our students, authenticity is key. Adolescents have endured distance learning, social isolation, and uncertainty about the world around them. By making sure that learning remains authentic and relevant to the realities of students’ lives in 2021, we can take powerful action to support their well-being and success.

Secondary teachers of all subjects are invited to examine methods of systematically incorporating everyday issues into course-design, creating authentic and meaningful connections between curriculum topics and current situations. Participants will collaborate in an interactive session, identifying and sharing new ways to keep students excited and active in the learning process, even during remote teaching.

Reflection in the round: learning goals lost in translation
(Secondary and pre-university) Interactive presentation

This talk/workshop explores the notion of 'reflection', so often included in benchmarks of effective learning, and considers how this learning goal is perceived by students themselves. In exploring their view of this term, as they receive it in feedback or see it in assessment criteria, we look at what is and is not 'lost in translation', and ask whether our expectations regarding reflection’ are really transparent. More importantly, I will draw on my own dialogues with educators across disciplines, and ask whether we ourselves are in agreement as to what we mean, both within and across subject disciplines.

The content of the workshop is exemplified in Williams, K., Wooliams, M. and Spiro, J. (2020) (2nd edition) Reflective Writing Palgrave Macmillan


Dear Reflection in the Round participants
I am delighted you have signed up for the workshop on Saturday, Reflection in the Round and welcome you to this conversation.  We will be discussing what teachers mean by reflection and how this affects the way reflection is taught and interpreted by students. It would be very helpful if you bring to the session your ideas in answer to the question: when I ask my students tp be reflective, what do I mean?  What does reflectiveness actually look like, in  students' work?
I look forward to taking these questions further with you on Saturday and wish you well in the meanwhile   sending best wishes.  Jane Spiro 

This session is about moving in a way that informs your music making and helps students experience the syllabic and rhythmic patterns in the English language that are so important to developing speaking, reading and spelling skills. Primary and middle school class teachers as well as music specialists will find ideas in this dynamic session that they can apply in their classes.
Movement and music, the dance, and the song, are inseparable and singing together should be about connecting the body and the text. Making the body our metronome we will explore the rhythm of the words and discover the phonetic power of our own language… get the ‘sound’right and the meaning will follow. This workshop will focus on learning by ear and developing the memory. By using all our faculties and exploring all our different kinds of memory we can learn an astonishing amount of material in a very short time.
The aim is to do things in the right order. First connect the rhythm of the body with the rhythm of the lyric. Then once the words are secure (safely in our syllabic memory) we are ready for melody. Harmony must be the icing on the cake – only introduced once glorious rhythmic unison singing has been established.
So, come and prove you groove!

Hidden study cultures: the cultural pragmatics of learning across borders

This session considers cultural pragmatics as a missing link in the literature on academic literacies and learning across cultural and linguistic borders. The session explores the study gap of learning in a second culture, based on the stories of 24 learners who have done so, gathered between 2018- 2020. I share examples of communication disrepairs that come about when student and teacher expectations about study do not match. Critical incidents are shared, revealing ways in which the language of learning fails to translate across cultures. What emerges is a revisiting of the semantics and pragmatics of learning: what it means to learn, know, study, teach, read and write. The session also leads to enquiries the teacher can ask and research for themselves, in order to prepare learners for the surprises and experiences of studying in a second learning culture.

This session is linked to a book and study project in progress:
Spiro, J. (for 2021) Crossing study borders Routledge

Dear Hidden Study Cultures attendees,
I am delighted you have chosen to join the workshop on Saturday, Hidden Study Cultures.  In the session, I’ll be sharing examples of cultural surprises and collisions as both students and teachers cross from one study culture to another. It would be very interesting if you could bring to the session your thoughts in response to the following question:  Have you ever been in a study setting (as learner or teacher) where you thought: I wasn’t expecting that! They do things differently here!  What happened and what did you do about it?  
We’ll be looking at what can be learnt about our own assumptions and about the ’new’ study culture from these surprises; and discussing how we might learn from and prepare for the unexpected. 
Looking forward to talking further about these ideas and meanwhile

sending best wishes, and looking forward to 'meeting' on Saturday.
Jane Spiro  

Self-harm: understanding why it might happen and what teachers need to know

This session will cover the following:
* The risk factors will be discussed
* The reasons why children and adolescents self-harm and how they do it.
* The difference between self-harm and suicide attempts.
* The signs to look out for in a child who is self-harming.
* What teachers need to know if they suspect a child or teenager is self-harming and in which case a teacher might speak to a child in this case and how they might do it.
* The importance of working as part of a team when dealing with children in difficulty: the necessity for dialogue and support for teachers dealing with these situations.
* The legal aspects in France of seeing a child endangering themselves.
* A case study of child/ adolescent who has self-harmed and is in therapy.
Questions from the audience.

Does History really repeat itself? We are living through a time of monumental change and many are inquiring whether some current socio-political situations have been seen before, and what actions might be taken to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past. Examining patterns of history in order to make informed choices is perhaps one of the most important roles that historians can play in our society. In this interactive session for secondary school history teachers, participants will discuss case studies from world history, making meaningful links with present-day policy and decision-making. Teachers will leave more prepared to help their students make analytical arguments in preparation for essay exams such as A-level, IB-DP and the French Bac. Strong links with Theory of Knowledge are an integral part of this eye-opening session.