Teacher development consultants: Teacher Activity Group Toolkit

About the project

Teacher Activity Groups (TAGs) are semi-formal continuing professional development (CPD) sessions that take place on a regular basis throughout the academic year.  In these sessions, teachers from the same area meet to practice their English, share and learn about different teaching ideas and techniques on a variety of topics based on their needs and interests, and then make action plans to try out ideas from the TAGs in their lessons. In MENA, the British Council in Egypt, Jordan and Palestine are at various stages of implementing TAGs as part of teacher development projects. These TAGs complement and extend teacher training workshops that the teachers have received and provide opportunities for teachers to collaborate and support each other on an ongoing basis. Currently these projects are aimed at English Language teachers working in primary and secondary schools, however, future projects could potentially involve teachers who teach other subjects and / or age groups. 

The British Council is exploring ways of introducing TAGs in other teacher development projects in the region and supporting the project managers, education officials and teacher educators who manage and facilitate TAGs. To do this we are developing a TAG toolkit which will comprise of easy to access resources, background information, case studies which will help those involved in the planning and implementation of TAGs. Some of the resources in the toolkit will be aimed at supporting those working on the administrative side of projects which involve TAGs, while other resources will be aimed at supporting teachers and teacher educators who facilitate TAGs. It is anticipated that the toolkit will function as a ‘how to’ guide to planning and implementing TAGs to support the professional development of teachers in their local communities. 

About the role

TAG Toolkit Consultant will work with members of the British Council English for Education Systems (EES) team and carry out the following:

Part A:

• Develop a summary of key benefits, challenges and solutions relating to communities of practice in teacher development projects based on evidence from research.
• Conduct interviews via video conferencing and online surveys with project stakeholders who have been involved in TAGs and produce an overview of lessons learnt and potential solutions.
• Produce a series of ‘how to’ guides which support project managers and education officials in setting up and monitoring and evaluating TAGs on teacher development projects

Part B:

• Identify and define key competencies that facilitators of TAGs should demonstrate.
• Produce a series of ‘how to’ guides which support teacher educators to develop their skills in facilitating TAGs. These may include ways of facilitating discussion, working with different group dynamics, using techniques to help teachers develop their language, supporting teachers to reflect on their teaching practice and make action plans, supporting teacher educators in using social media groups to engage teachers in discussion and reflection about their teaching and learning.
• Identify and curate a resource pack of materials that can be used by primary, secondary and tertiary teachers in TAGs.

 It is expected that the consultancy for Parts A and B will take six working days each. Candidates can apply for either Part A or Part B, or both.  

Qualifications and experience required

Essential

• post-graduate qualification(s) in a relevant subject (ELT/Linguistics and/or Education)
• extensive experience of working on teacher training and development programmes
• extensive experience of designing and developing continuing professional development programmes for teachers 
• extensive experience of designing and developing educational materials for different audiences such as teachers and education officials. 
• extensive experience of designing and developing self-access materials
• evidence of developing and delivering high-quality work, as commissioned, to a deadline. 

 Desirable

Knowledge and experience of working on projects that include ongoing, collaborative and peer-led continuing professional development activities such as Teacher Activity Groups and teacher clubs.

If you are interested, please send the following: 

• a full CV in English tailored to the above requirements
• a covering letter tailored to above requirements (max two pages) outlining your approach to this consultancy work. Please clearly indicate whether you are applying for Part A or B or both 
• details of your expected fees. 
• the names of two referees who are familiar with your materials writing work.

Please email your application tojon.parnham@britishcouncil.org, Head of English for Education Systems – Egypt and Gulf, with the title Teacher Activity Groups Toolkit Consultant by 4 November 2018.

Please note, we can only respond to successful applicants and only within five working days of the application deadline.