It's been a while since my last post on my experience on teaching hybrid lessons during the pandemic - in fact, it's been over a year! In the meantime lots of things have happened and I thought I'd revive my musings here as an additional way of reflecting on my own teaching and training practice. It's funny how I feel, blogging from time to time, helps me go through my own ideas and reflections as if having a conversation with an old friend.
Well, at the beginning of the year I decided I wanted to embark again on another MA, one that I had been curious and heard about for a while, the NILE MA in Professional Development for Language Education.
I contacted them and started looking at the different options. I applied for Recognition of Prior Learning considering my other 2 MAs in TESOL and Digital Technologies for Language Teaching, CertICT with TheConsultants-e.com, DELTA and PGD in TESOL and in Academic Management. NILE staff were really supportive and guided me all the way so when RPL finally came through it was time to decide what modules to do. By the way, if you're thinking of doing an MA I cannot recommend enough this one as it is flexible, there are a ton of really interesting modules, the staff are amazing and, at least in my case, it is really affordable (more about this at the end of this post!*).
Ok, back on track! I chose the Testing, Evaluation and Assessment Module first because of my involvement with and experience in language assessment as an examiner and examiner trainer. I've always been very interested and considering the experience I wanted to explore language assessment from a more formal perspective. I had completed a few Cambridge assessment and FutureLearn short courses, but I wanted some formal academic grounding to add to my on the field experience and training. My tutor was really down to earth and supportive, and I enjoyed every minute of it. There was a nice cohort and we were incredibly active in the forums and activities which meant we all got a lot out of the course. I'd definitely re-do the module if that was an option as it was challenging and I feel I was able to put a lot of theory into my own already existing practice. It feels great when you realise you've been doing something all along and indeed that's what is suggested in the literature - of course, it doesn't happen all the time, but when it does it's a great feeling of reassurance about yourself, your beliefs and your own practice. The assignments are also really interesting - they're challenging and I understand now why you're given 6 months after the module finishes to complete them! I was really interested in the whole experience and I think the key is constantly trying to relate your newly acquire knowledge and what you read about to your context so that it informs your practice. This has been key in my studies to ensure what I'm studying becomes mine and it makes sense. At the same time, this means that writing up the assignments becomes easier in that you start considering your options really early on about what you want to write about and this means that once the module is over you're ready to start writing. I submitted my assignments in September and so I'm just waiting for the results which should be available at the end of October.
My main assignment was about 'Exploring Teacher Perceptions of Washback in a Large Private Language School in Northern Spain' and the two Portfolio Tasks were about an INSET session: 'An Online CPD Session on Digital Formative Assessment in the Language Classroom for In-Service Language Teachers' and the second one was 'A Review of the Oral Component of a Placement Test in a School in Northern Spain'. These were really useful and interesting projects and the fact that they are practical means you are constantly thinking of the theory as well as your context and own practice so you are bound to learn tons in the process - really exciting!
It's October now and I'm in week 3 of my second and last module before the dissertation - Trainer Development and I'm enjoying it tremendously. I'll be blogging about this module from now on so stay tuned. Rachel Tsateri's great blog - https://teflzoneracheltsateri.wordpress.com/author/theteflzone/ - has very detailed reflections on all the modules as she has completed the Module now and is writing her assignments - good luck, Rachel! As you can see, blogging is a good way to not only reflect on what we are doing, but also to share that with others out there. I know I have very few followers, but my main aim with this blog is to record a personal journey, my journey of love and passion for teaching, training, technology and assessment and if on the way I get people interested fantastic - if not - fantastic too! By the way, I also kept a very active blog for my MA in Digital Technology for Language Teaching so if you're interested about it, here's a link to the main reflections.
If you're interested in Creative Writing, then here's the link to my blog on that Module of the MA DTLT. It's a bit more academic and formal, but still I'm sure if you're interested in any of the topics then you may be able to get something out of it.
Right! We've got to the end of my first post sharing my new journey in the MAPDLE as it is called for short, but watch this space as I'll be adding my thoughts and reflections on the Units as I complete them. The next post will be on How Teachers Learn and the Skills They Need.
Thanks for reading! And off I go to take the bus to work!👍
*Affordability - I just wanted to share that I was able to do my previous MA in Digital Technologies for Language Teaching with Dr Cecilia Goria at the University of Nottingham, thanks to the fact that her department offers scholarships. Of course, you need to apply for the scholarship, but it is definitely worth it. I was the recepient of one of the Weston Scholarships (50% of the fees). The MA in DTLT was absolutely fantastic and I cannot recommend it enough either. Dr Goria and her team of tutors were fantastic to work with and the program modules were creative and innovative, I believe, in many interesting and refreshing ways.
Credits - Images via The Noun Project pro account.
