Sasha is a Proficient classroom teacher. His colleagues recognise that he has a solid understanding of the local socio-cultural and economic realities of his working environment and the students, parents and teachers within it.
Over the last couple of years, he has given demonstration lessons for teachers in many schools. The local education authority has asked him to conduct training sessions for other local teachers. Sasha is comfortable demonstrating methods he uses regularly in his own classroom. He is aware that there is a difference between teaching and training. He has a basic repertoire of training skills, such as presenting new ideas, being able to demonstrate new teaching practices accurately, and encouraging reflection.
He mentors and supports teachers according to criteria received from the local authorities and gives them advice based on his own experience. He is aware that there are gaps between teacher beliefs, values and their practices. He has a clear understanding of his own teaching beliefs and values built on several years’ practice, and can articulate these.
He has used the resources of the local English language teaching association and has attended its conferences a few times. He actively seeks out opportunities to discuss his beliefs and values with others and seeks feedback on his own teaching and training practice. He is aware of different specialisms in the field.
Ayesha is a highly Proficient to Expert classroom teacher. She has also been training teachers for a number of years and is highly regarded as an accomplished practitioner. She acknowledges the diversity across the situation she has been training in, and adapts her training to suit the needs of individual groups of teachers. She is becoming aware that needs have arisen during her courses that were not identified through the initial needs analysis. She has been adding her own training materials to meet the needs of certain groups of teachers. She is becoming aware of different training approaches and is trying to incorporate them into her training.
She is very experienced in using the local teaching standards as the basis for observation. She observes using a number of different tools and is adept at identifying gaps between teachers’ practice and their beliefs and values. Ayesha identifies strategies for development for the observees and gives them guidance on how to go about changing their teaching practice to better meet the standards and their own beliefs about what enables effective learning.
Ayesha has started a motivating discussion group for teachers in her school to help teachers share ideas. She has presented a couple of times at a national teacher organisation conference and is interested in becoming more involved. She is looking at areas within which to specialise.
Julia is a highly experienced trainer who is recognised by her peers as an authority on English language teaching and training. She has planned and conducted numerous training sessions for groups of teachers and has a broad repertoire of training methods.
Her training sessions blend a wide range of theories and practices, enabling her course participants to choose the methods they think will best suit their own situation. When designing courses she analyses the needs of the individuals in detail. Julia is adept at noticing needs that may not be apparent at the beginning of the course, but emerge as the training progresses. She adapts her courses and training methods to meet these fluctuating needs, and is able to balance the course content in response to varying demands of participants.
When Julia observes classes, her post-observation discussion with the observed teacher involves insightful analysis of practice, beliefs and the level of consistency between them. While she usually tries to elicit ways forward from the observee, she also offers a range of concrete suggestions and strategies for development. She often identifies talented teachers and helps them to specialise in an area.
Julia is considered by others as a constructive, involving presence, and her views are always acknowledged as balanced. She regularly presents at her national teacher organisation conference, and has recently taken up a leadership role in a local teacher support group.