THE British Council's Teachers' Club has plans to set up more chapters throughout the country as well as to introduce a separate chapter for Science and Maths teachers in view of the government's decision to implement the use of English for teaching Science and Maths classes.
These were among the announcements made at the first year anniversary celebration of the club on Jan 17. The club hopes to collaborate with Petrosains by combining their English teaching workshops with Petrosains' teacher training programmes and by sharing resources.
The club also has plans to hold joint activities with chapters of the Malaysian English Language Teaching Association (Melta), said Gerry Liston, Director of the British Council.
At present, it has already been working with the government by providing language proficiency courses for government teachers and officers.
Started as an initiative to support the Government strategy to improve English Language teaching and learning in Malaysia, the Teachers' Club is now a strong platform for teachers to meet, network, share resources and learn new English language teaching skills. There are now 140 members in the club.
The club is in line with the British Council's main objective which is to support English language teaching internationally.
The club receives backing and materials from the Council.
Online English language learning resources and over 1,000 English language teaching books covering resources, methodology and research from the British Council are available to all members of the club. Also, members can choose to participate in free monthly workshops throughout the year where they have the opportunity to learn new skills and meet and work with other teachers.
Hiramani Lall, a teacher from Sayfol International School, has been a member for almost a year and shared her enthusiasm for the club: “It is helpful for teachers like us who teach different nationalities and different levels. Through the club we get ideas from other teachers on how to tackle different situations and problems.”
The emphasis within the Teachers' Club, however, is not just on work but rather creating a community of interest.
Said Liston: “It enables us to work directly with teachers which is the most valuable thing. It is about sharing ideas and working with each other.”
Mina Patel, English language services projects manager, explained that club membership is mainly promoted through word-of-mouth, enhancing the sense of community between the members.
“The teachers themselves are very motivated and keen to come. In this forum, teachers are all working as equals.”
For more information on theTeacher's Club, visit www.britishcouncil.org.my or contact Mina Patel at mina.patel@britishcouncil.org.my
Teachers can join the club by registering at the British Council's premises at Wisma Selangor Dredging, 142C, Jalan Ampang, Selangor.
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