Programa British Conciul Formador de Facilitadores PNIEB Sesión 5

1. Session 5: Introduction to
Learner-centered teaching, pair
and group work
British Council 2014

2. Learner centred classrooms
and Pair and Group work
Learning outcomes
By the end of Session 1, Formadores will be better able
to:
• Use their own experiences as a learner to inform their
teaching.
• Identify the characteristics of a “good teacher”.
• Discuss the differences between typical and ideal
student behaviour.
• Identify the relative advantages of pair, group, individual
and whole class work and how to integrate it into lesson
planning.
• Understand learner-centred methodology and how
different factors may influence this.

3. Which person from my
past am I describing?
• Write the name of your favourite teacher
here.
• Write the name of your least favourite
teacher here.

4. What do you agree with?
• Observe the table “What makes a good
teacher?” in your Workbook and say:
1. What you strongly agree with
2. What you agree with
3. What you are undecided on
4. What you disagree with
5. What you totally disagree with
• Which two statements do you most agree with
and which two do you most disagree with?

5. Peep through the keyhole
• Draw a
large
keyhole
in the
centre of
a piece
of paper.
• Your
trainer
will tell
you what
to draw
in the
middle of
the
keyhole.

6. What have you learnt
from this exercise?
Possible answers
• Move desks around so students can communicate more
easily.
• Use group and pair work so that lessons are more student-
centred.
• Encourage students to correct themselves and each other so
it is less teacher-focused.
• Encourage students to discuss things and work things out for
themselves.
• The teacher will need to move around the classroom helping
students as they work, rather than just standing at the front.
• Bring in/create materials or realia to bring the coursebook
material you are using to life and make connections between
it and the outside world.

7. Do you agree with this
statement?
“A good teacher lets students
work in pairs/groups”
What do you think?
Read the material given to you
by the trainer and discuss.

8. What are the advantages of
individual, pair, group and
whole class work?
ADVANTAGES OF DIFFERENT WAYS OF WORKING
Individual Pair Group Whole class
Can concentrate
better on some
tasks
(reading/writing
)
Can check
ideas and
get other
…..
Can share ideas
with a
number of
people

9. Maryellen Weimer’s seven "Do"
principles for teachers/faculty
• Teachers do learning tasks less (let the students do
more)
• Teachers do less telling; students do more discovering
• Teachers do more (instructional) design work
• Faculty do more modelling (of the learning process -- for
student benefit)
• Faculty do more to get students learning from and with
each other (collaborative)
• Faculty work to create climates for learning (conditions
conducive to learning)
• Faculty do more with feedback (formative 'along-the-way'
and summative assessments; grades and comments)

10. Maryellen Weimer’s seven "Do"
principles for teachers/faculty
• Which of the 7 principles would you find
easiest to put into practice and how would
you do it?
• Which of the 7 principles would you find
hardest to put into practice and how do
you think you would do it?
• How will you persuade your teaching
centre to put the 7 principles into
practice?

11. The NEPBE and the Learner
Centred Classroom
• Read these extracts from the PNIEB
– Reconozcan semejanzas y diferencias en la
forma y el uso social que hay entre su lengua
materna y el inglés. (Ciclo 3)
– Utilicen estrategias para reconocer la forma y
comprender el contenido de una variedad de
textos literarios sencillos. (Ciclo 3)
– Editen sus propios escritos o los de sus
compañeros. (Ciclo 4)

12. The NEPBE and the Learner
Centred Classroom… continued
• How do these principles from the NEPBE
relate to learner Centred Classroom?
• Why is this principle part of the NEPBE ?
• What can you do in your
training/teaching to ensure that you
follow this principle?

13. Possible answers
• They are about discovery and students working out their
own strategies for recognition of the differences and
patterns that exist in English. They also encourage
independent learning through self editing.
• This principle is part of the NCF because to successfully
learn a language it is vital that students discover the
patterns themselves rather than being presented with
them and also that they are able to independently edit
their work rather than depending on a teacher.
• One way that we can make sure we follow this principle
is by allowing students to have the space to discover
and ensure that our role is scaffolding learning rather
than presenting fully formed ideas.