Simon Mumford, simumford@yahoo.co.uk
First published in Voices 184, Apr/May 2005.

Simon Mumford teaches at the University of Economics, Izmir, Turkey. He organises workshops for the British Council in Izmir and is interested in the influence of workshops on teachers’ practice.

A voluntary workshop programme is a way of providing free development for teachers who might not otherwise have access to it. Here are some guidelines, things I have learnt over the last three years as programme organiser, for people in non-English speaking countries who may be interested in setting up such a programme.

Sponsors and venues

First, you need a room. The local British Council office is usually happy to provide space or if not able to, can help identify potential venues. If there is no British Council office in your town, consider approaching schools or universities directly for free-of-charge space in the centre of town. Explain the benefits to the sponsor/host in terms of enhanced prestige and contribution to their own and other teachers’ development.

Publicity

Try to draw up a programme in advance of each term and produce a poster which clearly shows the times, dates, topics, speakers, venue and how to get there. Stress that all language teachers are welcome and that there is no charge and no need to register. Give copies to schools and universities to display, and/or fax them, and ask your sponsor if they can help with this.

Times and dates

I have found that mid-week evenings are the most suitable. If you start at six o’clock, that gives people time to get there, and they can be away by seven and home by eight. Every two weeks in term time seems to work well. Avoid school and other holidays, e.g. religious and national festivals. Forty-five to seventy-five minutes seems about right for a workshop. If it is longer people start to get bored, if shorter it hardly seems worth going.

Presenters

Local trainers may be persuaded to give their services free of charge, but finding new speakers is one of the key tasks. Keep an eye out for potential presenters at any events you go to, including any in-house training you attend. Once the workshops are running, you can ask for volunteers from your own participants, but you do need to ask, as people probably will not put themselves forward unless prompted. People who are reluctant to speak for an hour may be persuaded to do fifteen minutes, so suggest joint presentations by two, three or four people. Having a ‘swapshop’ session, where six or so teachers present one teaching idea for five or ten minutes each, can be a good way of identifying new speakers while giving confidence to potential presenters. Another option is to approach schools and universities. Some are willing to provide speakers, especially if they have special projects they want people to know about. Do not be too fussy about the quality of the presentations at the beginning. Remember, everyone has to start somewhere!

Topics

As you are relying on volunteers you may not have much control over topics, which tend to be chosen by the speakers themselves. Generally speaking I have found the participants prefer lighter topics as they may be tired after their day’s work. Demonstrations of games and classroom activities are popular, and advice on classroom mangagement and discipline is usually welcome, as are sessions on course books and the four skills. It is probably better to avoid heavily theoretical discussions; however, interesting workshops on specialist subjects such as young learners or testing can bring in different types of teacher.

Benefits to participants

Such a programme has a range of benefits. Perhaps one of the most important occurs irrespective of the topic; teachers meet other teachers. Mixing teachers from different institutions has the effect of overcoming ‘balkanisation’ as they learn about each others’ situations. A mix of locals and native speakers is an added attraction as local teachers get a chance to practise their English and teachers new to the area have an opportunity to find out about different schools. If you can, provide tea and coffee to extend the session and allow informal conversation after the workshop. Consider having a party at the end of the academic year, too, if possible.

Teachers who do not have the time or money for training courses have a chance for development as there is no requirement to attend on a regular basis. Finally, people who do not usually give presentations get an opportunity. There are always people who could, but never get asked.

Development that costs almost nothing is not difficult to set up, and once people know about it, it is fairly easy to keep the momentum going. There are learning benefits for the organiser, presenters and participants, and the teaching community is strengthened.