Philosophy and Overview

Philosophy and Overview

Our ethos is that learning happens best when we take a “whole student” view – not only do we aim for a rigorous academic approach, but we also consider the additional factors of social and emotional wellbeing. We try to create an environment which is friendly and open – to provide a community for students who are usually studying away from their home country and language is not the only barrier they have to overcome.

Our teachers strive to create a safe learning environment and we understand that students progress at different paces and respond individually to different tasks. Providing learner support to encourage students to be more autonomous, as well as help them understand their own learning, is an important part of the whole student approach.

Our ethos stands on three pillars – Challenge; Learner Focus; Know your Impact

Challenge – We understand that learning happens at the edge of a learner’s knowledge and a teacher always expects the learner to do more - not perform only within their comfort zone. The learner will always be challenged with upgrade steps but teachers will focus on achievable learning gaps – creating a bridge from where the learner is to the next-step goal -working towards the learner’s ultimate learning goal. We have a belief in our learners being capable of much more, while understanding that neurodiverse students may need different paths to be guided into their proximal zone of development.

Learner Focus - We understand that all students are unique, not only in their language skills, but they come to class with their own motivations, cultural backgrounds, and previous learning experiences. Learning at ES should be a positive experience and we provide the students with a safe environment to make mistakes and practise the language with their classmates. We treat our students fairly and with dignity. Our teachers provide feedback and guidance to improve the learner’s English, but we understand that learning does not stop at the classroom door. Our focus on the student is a focus on the whole student – not just the student in the classroom.

Know your Impact - We understand that as a teacher, we need to know our impact in the classroom. Students may be engaged, on task and enjoying themselves but the learning must be visible – the teacher and student must know that it has happened. A teacher is a change agent. At the end of any class, a teacher and student should be able to have seen evidence of learning – a testament to the teacher’s impact.

Structure

Our courses are built around coursebooks, but classes are not focussed on the discrete language items of each unit. Teachers are encouraged to look at what the students can do with the language, aligned to the CEFR core inventory. Our weekly learning checks and formative assessment focuses on performance as opposed to achieving a tick box of grammar points from the week. Teachers and students have access to the weekly schemes of work, which set out the can-do statements and language items for the week, as well as a focus on learner-training and a local focus that can be used in the class.

To add value to the lesson, we focus on the local culture of the location of the school. Course-book lessons, no matter how interesting, are fixed and we expect our teachers to add value to the course-book lessons by supplementing the book – influenced by both the location and the students in the class. We expect on average a 60:40 focus on course-book and supplementary materials. We appreciate that all classes are different, so we focus on outcomes and not the content of the coursebook. At higher levels, we expect the teachers to be able to use more relatable, authentic materials to challenge the students.

The scheme of work is a dynamic document that should be adapted through class negotiation to ensure that the weekly focus is relevant to the students in the class. We also encourage our teachers to incorporate local culture as much as possible, to make each week unique, in spite of any course-book repetition. The scheme of work is where we separate from the course-book and can lean into our academic pillars, with emphasis on challenge, learner focus and making impact.

Lessons are expected to be dynamic and interactive. Students are encouraged to communicate as much as possible as we know that learning from and with peers is one of the most effective routes to achievement The teacher is a model in the classroom and can provide the language input for the students, but using the language to communicate with peers is where deeper learning happens.

Teachers are expected to give homework to the students. This could be based on the course-book, something connected to the location or even the needs of the individual group.

Homework should reinforce and not replace the learning in the classroom.

Teachers are expected to check learning throughout the week and there are no formalised unit or end-of-book weekly tests that focus on the course-book.

What do these pillars mean for the teachers?

Challenge:

This pillar stems from a few sources – Vygotsky’s concept of the Zone of Proximal Development from the early 20th century, Demand High Teaching put forward by Scrivener and Underhill in the early 2010s, and more recently Hattie’s Visible learning, which includes the mind frame “I enjoy the challenge and never retreat to “doing my best” – which applies to learners and teachers alike.

Learning that is too easy results in boredom, learning that is too hard leads to anxiety – by focussing on achievable learning gaps and providing scaffolding and guided assistance students can be challenged and achieve the small steps that lead to greater learning. Teachers can challenge students who achieve a task with upgrade steps e.g. “Correct, but can you say it more naturally?” while giving space for peer or teacher scaffolding for those students who need extra support. We understand that helping students too much can turn them into passive learners and have a negative effect on their achievement and that achieving a task without any cognitive effort is counter-productive to learning.

ZPD (zone of proximal development)

Student can already achive this task

Student needs support to achive this task

Unproductive activity: repetition leads to boredom

Learner focus:

Productive activity: mediation leads to engagement

Increase support through scaffolding

No amount of support will help student achive this task

Unproductive activity: futility leads to frustration

Increase challenge of activity

Learning doesn’t happen in a vacuum – what occurs outside the classroom has significant impact on what happens inside the classroom, and we at ES our whole student approach is about providing an enriching experience academically and socially.

There are many factors outside a teacher’s control, so it is vitally important that what a teacher can control contributes to helping students. This goes beyond the in-classroom practice of learner-focus in the lessons, working within each student’s zone of proximal development, adjusting lessons and outcomes to be relevant to the students in the class. It includes co-designing milestone maps or individual learning paths with learners to focus on realistic goals. Reviewing student performance to help them understand steps to improve. Ensure that learning is relevant, challenging and contextualised. Learners are encouraged to contribute to the class in a safe environment, where feedback helps students see evidence of learning and reflection provides opportunity for deeper learning.

“One way to build on prior knowledge is to connect with a learner’s interests.”

Reis, S. M., McCoach, D. B., Little, C. A., Muller, L. M., & Kaniskan, R. B. (2011)

We help students see that learning is not listening to a teacher lecture – we actively encourage learners to independently problem-solve by seeking help from peers, technology, and other sources. Interactions inside the classroom are essential, but we also focus on those incidentals that happen outside the classroom - in the corridor, on the bus, in the cafeteria. At all times, we are aware that we are part of the learner’s journey. Engaging the whole student engages the student in the classroom and beyond. We want our students to cultivate meaningful relationships that create zones of safety and provide scaffolding for pursuing new relationships and opportunities.

Know your Impact:

“My role, as teacher, is to evaluate the effect I have on my students.”

Hatti.J (2012)

Our third pillar is built on John Hattie’s research and his Visible Larning approach. While research has shown that just attending a class can result in some level of achievement, irrespective of the quality of the teaching, it is high impact strategies that can be cultivated to put our students on the path to attainment. We should focus on the things that can have the greatest impact and stop being distracted by the things that don’t matter.

We encourage teachers to adopt the 10 mind frames of Visible Learning:

1. I am an evaluator of my impact on student learning

2. I see assessment as informing my impact and next steps

3. I collaborate with my peers and my students about my conceptions of progress and my impact

4. I am a change agent and believe all students can improve

5. I strive for challenge and not "doing your best"

6. I give and help students understand feedback and I interpret and act on feedback to me

7. I engage in dialogue much as monologue

8. Success criteria are critical

9. I build relationships and trust so that learning can occur in a place where it is safe to make mistakes and learn from others

10. I talk about learning, not about teaching

Philosophy and Overview