International House: Management Educacional Programs

Ivn Ilich Aguilar Flores

MODULE 3 ASSIGNMENT:
INSETT
INTRODUCTION
Any Language teaching Organization (LTO) seeks to provide students
with the best quality of language education possible for many different reasons
like meeting the organizations mission, being noticeable in the market,
becoming better than the competitors and so on. This endeavor, however,
needs, among many other factors, to count with highly trained teachers who
are able to deliver effective classes and get students to achieve high
performance in functioning in a target language. To make this possible, the LTO
has to have clear plans for developing the faculty and this is why In Service
Teacher Training (INSETT) has become an important task which those heading
an LTO have to undertake. In the following lines, I will analyze how INSETT is
nowadays being carried out at ICPNA and later I will propose some important
changes or improvements that can be made in order to make INSETT provision
much more adequate to the ICPNA context and also appropriate for the
teachers conditions.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF CURRENT INSETT AT ICPNA
Current INSETT options
At ICPNA teachers have different opportunities to develop and get training.
Most of these processes are taken into account in the appraisal system and
provide a chance for development and evaluation. Following is a list of these
strategies and how they are carried out.

Class observation
Classroom observation basically consist of supervisors visiting and
observing teachers while they are delivering their lessons. It has two
parts: a formative and an evaluative visit which are both announced. In
the first, visit the supervisor collects information and shares it with the
teachers focusing on those areas which might need better attention. In
the second visit, the supervisor collects information to confirm that the
teacher is able to implement techniques and strategies suggested in the
first visit. Through the process it is expected that teachers get the
chance to improve their practice. SO far this has been an effective
means of training.
Peer observation

International House: Management Educacional Programs

Ivn Ilich Aguilar Flores

This is a process in which teachers can embark on their own initiative.

Two teachers agree to visit each other and collect information on their
class performance. After these visits, they provide each other with
feedback and write reflections on their findings about their teaching. To
make the process formal, teachers are to submit a copy of this reflection
to the academic management office.
ELT Advantage courses
Most teachers have had the opportunity to take ELT advantage courses
which are online courses provided by CENGAGE and countersigned by
the TESOL International organization. So far teachers have taken
Introduction to teaching Young Learners and Assessment in language
teaching. There was also a third course they took based on their
preferences. These course have affected positively teachers since
concepts about assessment are clearer to everyone. The same has
happened with the course on teaching children since most teachers were
able to learn the essentials to teach this type of learners.
Forum Magazine homework
The forum magazine is a specialized publication done by the American
embassy and brings articles about language teaching. The magazine is
distributed to all teachers and is accompanied by a short piece of
homework to be completed. This homework is later submitted to
academic management and is also counted as part of the professional
development item in the appraisal system. As this homework is done in
groups or pairs, it has promoted some team building among teachers.
Teacher Development (TD) meetings
Every month teachers have to attend TD meeting which are informative
about decisions made on the way the program is running. In this
meeting teachers are informed about how to manage documents,
computers, or other rules enforced by the academic management office
in order to provide students with better service. There is also room in
this meetings to discuss topics that can help teachers improve their
teaching practice or topics that respond to immediate needs of the LTO.
For example, recently we are trying to improve the accuracy of the
assessment of writing by using a set symbols and descriptors that allow
teachers have a better decision on assigning grades on the students
writing work.
Teacher conferences
From time to time, we have conferences at ICPNA offered to our
teachers in which it is our teachers the ones who work as presenters.
This happens once or twice in a year and the topics are usually related
to the use of technology in the classroom (Electronic Village) or our TEFL
conference. In these conferences, our teachers are given the chance to
deliver their presentations. To deliver a presentation, teachers usually

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Ivn Ilich Aguilar Flores
have to present a proposal and receive support from the academic team
to make the best out of them. It is felt that this is a great opportunity
for professional development plus it is recorded in the teachers
professional development initiatives.
Attempting to build a structured program
Since 2014, there has been a more organized effort in developing an
INSETT program that could be more organized and truly responsive the
organizations needs. Years before, this was done based more on assumptions
made by the academic management team or based on the opportunities that
the market would offer like having an expert visit the city and taking
advantage of this situations. From 2014 until now, many attempts to improve
the type of INSETT provision have been made. Basically, this program is based
on some sort of a SWOT analysis done by the Academic team in which
information collected by supervisors through classroom observation on the
weaknesses of teachers is shared and some decisions as for how to overcome
these weaknesses are made.
Decisions made in a 2015 survey
In 2015, a survey was also passed to get information about the kind of
training teachers felt was more relevant for their everyday teaching practice. It
was important to notice that in this survey teaching pronunciation was the
number one issue that teachers ranked as the topic they wanted to learn more
about. Another important point on which the survey was able to inform us was
that of teaching young learners. This is of vital importance since the Young
Student Program has had a steady growth in recent years. Besides the survey
explained that teachers also are in constant research on techniques and
strategies to make the lessons more interesting. Finally, there has been a
common agreement on developing strategies to manage discipline issues in
class.
As a result of these information we had training on the teaching of
pronunciation for four days with expert Rebeca Wilner. Teachers al received
funding for studying an online course for teaching English to Young Learners at
UMBC and now are involved in some action research. We also had Heidi Faust
who delivered a series of presentation on dealing with discipline problems in
the classroom.
SUGGESTED CHANGES TO THE CURRENT INSETT PROVISION
Evaluation of needs

International House: Management Educacional Programs

Ivn Ilich Aguilar Flores
I feel that the first change to make the INSETT provision more adequate
is to develop systematic means to identify the organizational needs. So far, the
survey described seems to be a good start, but this could be improved if we
have more references focusing in the three areas described in the course
namely the task, the groups needs, and the individuals needs. This could
really help us tackle those issues that are more important for the teachers and
the organization.
Another important source to identify the needs is that of classroom
observation. I consider that making reviews on the teaching procedures that
caused most trouble for teachers can be a good way to discover the points that
teachers need more training on. If this is kept in some sort of records, then
decisions about the INSETT provision can be more accurate.
Together with what I mention above, I feel it would be a great idea to
use at certain times a bottom-up approach to decide on the INSETT provision.
Teachers usually have a very particular view of those things they need to learn
more about in order to become effective, and I feel that having some part on
the decision can make them feel more motivated and committed to participate
in professional development. This can be easily done through some sort of
discussions using our TD meetings.
Certification as part of INSETT provision
In the Peruvian context, certification is considered as a very important
part of a persons Curriculum (Resume). This is why I consider that INSETT
provision can be managed in a way that is conducive to the reception of some
sort of certification given by the institution to the participating teachers. Of
course, the process should be reserved only for those professional
development opportunities that require real effort and concrete production
from the teachers involved in training, but not for simply attending a seminar
or conference. This is another way to motivate teachers since they can use
certification when deciding to leave and look for other job opportunities. I
consider that this crates and added value for teachers because, on the one
hand, they become better at the work they do at ICPNA and, on the other
hand, they gain experience and documentation that can be used outside.
The use of technology
I strongly believe that technology has become a very important tool for any
professional to keep on developing. It is also a great tool for any LTO to create
and manage In Service Training for the faculty. One of the main advantage for
the use of technology is that is its asynchronous which means that each
participant can decide on when to study the materials or complete the tasks (of

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Ivn Ilich Aguilar Flores
course within a time limit) which will help them to develop professionally.
Another important characteristic is that most learning platforms have built in
tools that allow to assess the time that participants devote on learning as well
as their results in lets say tests or quizzes. At ICPNA, we already have
computer servers installed as it is necessary to host our own webpage and lots
of e-materials which are used internally in our lessons. I guess, it could be a
good investment to install and run a couple of internal courses in these servers
using a platform like Moodle. I understand that the hard work comes during
the process of designing and programming the courses, but later these can be
reused and updated without much effort, which makes the return of
investment an interesting alternative for developing INSETT.
Evaluating Provision though triangulation
In the Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics, J.C.
Richards explains that in qualitative research triangulation is:
The process of collecting data from several different resources or in different
ways in order to provide a fuller understanding of the phenomenon. (Page
611)
I feel that this should be the model ICPNA should take in order to assess
the impact of the INSETTT provision. This is because of the nature of teaching
and learning a second language in which many factors come into play. First,
teachers should be the first source to inform that INSETTT is becoming
effective and useful through their comments an opinions. Second, classroom
observation, done by supervisors, should also be considered an important
resource to see how able the teachers are to apply the concepts and
procedures they have been learning in the INSETT provision. Third, learning
about students opinions through focus groups can also provide with interesting
information about the impact of INSETT provision. I feel that by having all this
information and finding a way to get numerical data can really tell much more
about how the INSETT efforts are actually helping improve the program.
Specialized Institutional magazine
Many companies usually have an institutional magazine in which they
inform their internal clients or others related about what things are being done
and what achievements the organization has had in a certain period of time.
The same strategy could be used as part of INSETT provision. Simply, it could
be possible to have a specialized internal magazine to create a space for
teachers to write about their experiences, best practices, research or others
issues related to their everyday teaching practices. I know sharing in groups is
one way to create the environment for professional development and doing it

International House: Management Educacional Programs

Ivn Ilich Aguilar Flores
in written form would be a very interesting way to leaver a testimony of their
contribution. Besides, having written articles in specialized magazines could be
attractive for teachers since this is also recognized when it is stated on the CV.
The mechanics seem to be simple. First, a call for articles can be made, then a
committee would decide on which articles to publish, and finally best articles
are published in the magazine. If the problem of budgeting is an issue, then it
wont be necessary to have a printed version but only an electronic one.
Reducing the load only to designing the magazine. This magazine can easily
help build a better image of the institution if the publications are relevant to
different teaching audiences and some of them contain research done in the
institution.
Training for related areas
One of the things that need to be improved is definitely training for
areas closely related to the Academic Management. The IT department, for
example, is of vital support for the school to run effectively on a day by day
basis, but still problems with computers, programs not running, loss of internet
connection have become frequent. This creates a situation in which teachers
feel disappointed since a very nice prepared lesson can be spoiled simply by
the fact that teachers are unable to access their materials on the computer due
to many reasons. I consider that the process of shadowing would be a nice
alternative since it seems that IT members cannot see how students and
teachers feel affected when computers do not work adequately.
Self-development
Having teachers who can self-develop is definitely a competence that
any LTO would like to have. Hence, devoting some effort on helping teachers
acquire this competence would be an important undertake. Many books explain
the importance of teachers planning their career goals and the effectiveness of
orienting their efforts to become better throughout the time. I feel that this
should be part of some INSETT offered as part of the professional development
program. This would be much more relevant since it is clear that PD is an
institutional need, but teachers can see a lot of value in being able to manage
and decide individually on their professional goals and objectives if they are
taught how to do so. Hopefully many of the teachers objectives can align with
ICPNA needs and this alignment could bring great results for both the
institution and the teachers.
CONCLUSION
INSET is definitely a power management tool to help teaches improve
their practices and the institution to get high standards of students

International House: Management Educacional Programs

Ivn Ilich Aguilar Flores
achievement. AT ICPNA many things have been done and the current PD
program can be enhanced by planning INSET based on teachers opinions and
measuring its impact through triangulation. Likewise, it would be necessary to
provide teachers with necessary certification as this is seen as an added value
in the context.
References:
Richards J: Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics Longman
White R: Management in Language Teaching Cambridge