TELL - Malaysia Brighton Education

Stephen -John has been working with Brighton Education based in Pontian Johor and then Jelebu in Negeri Sembilan for the past three years as an English Teacher Trainer /Mentor as part of the TELL Program delivered to Malaysian Primary School Teachers.

Mentoring 34 Primary English Teachers of Malay and Chinese background in Negeri Sembilan & Johor Malaysia
Working in English Classrooms in a variety of ways including demonstration lessons , 1-1 mentoring and group approaches
Development and presentation of Co-Curricular activities in Primary Schools
Providing over 80 hours of Professional Development in the form of seminars, workshops and tutorials
Production of ‘Bridging The Gap’ English Curriculum for use in Malaysian English classrooms
Production of Interactive Theatre production ‘Liam and The Dragon’ and educational Teachers’ Activity Package.
Concept development and establishment of numerous Brighton Education English Language Centres in Johor Malaysia
Production of quarterly TELL Program Newsletter
TELL Johor Conference Coordinator 2011
Workshop Presenter in 2012 at Teachers College Seremban
Guest workshop presenter in Kluang, Muar, Kelantan and Melaka
Management of a team of two other mentors

Classroom Teaching & Mentoring

The TELL programme's objectives include an aim to raise the standard of English Teaching in Malaysian Primary Schools and help integrate the new KSSR curriculum into classroom practice. The move to KSSR involves an approach not just a new text book. Calling for a more creative way of teaching and with an emphasis on fun , group work and a variety of activities each lesson.

My core work has been to spend time every week with my teachers in the classroom partiucipating in a variety of activities such as team teaching, demonstration lessons, leading small groups and one on one teaching with individual students.

I have worked extensively with a TPR Phonics approach linking actions with sounds which has increased student attainment of the basics of English. Songs, poetry , chants, role play and dance have also been presented to teachers to include in there repertoire.

I've worked with teachers on Language Arts presentations and delivered lots of fun activities in classrooms in the two districts I have had the pleasure of being associated with.

The resulting relationships built with students from Pre-School right through to Year 6, has made the task of working in Malaysian schools fun every day.

Another important objective for mentors was to provide opportunities for teachers to imporve their own English Langauge.

Activities included :

Speaking in formal and informal contexts
Grammar workshops
Debating activities
Group Discussions
Participation in TPD activities designed to promote interaction but also opportu ities for reading and writing
Writing Folio Assignment
Encouraging increased English language use at home and at school.

TPDs Seminars & Workshops

A very important part of my role has been to facilitate weekly, then fortnightly and monthly Teacher Professional Development Sessions.

These covered many topics from Classroom Management through to Higher Order Thinking Skills and everything in between. Teachers were invited to participate in a hands on creative approach to their own learning which they could then replicate in classrooms.

As well as this special workshops were presented in classrooms and halls for students and teachers and also after hours for teachers alone.

Workshops were also presented to teachers who were in schools not enrolled in TELL. These were held in Jempol Negeri Sembilan and like TELL clusters all over Malaysia , I found that teachers really appreciated the opportunities and enjoyed the activities presented.

One very special workshop was held at Sk Putra in Jelbeu in Oct 2012 with Shaq Koyok

Orang Asli children experienced an Art Workshop in English making portraits collages and Temuan style weaving. This event was covered on covered on Channel News Asia, New Straits Times and Harian Berita.

http://www.nst.com.my/channels/learning-curve/language-proficiency-art-of-mastering-english-1.179642

Other Workshops Included:

Public Speaking Workshop: Pontian Johor

Grammar & Language Development for Teachers

SK Kuala Klawang Co Curricular Worshop Day: Negeri Sembilan

King George School English Festival 2012: Seremban

2012 Pre-School Convocation : Selangor

Developing Plays Strorytelling Role Play & Speaking Fun: Kelantan

Interactive Drama & Theatre Activities: Muar Johor

Grammar Fun : Jempol

Fun & Games For The English Classroom: Jempol

Drama Fun for the Classroom : Melaka State Workshop