Vocational teaching and learning for Korean Teachers at Westminster Kingsway College
11 May 2012
A group of 49 teachers from Korea have participated in the British Council Korea Vocational Teacher Training programme delivered by Westminster Kingsway College in central London. The teachers came from specialised vocational high schools across Korea and teach in a number of specialist areas including Business, Travel and Tourism, Health and Social Care, Culinary Arts, Digital Media, Film and Theatre.
The teachers spent a week at Westminster Kingsway College where they participated in lectures, class room visits and meetings with teachers from the College in their specialist areas and external industry field trips as well as meeting the College Principal.
Saekyae Shin, a teacher from Gunam Health High School in Korea was matched with lecturers in her specialist area of Health and Social Care at the College’s King’s Cross Centre. She said: “I enjoyed visiting the classes at the College and finding out about ‘learner-centered’ teaching. It was great to find out about different teaching methods and learning the English vocabulary for specialist words. This is my first time in England and I have enjoyed the facilities at Westminster Kingsway College and its central London location.”
Fellow teacher Minkyeong Choi from Gumkok High School said: “I learnt about the British education system compared to Korea. I specialize in Business and visited Bloomberg to find out about working in the UK. The class observations were of great benefit. I learnt about practical things as I think teaching in the UK is more practical than Korea.”
Simon Goodier, Programme Manager for English Language and Teacher Training at Westminster Kingsway College said: “The focus of this programme was on developing vocational English Language skills for the classroom. The Korean teachers learnt different techniques they can use in the classroom and the learner-centered approach to vocational education in the UK. The group showed great enthusiasm and motivation throughout the programme and will be able to take these new ideas back to their home country to develop further.
At Westminster Kingsway College, we are seeing increasing demand for English in vocational classes and through the British Council programmes, we are able to provide vocational learning to teachers from all over the world.”
Contact the International team at Westminster Kingsway College for further details international@westking.ac.uk.
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