Oxford English Language Teachers' Academy Masterclass



Overview

Welcome to the Oxford English Language Teachers' Academy Masterclass 2020. Launched in 2003, the Oxford Teachers’ Academy (OTA) is a collaborative programme of continuing professional development courses for English language teachers of primary and secondary learners.

The summer school has been developed by two of the University of Oxford’s largest departments: the Department for Continuing Education and Oxford University Press. It is designed for teachers whose students do not speak English as their first language.

The OTA Masterclass provides you with the perfect opportunity to experience a professional development programme in the heart of Oxford with colleagues from all corners of the globe and has been specially designed to help you to:

  • refresh and revitalise your teaching strategies and techniques
  • update your classroom skills
  • integrate technology into your lessons
  • fine tune your language skills

Watch our 10-minute video for a taste of what an OTA Masterclass is really like. Hear from previous course participants and tutors about what you might expect:

(This video is also available on YouTube.)

Programme details

A welcome from Dr Charles Boyle, Programme Director

A very warm welcome to the OTA Masterclass for English language teachers. We invite you to join ELT colleagues from across the globe in what is a truly international learning community in the stunning and historic setting of Worcester College.

Masterclass workshops

Each morning you will participate in two 90-minute workshop sessions of your choice. You choose one workshop per week. The workshop options for 2020 are:

Workshops week 1

Workshops week 2

Afternoon lecture series

After lunch we invite you to join us for a stimulating and informative lecture:

Our 2020 lecture series includes presentations on a wide variety of topics: 

Working with the CEFR - Tim Goodier

Visual Literacy in the ELT Classroom - Hanna Kryszewska

Personalization in an Impersonal World - John Hughes

Artificial Intelligence and Language Learning  - Shaun Wilden

Student well-being and happiness: Building Resilience in the Classroom - Erika Osváth

Beyond the Classroom - Working with Parents  -Vanessa Esteves

Schedule

Monday - Friday

09.15 - 10.45  Workshop
10.45 - 11.15  Tea break
11.15  - 12.45  Workshop
12.45 - 13.45  Lunch
14.15 - 15.15  Lecture

The programme provides 42 hours of tuition, comprising:

  • 30 hours of workshop meetings
  • 8 lectures

After class you can relax in over 24 acres of tranquil gardens and wooded grounds, sit by the college’s own lake far from the bustle of the busy city streets beyond Worcester’s high walls or explore one of Britain’s most beautiful cities. Each evening, a rich and varied social programme will help you to make the most of your time in Oxford.

Social programme

We have carefully tailored your social programme to allow you plenty of free time to explore and enjoy Oxford. You will also benefit from the services of two programme assistants who will be on hand to offer information as to what’s on and what to see in Oxford. We have arranged a number of optional social activities (all at no extra cost) during your course which are likely to include the following:

  • Guided walking tour of Oxford
  • Cultural exchange evening
  • Oxford scavenger hunt
  • Great British Quiz Night
  • Open-air play
  • Canal walk
  • Scottish country dancing
  • Punting on the River Cherwell
  • Oxford parks walk
  • Pub visit with tutors
  • Coach transport to and from London on Saturday 18 July

Meals and refreshments

We invite all participants to join us for an opening drinks reception and dinner on Sunday 12 July and for our farewell drinks reception and formal dinner on Friday 24 July.

Breakfast

Breakfast is served in college and you have a choice of a light continental-style breakfast in Worcester College Nash Café or a cooked breakfast in the college Dining Hall.

Refreshments

Tea, coffee and refreshments are served during the morning break.

Lunch

A buffet lunch is served in the Said Business School Dining Hall. You can choose from a number of hot main course options or help yourself to the salad bar. After lunch you can enjoy a coffee on the roof terrace. 

Dinner

A two course dinner is served in the Dining Hall at Worcester College.

OUP book display

During the programme, representatives from Oxford University Press will be present to showcase current and forthcoming ELT publications. All teachers will be offered a discount of 20% on OUP's ELT publications purchased during the programme.

Certification

On successful completion of the Masterclass, all participants will receive a University of Oxford Certificate of Attendance.

The attendance certificate will state the course title and location, the course dates, and hours of tuition involved.

Please note that this course does not offer any form of official credit to participants.

Participants who successfully complete the OTA Evidence of Learning forms for each training session will also receive an OTA Masterclass Certificate.

Fees

Description Costs
Non-residential (no accommodation) £1715.00
Residential Ensuite £2900.00

Payment

Residential

£2,900

Fees include:

  • Tuition
  • Course materials
  • Full social programme
  • Accommodation in a single room with private shower and toilet for the nights of Sunday 12 July to Friday 24 July 2020 inclusive;
  • Meals in College from dinner on Sunday 12 July to breakfast on Saturday 26 July 2020.
  • Opening and Closing Drinks Receptions and Dinners
  • Weekday morning tea/coffee and biscuits
  • Services of resident summer school assistants
  • Group photo

Non-residential

No accommodation - £1,715

Fees include:

  • Tuition; course materials; full social programme
  • Lunch Monday to Friday, and the programme's opening and formal closing drinks receptions and dinners on Sunday 12 July and Friday 24 July 2020, respectively.
  • Weekday morning tea/coffee and biscuits
  • Group photo

Cancellations

Please note that refunds are only offered in exceptional circumstances. Please consult our terms and conditions for more details.

Applicants are strongly recommended to take out vacation cancellation insurance, and should consult their travel agent and/or insurer for information and advice. Please note that the Department does not offer any insurance cover.

Alteration or cancellation of a course by the Department

The Department reserves the right to alter details of any course should illness or any other emergency prevent a tutor from teaching, and to cancel a course or seminar if exceptionally low enrolment would make it educationally unviable.

The status of the course will be reviewed on 06 May 2020. If it is likely that the course may be cancelled, all participants enrolled on the course will be notified in writing within seven days, and possible options clearly explained.

If participants have not heard from the Department by 13 May 2020, they should assume that the course will be running; there is no need to contact us to confirm. Participants may wish to delay finalising their travel arrangements until after this date.

Tutors

Ms Angela Buckingham

Tutor

Angela Buckingham is a language teacher, writer and teacher trainer with over twenty years’ experience in ELT. She is the author/ co-author of many ELT publications and has worked in Japan, Australia and the UK. Courses for OUP include At Your Service, the best-selling Passport series for Japan, the third edition of Business Venture, levels 5 and 6 of Oxford Discover Grammar (primary) and the Beginner and Elementary levels of new edition International Express.

Ms Vanessa Esteves

Tutor

Vanessa Esteves has been teaching English as a foreign language in Portugal for the past 24 years in both private and state schools around the country. She is currently teaching at Escola Superior de Educação in Porto. She has an M.A. in Anglo-American Studies and has been involved in teacher training in countries such as Saudi Arabia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Azerbaijan, Serbia, Romania, Turkey, Croatia, Slovenia, Malta, Morocco, Egypt and Portugal. Vanessa is a regular presenter at conferences.

Hanna Kryszewska

Tutor

Hanna Kryszewska is a teacher, teacher trainer, trainer of trainers and mentors, author of resource books and course books and senior lecturer at the University of Gdańsk, Poland. She co-wrote: “Options for English” - PWSiP, 1991, “Learner-based Teaching” (OUP, 1992), “Reading on Your Own’ (PWN, 1995), “Towards Teaching”, (Heinemann, 1995), “Stand-by Book”, S. Lindstromberg, Ed. (CUP, 1996), “Observing English Lessons”- A Video Teacher Training Course, and “The Company Words Keep” (DELTA, 2012).Since February 2006, she has been the editor of website magazine ‘Humanising Language.’

Erika Osváth

Tutor

Erika Osváth is a teacher, teacher trainer and materials writer. She is the co-author of Mixed Ability Teaching, OUP (2016). Prior to embarking on a career in teacher training and development in 2009, she worked for International House for 16 years in Central and Eastern Europe as Director of Studies, where she also co-ordinated courses for Young and Very Young Learners, as well as for students of Business English. She has acted as a trainer on many Cambridge Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults (CELTA) courses. Erika has extensive experience in teaching primary, secondary and adult learners.

Shaun Wilden

Tutor

Shaun Wilden is a teacher trainer, materials writer and teacher of English with more than 25 years of classroom experience. Having spent two decades teaching abroad, Shaun now lives in Oxford but continues to travel to give talks and workshops about the use of technology and language teaching. He has lectured and tutored on information technology on a number of programmes for international students and teachers for the Department. His book Into the Classroom: Mobile Learning was published by OUP in 2017.

Teaching methods

The OTA course options are highly practical and require daily, active participation and discussion. All participants will be expected to work in pairs and small groups and, for some options, to give short individual presentations.

Assessment methods

There are no assessments for this course.

Oxford skyline from South Park

Application

Please download the application form.

  • All sections should be completed fully, clearly, and in BLOCK CAPITALS.
  • Applications should be emailed to the Programme Administrator at the following address: ipota@conted.ox.ac.uk
  • Applications must be accompanied by a digital photo of yourself

Application deadline

Subject to the availability of places, the closing date for applications is Friday, 25 May 2020.

Notification of the admission panel's decision

Applicants will normally be notified of the panel's decision by email within 14 days of their application being received.

Applicants who are offered a place on the summer school must respond within 14 days to accept or decline the offer. In accepting our offer of a place applicants are committing to paying their programme fees in full by the due date.

Enrolling, invoicing, and further course information

Successful applicants will be formally enrolled on the summer school once they have accepted our offer of a place. The enrolment process includes the issuing of invoices, which will be posted to applicants together with full instructions for payment.

Applicants will be required to pay the full fee within 28 days of their invoice date. Late applicants may be required to pay the full fee within 7 days of their invoice date. Places will not be held for students whose fees are not paid in full by the due date. Under no circumstance will applicants be admitted to the summer school unless all fees have been paid in full.

Once fees have been paid in full, applicants will be sent a formal letter confirming their place on the course and receipt of their payment.

Detailed course information notes will be emailed to participants shortly before the start of the summer school. These notes will contain practical information to assist teachers preparing to travel to Oxford.

Any queries?

Please contact the Programme Administrator by email at ipota@conted.ox.ac.uk

Important information regarding visa requirements

If you require a visa to study abroad, then we strongly recommend that you apply for this course as early as possible in order to allow yourself sufficient time to make a successful visa application.

This may include a letter from the course administrator confirming your place on the course; this confirmation letter will not be issued until all course fees have been paid in full.

In the case of a visa application being unsuccessful the Department will not offer a refund.

Please note that, for legal reasons, the Programme Administrator is not permitted to provide any visa advice to applicants. All such enquiries should be submitted to Oxford University’s student visa and immigration advisers via email at student.immigration@admin.ox.ac.uk

Selection criteria

It is anticipated that applicants will have at least two years' experience of teaching English.

All participants must speak English to a minimum of a high B2 CEFR level of proficiency.

Accommodation

Resident in College

For that real University of Oxford experience, you’ll have the opportunity to live in student accommodation in Worcester College. The college is situated in the centre of Oxford only a few streets away from the bustling shopping area of Cornmarket and High Street and is also close to the Ashmolean Museum and Oxford Railway and Coach Stations. You will be provided with a single study bedroom with private bathroom and toilet.

We regret that participants cannot be accommodated at Worcester College either prior to or beyond their programme dates. Family members and/or friends who are not enrolled on this programme cannot be accommodated in college.

Non-Resident

Participants who choose to be non-resident on the summer school are responsible for finding their own accommodation. Information on accommodation in Oxford can be found on the internet at:

(Please be aware that demand for accommodation in Oxford during the summer months is high).

Participants with a disability or mobility impairment

The aim of the Department is to treat all participants equally and welcomes applications from people with disabilities. Individuals` needs are taken into account as far as possible, providing reasonable adaptations and assistance within the resources available. We ask that people let us know of any disability or special need (confidentially if required) so that we can help them participate as fully as possible.

When applying for the Department's college-based summer programmes, prospective participants with mobility difficulties or visual or hearing impairments may want to make preliminary enquiries to the Programme Administrator, as the age and layout of these colleges often makes them user-unfriendly (although adaptations are often possible). Oxford, as an ancient city, tends to be difficult to navigate for people with disabilities. The number of very old buildings, designed in an age less sensitive to issues of disability, makes access to much of the city centre difficult. However, the Department will do as much as it is able to make study with the department possible.

Participants should contact us if they will have problems gaining access to a bedroom or a teaching room that is located on upper or basement floors.

Terms & conditions for applicants and students

Information on financial support