1. Introduction
One of the major tasks of the Advisory Teaching Team (ATT) of the NET Section is to provide centralized training sessions/workshops to both NETs and English teachers. It is expected that the participants will disseminate the ideas gained from the workshops in their schools and implement them in the classrooms.
2. The Workshops/Seminars
Since the start of the Primary NET Scheme, the ATT has been conducting workshops on various English language topics to meet the changing professional needs of teachers. From September 2002 up to June 2009, 617 workshops were held and 20,902 teachers (in terms of head counts) participated. This year, we will continue to deliver professional development programmes on a weekly basis at the NET Section. Some topics will be re-run and there will be some new ones.
In addition, there are 3 special programmes for the new school personnel. They are for the new Principals, new English Panel Chairs (EPCs) and new School English Teachers (SETs) as well as the new NETs. Furthermore, there are 6 experience-sharing seminars where good practices are disseminated among schools in Hong Kong.
3. Workshop Evaluation
The workshops have been well received by the participants who find the content of the workshops useful and practical. This has been reflected in the evaluation forms. The evaluation results for the workshops have been consistently high. Last year the average rating for the workshops was 5.11 on a 6 point scale.
4. Way forward
The ATT will continue to provide professional development for both NETs and English teachers in primary schools. The workshops will focus more on the practicality of the topics. Furthermore, the workshops will provide skills-based training with the aim of helping teachers acquire the necessary teaching strategies so as to promote quality learning and teaching of English in their schools. During their school visits, our Advisory Teachers also provide classroom support to teachers applying the skills they have developed in the workshops.
Remarks
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