The teaching of English in the pre-primary classroom is often characterised by a blended whole-child/academic approach to learning. What is the difference between the whole-child and more traditional language-focussed or academic approaches?
The whole-child approach, rather than directing teachers in their explicit academic instruction, seeks to...
It so often seems to me that education is a world with kings but no prophets. It has those who have power but lacks those to guide and find a way through its and life’s confusions. There is a need for a new perspective on education, on its purpose and its responsibilities. There are few great causes or crusades anymore but education is one that...
Over the last decade B2 First for Schools has become a household name in Greece amongst ambitious secondary-school students and parents alike. It’s the most popular Cambridge English Qualification in the country, as it’s set at B2 of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR), the level that thousands of Greek teenagers aspire to and for many...
The term was first coined in 1979 by Henri Holec, who is considered to be the "father" of learner autonomy. Various definitions have since been used, depending on the writer, the context, and the level of educators involved in the discussion about this term. Holec defines autonomy as ‘the ability to take charge of one's own learning", while Holmes and...
Knowing how children learn their first language can help us teach them a second language. All children can speak at least one language when they come to school. Think about how they learned their first language. Think about how your baby acquired his/her first language.
Text by Anastasia Spyropoulou
Your baby’s brain is built over time. It starts during...
One of the significant challenges educators face in their writing classes today is motivating students to write compositions for high stakes exams when the reason they write is unclear or is lacking in interest. What if we could take this so-called tedious and mundane task and turn it around just enough to stir up some curiosity and meaning?
By Dr...
It was one of the first few times I was interviewing candidates for a teacher training course. I remember being quite nervous myself trying to make complete strangers feel comfortable enough to maybe get a glimpse of their motives by asking for their reasons for taking the course and their expectations. And there was that young confident teacher, ticking...
One-to-one lessons: some of us love them, others put up with them. Yet, they are a major part of our teaching, right? Many teachers tend to fill up their daily schedule with as many one-to-one lessons as possible. This is understandable – after all, teachers do have to make a living, like everyone else, and in many countries, including Greece, the low...
“Weighing the pig won’t make it fatter. Feeding it will. ”
In Greece we’ve been experiencing this dystopic, unprecedented situation, where teenage (or even younger) students collect “degrees” in foreign languages. We’ve got special names for them, unique to us, with the ‘Lower’ being the most prevalent among them. Parents and teachers’ pride and joy is...
