We often emphasise that it is important for learners to interact and collaborate in the classroom so that they can learn from one other. Well, this is just as important for you as the teacher. It helps to boost your professional development by sharing resources and ideas, teaching and learning techniques, and advice from personal experience.
In our recent webinar, author David Martindill explores how the Cambridge Teacher Support Service is supporting Cambridge Primary and Lower Secondary teachers worldwide. The session includes examples of how you can build a supportive online network of teachers using Cambridge resources.
Teacher Support Service webinar
Here are the accompanying slides to the webinar:
Answering your questions
We received a lot of questions from our participants throughout the session. It would be difficult to answer all of them in detail, but we have identified some common themes and provided advice on each.
Q: How much time do I need to commit to my involvement in the support service?
A: The Cambridge Teacher Support Service is there to help whenever help is required. It is down to the discretion of the teacher how much of their time they commit to engaging on the support service. There are no set expectations, but of course, the more time you put in, the more ideas and support you will enjoy. It depends on your timetable and how you like to work and this is why we provide a service that is flexible and tailored to your specific needs.
Q: Is the support service available for IGCSE subjects?
A: The Cambridge Teacher Support Service currently provides support for teaching with Cambridge Primary and Lower Secondary resources.
Q: What is a ‘pedagogy cycle’ and how flexible is it?
A: Our Cambridge mentors on the support service will take you through pedagogy cycles, which means that each month there is a different focus topic across all four of the teaching groups.
Mentors will share teaching ideas and invite you to webinars on this topic. The model is flexible and if there are multiple requests for a different topic, our mentors will adapt the content and provide support where needed.
Q: Does the support service provide support for active learning?
A: Yes. One of the pedagogy cycles focuses on active learning. This does not mean you cannot ask the mentors questions about active learning throughout the year, but there will be a key focus for a month where you can work on developing your active learning teaching techniques.
Q: Can I make suggestions for the topics that the mentors cover in the webinars?
A: The topics of the webinars will align with the pedagogy cycles. For example, if the focus for the month is active learning, the webinar will also focus on this topic.
If you want to ask a particular question related to the topic or need guidance on a specific activity within the resources, share this with your mentor and they will try to cover it in the session. If your mentor cannot include it within the webinar, they will provide support directly, perhaps by sharing resources or links to previous content. You will never have a question go unanswered!
Learn more about the Cambridge Teacher Support Service and other professional development opportunities.
