December and January – Taking responsibility for professional development

What's happening in December and January?

This page gives you an overview of all the activity happening across our TeachingEnglish channels in December and January.

For teachers, we'll be focusing on the theme of Taking responsibility for professional development. For teacher educators, the focus is Understanding teacher learning. Below you'll find free online training courses, live webinars and other online events, podcast episodes and research – all related to the bimonthly themes. You'll also find training and resources related to our evergreen themes of Gender, Inclusion, Climate and Assessment throughout the year.

In addition to our themed events and content, we also have hundreds of lesson plans and classroom resources. Below we've selected some lesson plans to help you engage learners with topical issues and special United Nations days in December and January.

Teacher pathways

Choose below from three learning pathways designed to help you take charge of your professional development and advance your career as an English teacher. 

Getting started with your professional development

Get started with this ready-made pathway of free tools and resources to help you:

• understand your professional needs and interests to help you define your career goals
• use technology and other tools to develop professionally, connect with other professionals and stay up to date with developments in language education
• find opportunities to learn, develop and apply your learning in the classroom.

Teacher pathways: Getting started with your professional development

Going further with your professional development

If you want to go further with your professional development, this workbook will help you take your skills to the next level. It is designed to help you create a regular learning habit and apply what you've learned in the classroom. You'll find an overview of the theme and recommended learning materials. You will also find support to reflect and personalise your learning. You can use the workbook in different ways – do what works for you! We hope you find it beneficial.

Teacher pathways: Going further with your professional development

Working on your professional development with others

This group study guide for teachers and teacher educators looks at Taking responsibility for professional development. It forms part of a series of group learning booklets in which teachers and teacher educators will find useful theory and practice for teaching English effectively, including short case studies and professional development activities to do with others.

Taking responsibility for professional development group learning booklet

Online training courses

We have a range of courses running connected to the theme of Taking responsibility for professional development and our evergreen themes. Live events and discussions related to these courses are hosted in our Courses for teachers community on Facebook. Find out more about all courses running in December and January below, including new course Making time for research in the English classroom.

Making time for research in the English classroom – enrol before 24 January

Discover how to reflect on and explore issues in your teaching context, plan and carry out a small-scale classroom research project and communicate your findings effectively. 

In this free online course, you will learn about the following:

- Engaging with classroom research
- Planning the research process
- Integrating classroom research.

Find out more and enrol on this free course

Download the free Making time for research in the English classroom workbook

Communication skills – enrol before 24 January

Boost your learners' communication skills with engaging, practical dialogue activities for the classroom that help them understand what dialogue means.

In this free online course, you will learn about the following:

- Introduction to dialogue
- Dialogue and active listening
- Dialogue and speaking up.

Find out more and enrol on this free course

Download the free Communication skills workbook

Assessing learning – enrol before 24 March

Help all your learners benefit from and get actively involved in assessment in the language classroom.

In this free online course, you will learn about the following:

- Inclusive assessment approaches
- Engaging with assessment for learning
- Understanding teaching for tests.

Find out more and enrol on this free course

Download the Assessing learning workbook

Climate action in language education – enrol before 24 March

Learn to integrate environmental issues in English language teaching and develop the skills you need to take and sustain meaningful and impactful action to protect the environment in your local context.

In this free online course, you will learn about the following:

- Introducing environmental issues
- Lessons with a sustainability focus
- Making sustainability part of your learners' lives.

Find out more and enrol on this free course

Download the Climate action in language education workbook

Find answers to our most frequently asked questions about training courses.

Online events and webinars

See our free online events and webinars for teachers and teacher educators below.

How can classroom research make your life easier? – Facebook live (04 December)

How can you incorporate research into your teaching practice? How can research make your teaching easier and more relevant for your learners? Join course tutors Desi and Huma for a 30-minute live discussion about classroom research, one of the themes explored in our free course for teachers, Making time for research in the English classroom.

10.00–10.30 (UK time)

Join the event here: How can classroom research make your life easier?

Top-down v. bottom-up: let's unpack these together – Facebook live (06 December)

In this live and interactive event, Samantha Alfaro Prospero will be helping us to better understand how the concepts of bottom-up and top-down processing affect learning.

15.00–15.30 (UK time)

Join the event here: Global practices in teaching English to young learners.

English as a school subject: Learning effective practices from primary sector English language teachers in the global south – Teacher educator webinar (10 December)

Please note that the content of this webinar is tailored for teacher educators and teachers who are engaged in facilitating the professional development of others.

Drawing on their collaborative research project with academics, teacher educators, teachers and children in Malawi, Mexico, Uzbekistan and Bangladesh, Dr Fiona Copland, Head of the School of Education, Learning and Communication Sciences, University of Warwick, and Sue Garton, Professor of Applied Linguistics (TESOL) at Aston University, discuss barriers and solutions to learning English in the four contexts.

12.00–13.15 (UK time)

Find out more and register for this online event

Helping our learners develop – mini-event (11 December)

In these sessions, our speakers will show you how you can help your learners understand and regulate their emotions to create a positive learning environment. You will discover classroom management ideas based on the principles of social and emotional learning. You will also explore activities that help build rapport with teenage learners.

Schedule and speakers

09.00–12.30 (UK time)

09.00–10.00: Social and emotional learning in classroom management (Anna Hasper)
10.15–11.15: Building rapport and managing stress with teens (Teresa Bestwick)
11.30–12.30: Panel discussion: How do we work on learner development? (Hiba Mahmoud Ali, Alicja Sablik, Marina Yesipenko)

Find out more and register for this online event.

You can also join the events on Facebook. No registration is necessary to watch on Facebook.

A teacher's role in student well-being – Facebook live (10 January)

This live and interactive Facebook live event follows on from two sessions that are part of the TeachingEnglish mini-event for teachers Helping our learners develop.

13.00–13.30 (UK time)

Join the event here: A teacher's role in student wellbeing

Reflection tools for busy teachers – Facebook live (21 January)

Reflecting on our own teaching is a valuable part of our continuing professional development. In this live and interactive conversation, Thomas SC Farrell will be sharing some tools that busy teachers can use to reflect.

15.00–15.30 (UK time)

Join the event here: Reflection tools for busy teachers

How can you know your teaching is working? – Facebook live (22 January)

How can classroom research help you check your teaching is effective? What questions and techniques can you use to help you find out? Join course tutors Desi and Huma for a 30-minute live discussion about classroom research, one of the themes explored in our free course for teachers, Making time for research in the English classroom.

10.00–10.30 (UK time)

Join the event here: How can you know your teaching is working?

Developing as teachers – mini-event (23 January)

More information about this event coming soon.

Find out more and register for this online event.

Decolonising English language teaching: what does it mean and how can it be approached? – Teacher educator webinar (24 January)

More details about this event coming soon.

Find out more and register for this online event.

Facebook and Instagram Live events in December 2024 and January 2025

Join our online community of more than four million teachers worldwide. We will be hosting weekly events throughout December and January via our Facebook and Instagram channels.

These 30-minute 'live' sessions are a great opportunity for you to join teachers from around the world.

Engage with English language teaching experts and community members on a range of topics and themes to help you develop your teaching skills, and share ideas and questions with a vibrant global online community.

See what's happening in our community on Facebook 

See what's happening in our community on Instagram

For the classroom

See a selection of lesson plans below that you can use to focus on United Nations special days in December and January in your language teaching classrooms.

International Day for the Abolition of Slavery (2 December)

Title of lesson plan: Is slavery a thing of the past?

Age group: Older teenagers and adults

Level: B1 and above 

Designed to raise awareness of the UN's World Day against Trafficking in Persons, this lesson begins by asking learners to consider what they know about the issue, then takes them through a process of learning more, before concluding by asking them about what they have learned and how their understanding might have changed. The lesson involves plenty of speaking, a vocabulary focus, which pre-teaches topic-related vocabulary later found in the text, a jigsaw reading and a focus on passives.

International Day of Persons with Disabilities (3 December)

Title of lesson plan: Susan Laughs

Age group: Primary (9 to 10 years old)

Level: A1 and above

This is a series of activities and related worksheets for you to download and use with the storybook Susan Laughs. Learners will make a personalised or class book based on the story and give a presentation.

International Migrants Day (18 December)

Title of lesson plan: Inside lives

Age group: Secondary

Level: B1 and above

This activity practises learners' listening and speaking skills. They first listen to a description of two images and then they analyse the language used and try to use it to describe some different pictures. The activity takes a similar format to that used in many speaking exams. The images used are those of Viennese migrants, all of whom run specialist businesses. The activity is based on themes and images from the OPENCities project.

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Title of lesson plan: Choose a city

Age group: Secondary

Level: B2 and above

In this speaking activity, learners think about and discuss a city they would like to live in for a year. The activity is based on themes from the British Council OPENCities project.

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Title of lesson plan: The challenges of being a migrant

Age group: Secondary

Level: C1 and above

This is a speaking and listening activity that involves learners in thinking about the kinds of problems and challenges they might face as a migrant going to Belfast. They then listen to the true stories of five migrants talking about the challenges they have faced in moving to Belfast. The activity is based on themes and images from the OPENCities project.

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Title of lesson plan: Other cultures

Age group: Secondary

Level: C1 and above

One of the good things about migration is the opportunities it brings for learning about other cultures. In this speaking and discussion activity, learners will be able to share their views and knowledge of other cultures. The activity is based on themes from the British Council OPENCities project.

World Braille Day (4 January)

Title of lesson plan: The Very Busy Spider

Age group: Primary

Level: A1 and above 

This is a series of activities and related worksheets for you to download and use with the storybook The Very Busy Spider. Learners will make a touchy-feely book and give a presentation of the story.

International Day of Education (24 January)

Title of lesson plan: School subjects

Age group: Primary

Level: A1 and above

In the first lesson, learners will be introduced to school subjects. They'll consider the spelling of the vocabulary as part of learner training. Then they'll discuss their likes and dislikes. In the second lesson, learners will take part in a controlled line mingle and make a bar chart that will become part of a group poster.

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Title of lesson plan: My ideal teacher

Age group: Primary

Level: A2 and above

In this lesson primary learners do a series of simple and supported vocabulary and grammar activities, which lead to them writing about their ideal teacher. At the end of the lesson, they draw pictures of their ideal teacher and they make a classroom display of their texts and pictures.

Podcast episodes

See all our podcast episodes connected to December and January's themes below.

Teaching English podcast: How can peer-led training and mentoring support teachers' development?

Teacher professional development is a crucial part of being a good teacher. However, we often think that 'good training' can only be obtained from 'expert trainers' at large conferences or through online workshops. And while these can definitely be hugely beneficial, many teachers forget that there is so much that they can learn from their own colleagues in their own contexts. In our interview, we hear from the EVE programme, a ground-breaking initiative that promotes gender equity in ELT conferences.

Listen to the episode and download the show notes

Teaching English podcast: How can my colleagues and I support each other?

When working in a busy and stressful educational environment, it's important that teachers support and help each other as much as possible. In this episode, we hear from several teacher networks around the world about how they support their members, the projects they are doing and the impact that they are having. Following this, we speak to Pauline Blake-Johnston, who has a wide range of experience in participating in and managing teacher networks. Her experience ranges from being the chair of NATECLA Scotland (the National Association for Teaching English and other Community Languages to Adults), to vice-chair of the Glasgow ESOL forum, to being a board member for IATEFL'S ESOL special interest group.

Listen to the episode and download the show notes

Publications, research and insight

See publications related to December and January's themes below.

Exploring principles of effective continuing professional development for teachers in low- and middle-income countries

Working with the British Council, experts at the Centre for the Use of Research and Evidence in Education (CUREE) explore the current state of research evidence around the continuing professional development (CPD) of teachers working in low- and middle-income countries. This report aims to answer these questions: what does the evidence tell us is most likely to be effective CPD for these teachers? Is this similar or different from the CPD needs of teachers in higher-income contexts? What specific challenges are likely to emerge when offering CPD in these contexts? The report also explores the extent to which more evidence is required in order to draw firmer conclusions to inform the development of effective CPD programmes.

Exploring principles of effective continuing professional development for teachers in low- and middle-income countries

Reflective practice for language teachers

This practical step-by-step book is written specifically for language teachers by Thomas SC Farrell, a leading expert on reflective practice.

Reflective practice for language teachers

Running an Association for Language Teachers

This handbook for teachers' associations provides advice and ideas for how associations can run themselves successfully and provide good services to their members.

Running an Association for Language Teachers

A history of IATEFL: The first 50 years of the International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language

IATEFL is one of the widest-reaching teacher associations in the world, with members in nearly 120 countries. The History both celebrates 50 years of IATEFL and affirms the value of teacher associations more generally. Events within the Association are related to wider social trends and geopolitical changes, but also to the development of ideas within the profession as a whole. The book also refers to a number of tensions and contentious issues within the Association, and provides an opportunity to evaluate and help identify directions for the future on the basis of looking back.

A history of IATEFL: The first 50 years of the International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language

Teachers' engagement with published research: How do teachers who read research navigate the field, what do they read, and why?

This report investigates the relationship between research and practice in English language teaching.

Teachers' engagement with published research: How do teachers who read research navigate the field, what do they read, and why?

Bridging the gap between pre-service teacher education and in-service teachers' experiences in Spain

This report examines the curriculum offered to pre-service teachers in master's programmes at two universities in Spain, particularly in relation to the training and preparation required by in-service teachers for English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classrooms.

Bridging the gap between pre-service teacher education and in-service teachers' experiences in Spain

Guide for teacher educators: How to encourage teachers to engage with research

This guide aims to provide teacher educators with a brief overview of how they can support language teachers to engage with published research and to do research in their own educational contexts. The guide discusses the knowledge and skills that teacher educators can focus on so that teachers are better able to benefit from research.

Guide for teacher educators: How to encourage teachers to engage with research

Download the infographic below and pin it in your staffroom.