The International House Certificate in Advanced Methodology (IH CAM)

*If a candidate successfully finishes the course and passes all the assignments, they will be expected to pay extra 80 GBP for IH certificate.

Who is it for: Experienced teachers with an initial CELTA (or equivalent TEFL) qualification and at least one year’s teaching experience.

Level of English: Strong CAE or higher

Course Outline

The International House Certificate in Advanced Methodology (CAM) serves two main audiences. It offers the high level of methodological input which (1) many teachers seek for reasons of personal self-development and (2) many teachers need as preparation for a Diploma level qualification such as the Cambridge DELTA.

The course is designed to give Course Participants (CPs) revision of the principles from their initial teacher training and an introduction to the higher level theory they might encounter on Diploma level courses, along with some classroom observation and action research. Because of the latter point, participants should be teaching general English to classes of adults at a variety of levels in a school while undertaking the course.

The course is now moderated by Cambridge English Language Assessment.

Course Structure

The course consist of 20 sessions of two hours, consisting of input and discussion and covering a range of topics. These sessions will cover 40 hours of input and a further 30 hours (at least) will be spent on other work such as recommended reading, homework tasks and classroom-based action research. In addition to the input and post-session tasks, participants will have some reading to do before the sessions, a mid-course assignment and a wider-ranging end-of-course assignment.

Course Content Menu

1. Strand 1 — CELTA revision

   Course Introduction and Overview

2. Lesson Frameworks

3. Receptive Skills

4. Production Skills
   
   Strand 2 — Teaching and Learning

5. The Developing Teacher

6. Focus on Learners
   
   Strand 3 — Study Skills

7. Academic Writing
   
   Strand 4 — Skills

8. Language as Text

9. Writing

10. Speaking and Spoken Interaction

11. An Introduction to Discourse Analysis
    
    Strand 5 — Language and Materials

12. Vocabulary

13. Grammar

14. Phonology

15. Materials
    
    Strand 6 — Theory

16. Theories of Learning and Teaching I

17. Theories of Learning and Teaching II

18. Theories of Learning and Teaching III

19. Recent Approaches
    
    Closure

20. Course Closure

Homework and Assignments

Outside of scheduled input, CPs will have a variety of the following example tasks to complete:

• pre-session reading (session-specific texts, books, articles, web-based research);

• post-session reading (books, articles, web-based research);

• observation of peers / academic managers in their schools;

• lesson planning and delivery with either self-observation, peer observation or Director of Studies observation;

• classroom-based action research;

• materials design and in-class experimentation with them;

• reflections on the course and on their teaching in the form of an ongoing journal;

• a 1000 word assignment on an area of skills and a lesson plan detailing how an aspect of the selected area would be taught – this lesson is self-observed;

• Either: (for CPs targeting a Diploma course) a full assignment involving research into an area of language and an observed lesson which helps learners in the target area

• Or: (for CPs not intending to take a Diploma course) a reflective essay at the end of the course on what they have learned and how their teaching has developed, plus an observed lesson

Course aims

• To develop teachers’ theoretical knowledge of teaching and so make them more informed practitioners.

• To develop teachers’ practical teaching ability and develop their self-analytical skills to make them more reflective practitioners.

• To raise teachers’ awareness of what they can expect from a Diploma level course and explicitly prepare them to take one.

More specifically, these aims can be expanded upon as follows:

• To develop CPs’ ability to identify useful articles, extracts, etc. and to read them critically.

• To encourage CPs to read key articles, chapters, etc, to lighten the load on a Diploma level course.

• To encourage in-depth reflection on CPs’ past and current practice.

• To encourage critical debate on teaching practice among CPs and their peers.

• To encourage discussion across different teaching contexts.

• To encourage professionalism in CPs’ approach to their job and personal development.

• To develop CPs’ ability to analyse language for teaching purposes in increased depth.

• To widen CPs’ approaches to dealing with authentic and self-made texts.

• To provide CPs with a historical perspective with regard to teaching approaches.

• To encourage CPs to experiment with different approaches and reflect on the experience so they will move towards a position of “principled eclecticism”.

• To encourage teamwork among professional practitioners.

Application procedure: if you are interested in taking this course, please contact out Teacher Training center at t-training@bkc.ru and we will send you an application form and arrange an interview with one of our trainers.

Certificates and reports

Certificates will be issued by International House World Organisation (IHWO) to all course participants who have fulfilled the requirements of the course and completed all assignments at a satisfactory level. The course is now moderated by Cambridge English Language Assessment.