Other Information

Welcome to the Oxford English Language Teachers' Academy Masterclass 2023. Launched in 2003, the Oxford Teachers’ Academy (OTA) is a collaborative programme of continuing professional development courses for English language teachers. It has been developed by two of the University of Oxford’s largest departments: the Department for Continuing Education and Oxford University Press for teachers whose students do not speak English as their first language.

The OTA Masterclass provides you with the perfect opportunity to experience a professional development programme in the heart of Oxford with colleagues from all corners of the globe and has been specially designed to help you to:

• refresh and revitalise your teaching strategies and techniques
• update your classroom skills
• integrate technology into your lessons
• fine tune your language skills.

Watch our 10-minute video for a taste of what an OTA Masterclass is really like. Hear from previous course participants and tutors about what you might expect:Programme details

A welcome from Dr Charles Boyle, Programme Director

A very warm welcome to the OTA Masterclass for English language teachers. We invite you to join ELT colleagues from across the globe in what is a truly vibrant, international learning community.

We're delighted to be holding the OTA Masterclass in the stunning and historic Oxford University setting of Christ Church.  We look forward to welcoming you to Oxford this summer where a professionally enriching and memorable learning experience awaits. 

Masterclass workshops

Each morning you will participate in two 90-minute workshop sessions of your choice. You choose one workshop per week.

The workshop options for 2023 are:

Workshops week 1:

• Well-being - Ushapa Fortesque

• Mentoring Skills - Charlotte Rance

• Global Skills - Hanna Kryszewska

• Teaching teenagers - Jon Hird

• Escape the Classroom! - Shaun Wilden

Workshops week 2:

• Assessment for Learning - Charlotte Rance

• Teaching Young learners - Ushapa Fortesque

• Dyslexia and Learning English - Jon Hird

• Bilingual Education - Hanna Kryszewska

• ELT Management - Shaun Wilden

Afternoon lecture series

After lunch we invite you to join us for a stimulating and informative plenary lecture or seminar:

• If you don't mind me asking: The power of questioning in the classroom - Charlotte Rance
• ​Do you speak 2023? Contemporary English in the Classroom - Jon Hird
• Are you ready for intelligent machines? - Shaun Wilden
• Visual Literacy in the ELT Class - Hanna Kryszewska
• Mindful Learning - Ushapa Fortescue

Further lecture topics will be announced shortly.

Schedule

Monday - Friday

09:15 - 10:45  Workshop
10:45 - 11:15  Tea break
11:15 - 12:45  Workshop
13:00 - 13:45  Lunch
14:15 - 15:15  Lecture

The programme provides 42 hours of tuition, comprising:

• 30 hours of workshop meetings
• 8 lectures

Please note that the exact timings of the sessions may change.

After class you can relax in Christ Church's tranquil grounds, or immediately step into the bustle of the busy city streets beyond the college walls and explore one of Britain’s most beautiful cities. During your stay, a rich and varied social programme will help you to make the most of your time in Oxford.

Social programme

We've carefully tailored your social programme to allow you plenty of free time to explore and enjoy Oxford. You will also benefit from the services of two programme assistants who will be available to offer information on social activities in Oxford. We've arranged a number of optional social activities (all at no extra cost) during your course which may include the following:

• Guided walking tour of Oxford
• Oxford scavenger hunt
• Canal walk
• Punting on the River Cherwell
• Oxford botanical garden
• Pub visit with tutors

Meals and refreshments

We invite you to join us for an opening drinks reception and dinner on the evening of Sunday 9 July, and for a gala four-course dinner on Friday 14 in the Dining Hall. On your final evening in Oxford, we'll meet for a farewell open-air drinks reception in the Master's Garden and gala four-course formal dinner.

Breakfast

You have the choice of a full English cooked breakfast or a continental breakfast in the college Dining Hall.

Refreshments

Tea, coffee and refreshments are served during the morning break.

Lunch

A buffet lunch is served in the college Dining Hall. You can choose from a number of hot main course options or help yourself to the salad bar.

Dinner

A three-course dinner is served in the Dining Hall.

Weekend Meals

Please note that only breakfast is served on Saturday July 16 and Sunday July 17.

The venue

Christ Church, a constituent college of the Univeristy of Oxford, is ideally situated with the busy city centre on one side, and the peaceful, green spaces of Christ Church Meadow on the other. It was founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, and is one of the larger colleges of the University of Oxford. It is home to Oxford's cathedral, Christ Church Cathedral, and Christ Church Picture Gallery which houses an important collection of Old Masters paintings and drawings.

Christ Church has a number of architectually significant buildings including Tom Tower, designed by Sir Christopher Wren, Tom Quad (the largest quadrangle in Oxford) and the Great Dining Hall, which was also the seat of the parliament assembled by King Charles I during the English Civil War. The buidings have featured in films such as Harry Potter and The Golden Compass.

OUP book display

During the programme, representatives from Oxford University Press will be present to showcase current and forthcoming ELT publications. All teachers will be offered a discount on OUP's ELT publications purchased during the programme.

Your tutors

Shaun Wilden - Tutor for Escape the Classroom! & ELT Mangement

Mr Shaun Wilden is an educational technologist, teacher trainer, and teacher of English with more than 30 years of classroom experience. He holds an MA in technology and education. Having spent two decades teaching abroad, Shaun now lives in Oxford but continues to travel to give talks and workshops about the use of technology and language teaching. He has published a number of books and articles on the use of technology in education.  He now lectures and tutors on information technology and online education on a number of programmes for international students and teachers for the University’s Department for Continuing Education.

Jon Hird - Tutor for Teaching Teenagers & Dyslexia and Learning English 

Jon Hird is a teacher, teacher trainer and ELT materials writer based in Oxford. He teaches at the University of Oxford and frequently gives teacher-training talks and workshops in the UK and overseas. He has written and contributed to many ELT publications for a number of publishers. His most recent publications include Oxford Learner’s Pocket Verbs and Tenses and components of the Language Hub, Roadmap, Navigate, Keynote, Oxford EAP and Life course book series. He has also written and adapted a range of materials for learners with dyslexia. 

Hanna Kryszewska - Tutor for Global Skills & Bilingual Education

Hanna Kryszewska is a teacher, teacher trainer, trainer of trainers and mentors, author of resource books and course books and senior lecturer at the University of Gdańsk, Poland. She co-wrote: “Options for English” - PWSiP, 1991, “Learner-based Teaching” (OUP, 1992), “Reading on Your Own’ (PWN, 1995), “Towards Teaching”, (Heinemann, 1995), “Stand-by Book”, S. Lindstromberg, Ed. (CUP, 1996), “Observing English Lessons”- A Video Teacher Training Course, and “The Company Words Keep” (DELTA, 2012).Since February 2006, she has been the editor of website magazine ‘Humanising Language Teaching.’

Charlotte Rance - Tutor for Mentoring Skills & Teaching Teenagers 

Charlotte Rance is a teacher trainer, author and educational consultant. She has worked in the English language teaching industry for almost two decades, and specialises in working with young learners and teenagers. Charlotte has worked in numerous countries around the world, and has spoken at a wide range of institutions and international conferences. Her priority as a trainer is to provide practical advice and suggest a range of effective strategies that teachers can successfully adapt and implement in their own teaching contexts.

Ushapa Fortescue - Tutor for Well-being & Teaching Young Learners

Ushapa is a Graduate of Manchester Metropolitan University, has a CELTA, a Teacher Training certificate for the Post 16 sector and is a certified trainer for the Oxford Teacher’s Academy courses. With over 19 years of varied teaching experience both in the UK and abroad. She has worked and provided teacher training in numerous countries in Europe, Africa and Asia which has included leading teacher training workshops, presentations, speaking at conferences and presenting short courses. With a focus on Pre-primary, primary, teenagers and adults, she has a wide range of experience and expertise. She is also a certified and experienced deliverer of the Oxford Teacher’s Academy courses. Ushapa is a trained mediation and mindfulness teacher and has delivered courses and trainings around the world. Ushapa loves engaging and encouraging teachers so they can pass on a love of language learning to their students.

Certification

On successful completion of the Masterclass, all participants will receive a University of Oxford Certificate of Attendance.

The attendance certificate will state the course title and location, the course dates, and hours of tuition involved.

Please note that this course does not offer any form of official credit to participants.

Participants who successfully complete and submit the OTA Evidence of Learning within 3 months after completing their courses will also receive an OTA Masterclass Certificate for each course.

Fees

Funding

The Department is, unfortunately, unable to offer any scholarships or reduction in fees for the English Language Teachers' Summer Seminar at present.

Payment

Residential

£3,250

Fees include:

• Tuition
• Course materials
• Full social programme
• Accommodation in a single room with private shower and toilet for the nights of Sunday 9 July to Friday 21 July 2023 inclusive
• Meals in College from dinner on Sunday 9 July to breakfast on Saturday 22 July 2023 (Please note that lunches and dinners are not served on Saturday July 15 and Sunday July 16)
• Opening and Closing Drinks Receptions and Two Gala Dinners
• Weekday morning tea/coffee and biscuits
• Services of resident summer school assistants

Non-residential

• No accommodation - £1,920

  Fees include:

• Tuition
• Course materials
• Full social programme
• Lunch Monday to Friday, and the programme's opening and formal closing drinks receptions and dinners on Sunday 9 July and Friday 21 July, respectively.
• Weekday morning tea/coffee and biscuits
• Services of resident summer school assistants

Cancellations

Please note that refunds are only offered in exceptional circumstances. Please consult our terms and conditions for more details.

Applicants are strongly recommended to take out vacation cancellation insurance, and should consult their travel agent and/or insurer for information and advice. Please note that the Department does not offer any insurance cover.

Alteration or cancellation of a course by the Department

The Department reserves the right to alter details of any course should illness or any other emergency prevent a tutor from teaching, and to cancel a course or seminar if exceptionally low enrolment would make it educationally unviable.

The status of the course will be reviewed on 5 May 2023. If it is likely that the course may be cancelled, all participants enrolled on the course will be notified in writing within seven days, and possible options clearly explained.

If participants have not heard from the Department by 12 May 2023, they should assume that the course will be running; there is no need to contact us to confirm. Participants may wish to delay finalising their travel arrangements until after this date.

Teaching methods

The OTA course options are highly practical and require daily, active participation and discussion. All participants will be expected to work in pairs and small groups and, for some options, to give short individual presentations.

Assessment methods

There are no assessments for this course.

Application

Please download the application form (Word format).

• All sections should be completed fully, clearly, and in BLOCK CAPITALS.
• Applications should be emailed to the Programme Administrator at the following address: ipota@conted.ox.ac.uk
• Applications must be accompanied by a digital photo of yourself

You can either send the digital version of your completed application or email us a scan of your completed form. If you are having issues using Microsoft Word, you can find a .PDF version of the application form here that you can complete and scan.

Application deadline

Subject to the availability of places, the closing date for applications is 2.00pm (UK time) Friday 26 May 2023. We are however able to consider late applications, but any late applicants should be aware of the limited time remaining if they need to apply for a visa to enter the UK for the course.

Notification of the admission panel's decision

Applicants will normally be notified of the panel's decision by email within 14 days of their application being received.

Applicants who are offered a place on the summer school must respond within 14 days to accept or decline the offer. In accepting our offer of a place applicants are committing to paying their programme fees in full by the due date.

Enrolling, invoicing, and further course information

Successful applicants will be formally enrolled on the summer school once they have accepted our offer of a place. The enrolment process includes the issuing of invoices, which will be posted to applicants together with full instructions for payment.

Applicants will be required to pay the full fee within 28 days of their invoice date. Late applicants may be required to pay the full fee within 7 days of their invoice date. Places will not be held for students whose fees are not paid in full by the due date. Under no circumstance will applicants be admitted to the summer school unless all fees have been paid in full.

Once fees have been paid in full, applicants will be sent a formal letter confirming their place on the course and receipt of their payment.

Detailed course information notes will be emailed to participants shortly before the start of the summer school. These notes will contain practical information to assist teachers preparing to travel to Oxford.

Any queries?

Please contact the Programme Administrator by email at ipota@conted.ox.ac.uk

Important information regarding visa requirements

If you require a visa to study abroad, then we strongly recommend that you apply for this course as early as possible in order to allow yourself sufficient time to make a successful visa application.

This may include a letter from the course administrator confirming your place on the course; this confirmation letter will not be issued until all course fees have been paid in full.

In the case of a visa application being unsuccessful the Department will not offer a refund.

Please note that, for legal reasons, the Programme Administrator is not permitted to provide any visa advice to applicants. All such enquiries should be submitted to Oxford University’s student visa and immigration advisers via email at student.immigration@admin.ox.ac.uk

Selection criteria

It is anticipated that applicants will have at least two years' experience of teaching English.

All participants must speak English to a minimum of a high B2 CEFR level of proficiency.

Accommodation

Resident in College

For that real University of Oxford experience, you’ll have the opportunity to live in student accommodation in Christ Church College. The college is situated in the centre of Oxford only a street away from the bustling shopping area of Cornmarket and High Street and is also close to the Ashmolean Museum and Oxford Railway and Coach Stations. You will be provided with a single study bedroom with private bathroom and toilet.

We regret that participants cannot be accommodated at Christ Church College either prior to or beyond their programme dates. Family members and/or friends who are not enrolled on this programme cannot be accommodated in college.

Participants with a disability or mobility impairment

The aim of the Department is to treat all participants equally and welcomes applications from people with disabilities. Individuals` needs are taken into account as far as possible, providing reasonable adaptations and assistance within the resources available. We ask that people let us know of any disability or special need (confidentially if required) so that we can help them participate as fully as possible.

When applying for the Department's college-based summer programmes, prospective participants with mobility difficulties or visual or hearing impairments may want to make preliminary enquiries to the Programme Administrator, as the age and layout of these colleges often makes them user-unfriendly (although adaptations are often possible). Oxford, as an ancient city, tends to be difficult to navigate for people with disabilities. The number of very old buildings, designed in an age less sensitive to issues of disability, makes access to much of the city centre difficult. However, the Department will do as much as it is able to make study with the department possible.

Participants should contact us if they will have problems gaining access to a bedroom or a teaching room that is located on upper or basement floors.