Nadire Arikan, Emrah Muyan, Mesut Aydemir, Serhat Uzun, Jonathan Smith Variety in Harmony FOCUS GROUP 1 Nadire Arikan, Emrah Muyan, Mesut Aydemir, Serhat Uzun, Jonathan Smith

“If you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will spend its entire life believing it is stupid.” Albert Einstein

STANDARDISATION is… a process which enables a programme to have: Explicit expectations and pre-structured specifications; Coordination among different elements and stakeholders; Uniformity of learning objectives, assessment criteria and procedures; An appropriate level of uniformity in the quality of teaching and learning materials and practices. In order to …

STANDARDISATION continued In order to provide: Equality of opportunity for all learners; Mechanisms for quality control within the organisation and (where applicable) accreditation with external bodies; Accountability to and credibility among stakeholders.

Industrialisation of Education? The “raw material” (i.e individual students’ level of English and learning abilities and teachers’ abilities) are not standard. If the “product” (i.e the expected level of English proficiency) is standard (which it should be?), then the “manufacturing” process (i.e the teaching process) itself cannot be standard, it should cater for each individual learner’s needs.

AUTONOMOUS TEACHERS are able and willing to… Accept control of their own teaching and make considered decisions regarding it; Accept the limits to their own abilities and their own freedom to act within the constraints of their teaching context; Accept responsibility for reacting to their learners’ needs.

AUTONOMOUS TEACHERS are able and willing to do these things In the area of LEARNING: Be flexible, creative and open to exploring new approaches by developing 21st Century learning and teaching skills. Commit to their own professional development and that of their colleagues;

AUTONOMOUS TEACHERS are able and willing to do these things In the area of RELATIONSHIPS: Develop and sustain supportive relationships with their learners and their colleagues; Make use of the human and non-human resources available to them without being completely dependent on them.

AUTONOMOUS TEACHERS are able and willing to do these things In the area of COMMUNITY: Respect institutional policies and contribute to the formation of these; Contribute to the development of the learning community to which they belong, and to the wider professional community;

Important Points Teacher autonomy is crucial to teachers’ motivation and the promotion of learner autonomy. Autonomy leads to motivated, satisfied teachers who cater for individual learner needs and but can lead to discrepancies in the quality of learning experience for students. The aim of standardisation should be to promote “variety in harmony”, not to function as “educational police”. Standardisation reduces the harm done by poor teaching but can also stifle good teaching.

Opposite or not? Full Teacher Autonomy Liberty University University of Happy Medium Lack of Standardization Full Standardization Robot College Lack of Teacher Autonomy

Where do we need… STANDARDISATION most? Placement, proficiency and objectives and quality of teaching (investing in development and promoting a collaborative working environment) TEACHER AUTONOMY most? Ultimately the teacher in the classroom making the decision to decide what will be taught when and how and with what materials In promoting learner autonomy and motivation (of Ls and Ts) critical thinking

Who sets the Standard? The Curriculum Team Taking balancing input from Educational research Government/University policies Faculty members Learners Teachers Parents?

How do we encourage and standardisation and teacher autonomy? Explicit expectations Clear documentation Collaboration Orientation Mentoring Peer observation Professional development Encouraging self-reflection

TRUST