Fabio Cerpelloni sits down with NILE’s Martyn Clarke to discuss the school’s MA in Professional Development for Language Education and what students can expect to achieve.
Q: Can you provide an overview of the MA programme at NILE and its main
objectives?
The MA program is validated by the University of Chichester. We work with educators from all over the world who have busy professional lives. So we’ve made our program as flexible as possible. It’s modular, and it’s about trying to offer people as much personal choice in how they study, what they study, and the frequency with which they’re
able to engage in studying.
The program has been going on for almost 30 years and we normally have around 200 students within it. Students have a six-year period to finish their studies, but of course,
many complete it before this overall deadline.
This is key because it gives people a lot of opportunities to adapt their study programme
as their circumstances change: students might get promoted, they might move to
different places or get involved in projects they didn’t anticipate when they joined.
We work on a personal basis and actively support the students in taking what they
need and when they need it.
Q: Which modules are the most popular and, in your opinion, why?
Our three most popular modules are Materials Development, Trainer Development, and
Management in Language Education.
The reason for this is pretty straightforward: educators may specialize in many areas, but the development of materials, if they’re classroom-focused, is key to so many different
other areas.
Also, we’re increasingly seeing teachers creating their own materials with a huge
variety of resources available today. ‘What makes good material development for my
particular context?’ This is something more teachers seek to understand.
As for the Trainer Development module, I think it’s popular because we have a high calibre of student profiles. Many are sponsored by organizations or their own companies; these are people who are on the move and are more likely to be in a position of coordination.
But I also think a lot of people move into training through natural development. They
don’t look at it in a formal way, so they com on our course to gain a more structured
understanding of training principles and approaches.
The same with management. If you’re in management, you’re in teaching development.
So there’s a symbiosis between the two modules.
Q: What career paths do NILE graduates typically pursue?
In general, our graduates go into or continue in areas of training. They work more closely
in supporting others in their area. Some get into consultancy and take on consultancy
work or project work. A master’s is a gateway into that.
We also see people working in international organizations. For example, one of the things I love about going to IATEFL is that I get to attend conferences, workshops, and presentations by our alumni.
Our tutors are leaders in their field, but also the quality of our students is very high.
A lot of them come through the management program and go into teacher coordination, course coordination, school management, and academic management.
Q: How has NILE integrated technology into its MA programmes?
Even when NILE first started, the program had a technologically mediated element to it. We’ve always been at the forefront of this, and have invested heavily in a bespoke VLE (Virtual Learning Environment). Our focus is on supporting both synchronous and asynchronous environments with learning technologies.
We’ve developed a range of functions, including video, live sessions, discussion forums,
Padlets, and Google tools. This has positioned us well, especially during the lockdown when we supported other institutions in moving their learning online. NILE founded AQUEDUTO
too, which supports and accredits online teacher education.
Q: Working at NILE, what is the single best practice you have found for incorporating technology into language education?
The single best practice for incorporating technology is not a technological aspect.
It’s maintaining the primacy of supportive colleague interaction.
Our technology solutions work because we have a dedicated team supporting tutors
and students in their interactions with the technology. We have robust systems and
useful technological functions, but the quality of our online team and the support they
provide are crucial.
Competence in technology should not define the level of engagement in our courses.
Q: You acted as a project manager for NILE on the British Council Partnered Remote Language Improvement project (PRELIM) in which UK Language Institutions worked in partnership with English Teaching Associations all over the world to support classroom practice. What worked well and what impact has the programme had?
The most important thing in PRELIM is the ‘P’. It’s not ‘we are giving you stuff’. It’s not that old top-down form of support. PRELIM is more like ‘you’re professionals, we’re professionals, and we’re going to work together’.
The project has worked well because the two partners, the teacher association and the institution in the UK, get together and say, ‘Right, how are we going to make this happen? What is it we need to achieve?
What would be most helpful for your teachers?’
This is much better than coming in with a premade solution to a problem that you hoped
existed, which I don’t think works.
The learning during the project was often quite substantial. For example, the first two
years were about teacher development. In an online, partnered, remote, program this would traditionally be delivered through Zoom, Teams, PowerPoints, etc.
However, in many contexts, this approach doesn’t work because teachers don’t have that
online accessibility. So one of the big learning points for several schools and institutions in
the UK was how to run an online development course on WhatsApp or Telegram.
Also, some institutions in the UK have had a shift in business plans. Before it was about the
classic model: overseas students coming into the country to learn English. But some schools have now shifted. They’ve become more agile and are bidding for programmes overseas, whether it’s training, materials development, or consultancy.
