Beyond the Pier

Typical story: a blog starts of well with enthusiasm and then life (more specifically a busy PGCE schedule) gets in the way.  A bit of a re-think means I’ll plan to post shorter posts and focus especially on useful resources and links.

With this in mind, I’d like to draw attention to the fact that free tickets are available for the Languages Show 2009 in London’s Olympia on the 30th Oct – 1st Nov.  Simply register for free via their website and print out your tickets.

The show is ” For language learners,l anguage teachers, linguists and everyone who loves language”and features seminars,  exhibitors, intensive and taster language courses and much more besides.  It is sure to be a valuable and inspirational event for anyone with a passion for, or working with language.

Another useful organisation for language teachers, and a sponsor of The Language Show, is ALL – The Assossciation for Language Learning.  Check out their program for lots of interesting and useful events.

My Postgraduate Certificate in Education with the London Institute of Education (IOE) finally kicked off this week with a series of induction lectures and tutorial groups.  Lots of information, lots of housekeeping and lots of educational acronyms (FSM, QCA, DCFS, SEN etc. to name but a few) to get your head around, but more excitingly, lots of knowledgeable and inspiring professors, tutors and fellow students.

The Institute seems by all accounts a rich and diverse forum for learning, discussion and leading research.  The old saying “those who can do, those who can’t teach”, seems to be put firmly to rest given the qualifications and backgrounds of the other training teachers I have met.  With the credit crunch driving people to look for better job security in the public sector, PGCE courses are heavily over subscribed.  This has led to increased competition for places and consequently bumped up the qualification and quality of the intake.

Situated in Bloomsbury, the IOE finds itself  surrounded by iconic places like The British Museum, The British Library and The Wellcome Trust.  In all, a very inspiring place to be – steeped in history and tradition, yet looking to the future through learning, research, events, talks and discussions.  Indeed, this evening, with every intention of going to the library, I found myself in the audience of a conversation between the famous evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins and The Times editor James Harding about Dawkin’s new book The Greatest Show on Earth.  I never imagined that ticket touts would loiter around outside such events, but I’m glad one did this evening. Read more…