The British Council Malaysia, Programmes & Partnerships department will be holding its annual Special Interest Group for selected Ministry of Education decision makers and corporate social responsibility funding providers. It is a full day event taking place on Tuesday 11th March in Kuala Lumpur.

Our annual Special Interest Group helps maintain existing partners and build new relationships with Ministry of Education departments and corporate sponsors. In the last two years we have covered key topics such as ‘higher order thinking in primary education’ and ‘classroom based assessment’. The aim of the event is for educational decision makers to share, reflect and problem-solve on the key topic in relation to their own experience and areas of responsibility.

For this event, we are looking for a plenary speaker on the key topic of ‘Coaching and Mentoring for Sustainable Teacher Development’ (public education). We are looking for the speaker to be able to offer opening and closing talks and two break-out workshops. We would like the delivery approach to be interactive and to encourage reflection and problem solving in relation to participants own experiences.

The audience will be those whose concern lies with development of public education teachers at primary and secondary level. As decision makers and funding providers they will have an interest in alternative development approaches which can offer significant and sustainable change.

We work closely with the Ministry of Education and leading corporations on a range of teacher development and educational consultancy contracts. From our many years’ experience engaging teachers in public education, it is our view that Coaching and Mentoring go beyond traditional training approaches. One-to-one support helps teachers reflect on their practice and find their own solutions, therefore providing more sustainable impact.

The Malaysian Ministry of Education has undergone significant changes in recent years including the introduction of a new primary curriculum and a shift towards ongoing classroom based assessment. The recent publication of its Educational Blueprint (a strategy for 2012-2025) notes that higher order thinking and teaching the whole child should be a priority. There are also current initiatives to place more emphasis on attainment in English at secondary level.

The British Council will provide economy-class return flights, accommodation for training duration and British Council fixed per diem subsistence rates.

Please email expressions of interest, including a paragraph or PowerPoint on the proposed topics, up to date CV and quotation of fees. For the attention of:

Robert Chalk, Senior Teacher English Programmes, British Council, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; robert.chalk@britishcouncil.org.my

Closing date 31st January 2014