The British Council Kazakhstan is looking for a trainer to design and deliver a series of professional development webinars for English language student teachers of pre-service universities in Kazakhstan as part of the Future English project. The British Council is delivering a large-scale programme, Future English in a number of countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Western Balkans) across the Wider Europe region.

The Future English Online Teacher Community is a British Council peer-led online platform for English language teachers which provides a forum where teachers can engage in new ideas and relevant discussions, share knowledge and experience, reflect on their practice and take part in research. Within the platform, teachers can develop an e-portfolio to support and evidence professional development, can engage in their smaller, geographically local online community in which interactions and discussions are organised and managed by a local facilitator, and can establish connections with teachers from other countries through cross-country groups. The OTC platform has been designed with the aim to further develop English language teaching communities across the region and to sustain and additionally grow the British Council’s interaction and support for English language teachers.

One of the components of the Future English OTC work in Kazakhstan is a professional development scheme for future secondary school English language teachers currently studying in their third year on university pre-service teacher education programmes. The 2022 pilot programme attended by 460 students and 20 university lecturers from 11 pedagogical universities demonstrated the need for further implementation of the programme, which was confirmed by the feedback of the programme participants.

The programme is built around the 12 professional competencies of the Continuing Professional Development Framework (CPD Framework) developed by the British Council. The topics (and therefore the Teaching for Success modules) for this programme are selected by the universities based on their needs.

OTC Programme dates

The current year 15-week training programme consists of 45 hours, including 6 hours of webinars delivered fortnightly for up to 500 student teachers.

Start date: 04 September 2023
End date: 15 December 2023

Requested Services

The focus of this consultancy is the design and delivery of a series of teacher development webinars for English language student teachers of pre-service universities in Kazakhstan as part of the Future English programme. The webinar series will be delivered via the British Council OTC platform.

The Supplier shall carry out the following tasks:
- Design teacher training webinars for English language teachers in duration of 60 minutes
- Deliver teacher training webinars for English language teachers in duration of 60 minutes (that includes 50 minutes of training input and 10 minutes for Questions & Answers section of the webinar as a minimum, but the recommendation is to weave discussion points and interaction for the full duration of the 60-minute webinar)
- Development of one discussion topic based on the topic of the webinar which will be the basis of further forum discussions within the Online Teacher Community. The forum moderation is not within the scope of this contract

The specific number of webinars is 6 Teaching for Success modules:

Module 1 - Understanding learners - Understanding motivation in the classroom
Module 2 - Planning lessons - Understanding language practice activities
Module 3 - Managing the lesson - Understanding lesson management 1
Module 4 - Knowing the subject – Understanding pronunciation
Module 5 - Promoting 21st century skills - Understanding 21st century skills
Module 6 - Assessing learning - Understanding assessment for learning

Trainer profile

• MA / PhD in ELT and/or University of Cambridge DELTA (or equivalent)
• Minimum of 10 years of previous experience in English language teaching
• Strong skills in designing, delivering, and evaluating teacher professional development programmes
• Extensive experience in training pre-service and/or newly qualified teachers of English
• Strong planning and organisational skills
• Ability to meet deadlines and handle tasks simultaneously
• Excellent communication, interpersonal and presentation skills
• Excellent IT skills

Working days and payment

The fee for webinar development and delivery is £225 gross and that fee includes preparation and delivery for a 60-min webinar + development of one discussion topic. The total value of the contract is £1,350.

Application process

• Deadline of submission of expression of interest – 10 August 2023
• Shortlisted candidates might be invited to an interview on 17 or 18 August 2023
• The final decision will be communicated by 21 August 2023.

The submitted proposal should include the following documents:
1. Cover letter outlining your relevant expertise and experience (maximum 500 words).
2. CV adjusted as per outlined requirements.
3. Links to a sample of a similar work that focuses on ELT development.

Submit your proposals to: onlineteachercommunity@britishcouncil.org
Please contact Ardak Bekturova – ardak.bekturova@britishcouncil.org if you have any questions about the role and/or the application process.

Please note, we can only respond to successful applicants and only within 5 working days of the application deadline.