Sponge Chats – Teacher Training with Khanh-Duc Kuttig

This blog post is part of the Sponge Chats video series.

A short time ago I had the pleasure to sit down with teacher, teacher training and TESOL Teacher of the Year award recipient, Khanh-Duc Kuttig. Khanh-Duc was kind enough to give up her time to share some insights into her career path, from teacher to trainer. We also looked at some important differences between ‘training’ and ‘developing’, and we also touched on ‘native speakerism’, working in universities, being part of ELTA-Rhine and IATEFL TTEdSIG, and potential issues with qualifications and career paths in ELT.

Firstly, for those that don’t know Khanh-Duc, she is hilarious. We had a great time off camera just getting the video started. But apart from this, she is also very, very knowledgeable about her craft and it was great to be able to hear about her experiences in ELT, especially with regard to teacher training. If you would like to see more of Khanh-Duc, she has an upcoming workshop on the applications of the CEFR on the 10th of November 2021 which you can attend for free. Or, alternatively, you can come see both her and myself (and many other lovely people including Teresa Bestwick and Harry Waters) at TESOL France 2021!

As usual, we also looked at some book recommendations. Here are Khanh-Duc’s:

• Diane Larsen-Freeman – From Grammar to Grammaring
• Tessa Woodward – Thinking in the EFL class

Make sure you check out the Sponge Chat on YouTube and Spotify, and if you do like it please remember to give it a like, subscribe and comment. I will reply when I can 🙂

Sponge Chats – Perspectives on teacher training with Peter Lucantoni – SPONGE ELT

In this Sponge Chat, I had the pleasure to sit down with renown teacher training and author, Peter Lucantoni. Peter was kind enough to share his thoughts on teacher training, with a specific focus on early-career teacher trainers. We spoke about how one might move into teacher training, how trainers can develop, and also the importance of being proactive as a teacher who wants to be a teacher training position. 00:00 Introduction 03:00 Sponge Chats 03:55 Who is Peter? 06:00 Teacher training qualifications 13:20 Difficulties early-career teacher trainers face 17:15 How do trainers develop? 20:30 Is training 'giving ideas'? 25:00 Peter's preference: INSET or PRESET or Train the Trainer? 29:30 The importance of breadth and depth as a trainer 33:30 The importance of context 37:00 Peter's advice for those looking to move into teacher training 42:00 Peter's book recommendations (and an overview of From Teacher to Trainer!)

1. Sponge Chats – Perspectives on teacher training with Peter Lucantoni 48:08
2. Sponge Chats – Perspectives on Educational Technology in ELT with Joe Dale. 01:04:09
3. Sponge Chats – Perspectives on TBLT with Daniel O. Jackson 01:23:26
4. Sponge Chats – Perspectives on Assessment with Fatime Losonci 59:31
5. Sponge Chats – Materials writing and OtterELT with Laura Broadbent and Billie Jago 01:09:14