by Wojtek Graniczewski

Wojtek Graniczewski Special Adviser to the Board of EAQUALS

WHAT IS CHANGING AND MAY STILL CHANGE IN LANGUAGE SCHOOLS?

Do

we

kno

w w

her

e w

e ar

e g

oin

g?

… keeping order in changes …

… and keeping changes in order.

David Allen

WHAT AND WHEN are we going to change?

WHO AND HOW is going to do it?

Progress and productivity are about …

CURRENT TRENDS IN ORGANISATION AND

MANAGEMENT

Return to flat structures (to replace pyramid structures)

CURRENT TRENDS IN ORGANISATION AND

MANAGEMENT

Return to leadership (rather than management)

Management is about doing things right. Leadership is about doing the right things.

- honesty- competence- ability to listen - ability to make quick decisions- ability to present a vision

Every leader is a dealer in hope.  Napoleon Bonaparte

The only definition of a leader is ”someone who has followers”. Peter Drucker

What is a leader?

What are the Features sought by most people in a leader?

The role of a leader today is to unite a group of people around a common purpose and support them so that together they can achieve more than each individual would achieve on his own. Robert Kaiser

In a successful language school long-term goals of the group are more important than short-term individual gains of each of its members (both admin staff and the teachers).

John Haidt: Human nature is 90% chimp and 10% bee.

The most important role of a leader to supress the selfish monkey and develop the cooperative bee in every member of his team.

CURRENT TRENDS IN HUMAN RESOURCES

MANAGEMENT

Most people are well-disposed and ready to help but they need precise

guidance and continuous support to best contribute to the group’s aims.

We must build new standards in interpersonal relations (busy bees).

CURRENT SITUATION IN OUR WORK ENVIRONMENT

Need for increased flexibility (Forget about stability!) Constant need for innovation and change (intended or enforced?) Job rotation & cross training (Forget about fixed job descriptions!) More work for fewer staff (but not necessarily more money )

CURRENT SITUATION IN OUR WORK ENVIRONMENT

More tasks and variety in daily activities (but less focus) More time needed for reactive tasks and so less time left

for proactive tasks (we’re more often managed by circumstance)

Everything seems to be unstable and temporary (not very motivating)

How does it all influence our motivational drives?

LIGHT

DARKNESSaway from problems

tow

ard

s

ben

efi

ts

How can we get a

sense of contro

l of r

eality th

at

is suffic

ient not o

nly to survive b

ut also to

develop?

It is not the external world that makes us unable to do things but our convictions about it.

Instead of our changing the world it is a better idea to observe it and then adjust our convictions and plans to the way it is.

We must learn to create our opportunities in relation to the existing possibilities and needs.

WE MAY TAKE A POSITIVE VIEW …

As educators we go out of our way to provide our students with the best we can do but … do our clients really need it?

How do we know what they really need? Do we have any efficient ways to find out?

We are not educational dictators or gurus any more. Just services.

Some of our clients believe they know better what they need and what we should be doing for them than we do.

What are the main changes other than the new technology to which language schools may need to adapt tomorrow?

New technology. Should we go for it or take a reserved attitude?

And therefore our world is full of dilemmas …

no more barriers for international trade, unrestrained spreading of new technologies,immediate transfer information, manifold cultural exchange - popular and trendy,disappearance of cultural barriers and taboos, 

GLOBALISATION IS NOW A FACT OF LIFE. WE NEED TO LEARN HOW TO LIVE WITH IT.

fast, cheap and easily accessible transport, international travel - a natural part of education, international capital penetrates every corner of the globe, standardisation develops across all areas of human activitylabour market spreads and moves around the world

(highly qualified language teachers can now work wherever they want)

Higher MOBILITY

Culture-orie

nted language teaching

Work-oriented language te

aching

Emerging needs fo

r the study

of le

ss popular, even

exotic

languages

Less philological

language teaching

POST METHOD ERA

in language te

aching

Focus on building brid

ges between

classroom la

nguage learn

ing

and everyday la

nguage learn

ing

More power of th

e INTERNET

More access ON-LIN

E

More VIRTUAL A

DMINISTRATIO

N

Even more M

ODERN TECHNOLOGY

Will

it lead us to

a new

M

ETHODOLOGY?

VIRTUALISATION?A virtual organisation is one whose members are geographically apart, usually working by computer, e-mail and groupware while appearing to others to be a single, unified organisation with a real physical location.

• TECHNOLOGY (computers and telecommunication) help us overcome the barriers of space and time

• VIRTUAL ORGANISATION helps us save the time and the costs of travel as well as operational costs (less office space)

• It generates higher innovation, creativity, dynamics, flexibility and productivity (by 30 – 50%!) How about a virtual language school?

Who will shape this future?

Universities? HIGH-TEC providers? Publishers? Language schools?

WHAT IS NECESSARY FOR USTO LIVE WITH THESE CHANGES?

• A more frequent analysis of the situation …• Strategy meetings held every week / every day …• Cost control and risk analysis = daily activities …

What are the risks faced by language schools?

If you ask a terrible question you will get a terrible answer.

Anthony Robbins

Examples: - No clear strategic vision for the future …

- No contingency plan if things go wrong …- Difficulty in recruiting / keeping suitable staff …- Rent (other costs) going up - can’t pay – what to do / where to go? …- Reputation damaged by an incident or a hostile action on the internet- Our brand / logo / domain name may get appropriated …- Anything else?

Other risks …

Another wave of the economic crisis leading to a more difficult financial situation …

Even more competition …

A

How can we protect ourselves?

• Analyse and re-invent organisational culture,

• Analyse style of management,

• Analyse ‘moments of truth’ and improve procedures,

• Introduce a set of clear internal standards,

• Re-examine internal and external information channels,• Analyse the actual needs of clients – talk to them

and give them what they really need and want

How can we protect ourselves?

• Introduce new technologies ( giving priority to the ones

that can facilitate and not complicate our work),

• Provide solid training for everyone concerned,• Reduce staff and then train (and cherish) the survivers

• Increase individual productivity and collective effectiveness

• Revise job descriptions and contracts accordingly,• Revise operational model, including the form of business entity.

And

• Look at costs – cut them – build financial reserves

• Verify all suppliers and negotiate better prices• Consider modifications in prices and systems

of payment (but do not become a ‘cheap’ school)

• Secure brand – logo – domain name (get legal advice)• Revise ways of marketing, promotion and advertising – always trying to be different from the majority!

• Revise sources of feedback / more PR within the community

How can we protect ourselves?

EAQUALS CERTIFICATE OF ACHIEVEMENT IN LANGUAGES

The EAQUALS Certificate of Achievement is a Certificate stating an individual’s Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) language level at the end of his or her course of study. The levels range from A1 (elementary) to C2 (similar to a native speaker of the language).

JOIN IN FOR INTERNATIONAL STANDARDISATION

HOW ABOUT THE BIG QUESTIONS?

• Will standard universities exist in 10 years?

• Will standard (paper-printed) literature still exist?

• Will standard publishers exist in 3 years?

• Will standard language schools exist? In 10 years?

THE BIG QUESTIONS …

• Are we going to find out more about the nature of the learning process?

• If so, are we going to use this knowledge and develop a new methodology with the support of new technology?• Is methodology just teaching techniques or something more?

• What is the role of human relations in language learning?

• Can our pedagogical values be framed in new technologies?

We are bombarded

with millions of bytes

of electronic information

Which leads us to a state

when our attention

is in permanent deficit.

Marcin Fabjanski

– philosopher

What does it mean to us as educators and language teachers?

MORE … MORE DETAILED QUESTIONS …• Are we changing as a species by using the internet and mobile phones all the time?

• If putting together bits and pieces of info is the new way of obtaining knowledge, what does it mean to us as language teachers?

• If reading a whole book is no longer possible … what does it mean to us as language teachers?

• If reading passages at exams are getting shorter and shorter, does it mean that shorter activities are needed in the classroom?

BOOKS FACE

Jim Scrivener and Adrian Underhill

say …

”The communicative method is establishment now. In many cases it is lots of teaching without much learning.

A safe, peaceful dead end. Are we up for a revolution?”

Jim Scrivener

And Adrian Underhill

say …

• Students think they want more and more but they are satisfied with less and less.

• For most teaching demand is low and so challenge is low.

• Teachers praise students all the time. Everything is just great! Is it really?

• ELT = entertainment industry that forgot how to be demanding.

• Course books are too good. Teachers get lazy. They just let the teaching happen without watching if the learning is taking place.

• Common belief : just doing the book will have a teaching effect on the students. THAT’S NOT TRUE!

• What is going to happen to literature, translation, comparative grammar?

Jim Scrivener and

Adrian Underhill

• Demand-high teaching must be developed again.• We all have a role in reinventing our profession.• We must refocus from teaching to learning.• New methodology: lots of one-2-ones in the classroom arena?

• TT through individual action research rather than group sessions.• How will assessment change? Because it must change!• Assessment literacy among teachers will be essential.• Peer observation and standardisation will be very important.

demandhighelt.wordpress.com

The Internet is full of teaching ideas. How many teachers actually use them instead of just doing coursebooks?

The future will belong to those who are able to harmonise the virtual world with the natural world (reality).

Reculturisation of language teaching

With a growing mobility socio-cultural awareness will become an important aspect of foreign language learning and teaching. Barry Tomalin

• Intercultural awarenes is becoming

more and more important in business,

finance, government, travel, work and

should be included in ESP courses.

• Intercultural training is becoming

an integral part of communicative

competence.• The Paretto Principle applies:

20% change in behaviour will result

in 80% change in attitude. QUESTIONS: How to teach it at low levels? Is it really the job of language teachers?

The future will belong to those who are able to combine language teaching with competent intercultural training.

People without training People with training

A total simplification of grammar and vocabulary. Will it replace English some day?

Developped by Jean-Pierre Nanniere, Globish allows you to:

• Communicate in English, using only1500 words.

• Employ simple, but standard grammatical structure.

• Learn enough pronunciation and spelling for 1500 words only.

• Provide a tool for leading a conversation in business or as a tourist, anywhere in the world.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=054zM_ON_z8#!