by Julia Gardos
BALEAP: Global Forum for Lecturers in English for Academic Purposes
TEAP: Teaching English for Academic Purposes
On Saturday 21 May, some of us from CELFS headed up to the Richmond Building for the all-day BALEAP TEAP workshop. From our department, Maxine (the current chair of BALEAP) was among the organisers and Steve, Lisa, Hannah, Elizabeth, Kaz and myself were among the 50 participants. The day proved to be an extremely useful chance for us to get guidance on building our TEAP portfolios, as well as meeting colleagues in the EAP field from all over the country and exchanging views with them.
The idea I found most important on the day is that this process is developmental, and that alongside raising professionalism in the industry and enhancing our job opportunities, building a portfolio can also help us become more confident as practitioners, aware of our own strengths and achievements as well as our gaps and CPD needs. Some other key advice we received was:
- Do not feel you need to aim too high – starting with the core units is perfectly acceptable
- Aim to have your first TEAP observation soon – it will make the criteria clearer
- Do little and often – keep adding evidence on a regular basis
- Support and be supported peers – do not try to do it all alone
At CELFS we are lucky to have Maxine, an accredited TEAP Senior Fellow who can provide applicants with mentoring. If you would like to start working on a portfolio, you can approach her about arranging an observation.
For further details, join the BALEAP TEAP Facebook group
To find which pathway you should aim for, take this quiz
The TEAP Workshops at Durham (22 April) and Bristol (21 May) were for EAP professionals who are interested in the TEAP Fellowship Scheme. There was plenty of opportunity to find out more about the scheme and to work on the portfolio and reflective account.
The TEAP Scheme encourages and recognises the continuing professional development of individual BALEAP members. It is portfolio-based and appropriate for all EAP teachers, whether they have three months’ experience or three decades.
There are 3 pathways: Associate Fellow, Fellow and Senior Fellow. The aim of the TEAP workshops is to provide participants with information and support, as well as time for planning and writing. It is hoped that they will end the day feeling that they are well on the way to preparing their portfolio, with a clear idea of what they have to do next.
Here is some of the feedback from participants:
“Does what it says on the tin.” “Very informative sessions.”
“No time-wasting guff!” “Much clearer and less daunting.”
“Opportunity to talk…” “Opportunity to ask questions…”
“Felt reassured about both value and workload of the scheme.”
“An excellent introduction to TEAP and what is involved”.
“Good to have time to write.” “A great day which flew past.”
Programme:
- Welcome and Talk – Introduction to the scheme – overview.
- Talk – The criteria – why and how they were developed; how they can encourage CPD.
- Workshops – Unpacking the criteria (The Associate Fellow workshop will also cover observations)
- Talk – Collecting and presenting evidence
- Workshops – Brainstorming your evidence
- Talk – What the reflective account & case studies need to do.
- Workshops – Genre and language
- Computer Workshops – Get writing
- Round-up: What next, Q and A and Successful Participants’ Top Tips
Thanks for sharing Julia – incredibly useful especially the key advice points and quiz. I was sorry to miss this!
Glad you found it useful! Some of the workshop materials are also available on the BALEAP TEAP Facebook page.
Thanks Julia. I found the day really rewarding as well. The discussions were very open and supportive. I also found people very willing to stay in contact and plan to support one another through the process.
We have some copies of the materials at CELFS that Jenny left with me to ‘cascade’ so please do come and ask. I will look to make them available through a CPD session as well, perhaps.