Consultancy for Institutions
Here are some representative examples of previous consultancy projects for institutions. Names withheld to respect clients' privacy.
In-house project
We worked for 12 months at a Japanese university and school to strengthen their language departments.
Project goals:
To reinvigorate attitudes to language learning, to help craft a more global outlook, to introduce contemporary pedagogy, to restructure and streamline curricula.
Work done:
After a consulting period, we initially ran a series of seminars covering contemporary learning psychology for teaching staff. We consolidated this training with one-on-one coaching, observation and feedback. We initiated a 360° observation system to maintain momentum after the end of the project. Meanwhile textbooks were upgraded to facilitate more communicative teaching and a number of specific on- and off-site projects were implemented to engage students with their learning and increase their understanding of the global community.
EDUCATIONAL TOUR
We arranged a visit for the president of an international educational foundation who wanted to learn about discussion-based learning, blended learning and other developments in modern pedagogy.
Project goals:
To see contemporary teaching techniques in action, to meet with experienced British educators, to discuss recent educational research.
Work done:
We arranged a visit to Eton College to see their Centre for Innovation and Research in Learning and discuss their work. We also arranged the observation of a discussion-based lesson at St Edward's, Oxford as well as meetings with key members of teaching staff. We supplied extensive background information on recent developments in teaching in the UK as well as support throughout the trip.
Media Project
We made all arrangements for a luxury overseas magazine which wanted to run a piece about tradition and innovation in British schools.
Project goals:
To supply information about British education, to arrange interviews with educators and relevant professionals, to identify and negotiate photo opportunities at short notice.
Work done:
We fulfilled all project goals as well as extra translation work and sourcing of additional visuals.
One-Off Seminar
We ran a seminar about teaching Shakespeare to a conference of Japanese high-school teachers.
Project goals:
To demonstrate effective ways to use literature in the classroom, to build teachers' confidence with Shakespearean English, to introduce innovative techniques for deconstructing poetry.
Work done:
We researched, planned and delivered an interactive, multimedia seminar for 200 teachers, including a demonstration lesson with model students.