Shane English Shanghai has been running a very successful English program in Shanghai’s Changning District for several years. The program combines the best of ESL methodologies to deliver fun and engaging lessons to students. At present, the program focuses on grades 1 to 5 and the main emphasis is speaking practice. Foreign teachers work closely with their Chinese counterparts to ensure that students get a well-rounded education.
Each school in the program is typically assigned one or two teachers, depending on class load. A normal workweek (Monday to Friday – 8 am to 4 pm) consists of 20 teaching hours and 20 preparation hours. Classes are usually 35 to 40 minutes long. As an essential part of the school body, teachers take part in all school activities, such as Sports Days and other extramural activities. The program offers teachers a lot of support, from the initial training to detailed teaching materials, as well as follow-up observations and feedback sessions.
Teachers really enjoy working in this program and tend to re-sign for at least an additional year. Students look forward to these classes all day because they are different from their usual classes. Students are encouraged to be creative and do activities in their textbook mixed in with some fun games, songs, etc.
The success of this program led to multiple teacher training workshops with the Chinese English teachers. The workshops covered Teaching Methodology, English Salons, Intensive English Practice and Western Culture. We have learned a great deal from running this program and hope to improve and expand it in the years to come.