Online ExpertTrack in Teaching

How to Plan and Teach Great English Lessons

4.8 (506 reviews)

Understand and plan your professional development as an EFL teacher, with this flexible teaching ExpertTrack.

508 enrolments

Created by

British CouncilBritish Council

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Learn to plan and deliver thoughtful and engaging English lessons

Take responsibility for your own continuing professional development (CPD) with this ExpertTrack from the British Council.

The British Council’s CPD Framework identifies twelve professional practices that describe what a teacher does and help you plan your own professional development. These three courses look at all twelve practices from Knowing the Subject to 21st Century skills and provide you with a wealth of great suggestions and ideas to take into your own practice.

Each of the three courses looks at four CPD areas:

Lessons and Teaching

The first course in the ExpertTrack covers:

  • Planning lessons and courses – what to consider and how to approach planning your lessons.
  • Managing resources – assessing available resources and designing and making your own resources.
  • Managing the lesson- what should the teacher do in the classroom to ensure that learning takes place?
  • Taking responsibility for professional development - ideas for taking control of your own progress.

Learning and Learners

Course two covers:

  • Understanding Learners - How to establish rapport with your students.
  • Knowing the subject - What does a teacher need to know about language to teach it successfully?
  • Using inclusive practices - How can you ensure that every learner gets what they need from your lessons.
  • Assessing learning - You’ll look at different ways of measuring learners’ progress

The Classroom and the World

The final course in the ExpertTrack looks at four more professional practices:

  • Promoting 21st Century Skills - Critical thinking and working collaboratively.
  • Integrating ICT - How can you get the most out of technology to help your students?
  • Understanding educational policies and practice - Looking at how national policy affects local decisions and how to implement policies to protect your students.
  • Using Multilingual Approaches - how recognising your learners’ language backgrounds can help you to make lessons best-suited to their needs.

Industry statistics

  • You'll usually need

    A degree and teaching qualification

Key skills you will learn

  • English language teaching
  • Planning lessons
  • Managing resources
  • ICT
  • Inclusivity
  • Assessing learning
  • Teacher CPD

Learning outcomes

By the end of the ExpertTrack, you’ll be able to...

  • Explore planning classes, dealing with resources and managing the lesson
  • Reflect on how we assess learners, being inclusive and teacher subject knowledge
  • Investigate 21st century skills, technology and teaching, multilingualism and educational practices around the world
  • Experiment with new skills and develop professionally as a teacher

Experience required

You will need to be an English language or EFL teacher in order to benefit from this ExpertTrack. You do not need to have specific experience in the field, but you will need an intermediate level English (around B1 on the CEFR) in order to engage with the course materials.

Getting started

This ExpertTrack has been created for English language teachers who would like to take control of their professional development and improve in twelve professional practices across lessons and teaching, learners and learning, and the classroom and the world.

ExpertTrack course overview

  • Course 1

    4.9 (180 reviews)

    Look at lessons, courses and resources with this continuing professional development course for English language teachers.

    1 peer-graded assignment

    4 weeks

    3 hours per week

    • Week 1

      Planning lessons and courses
      • Planning ahead
      • Aims and stages
      • Task: lesson observation
      • Course planning
      • Review
    • Week 2

      Managing resources
      • What's available?
      • Using flashcards
      • Using realia
      • Using the board
      • Review
    • Week 3

      Managing the lesson
      • Factors that influence learning
      • Teacher language
      • Alone, in pairs or in groups?
      • Engaging learners
      • Review
    • Week 4

      Taking responsibility for professional development
      • Your professional development
      • Personal learning networks
      • Peer observation
      • Developing your reflective practice
      • Peer Graded Assignment: Lessons and Teaching
      • Next steps
  • Course 2

    4.8 (178 reviews)

    Understand learners, policy and practice with this CPD course for English language teachers.

    1 peer-graded assignment

    4 weeks

    3 hours per week

    • Week 1

      Understanding learners
      • What motivates your learners?
      • Building rapport
      • Getting learners talking
      • Review
    • Week 2

      Knowing the subject
      • What do teachers and learners know already?
      • What do learners need to know about new language?
      • Checking understanding
      • Practising new language
      • Review
    • Week 3

      Using inclusive practices
      • Understanding inclusive practices
      • Differentiating content
      • Differentiating process
      • Differentiating product
      • Review
    • Week 4

      Assessing learning
      • Why we do what we do
      • Types of assessment
      • Assessing speaking
      • Assessing writing
      • Peer Graded Assignment: Learning and Learners
      • Next steps
  • Course 3

    4.7 (148 reviews)

    Take control of your CPD and learn how to integrate 21st century skills and ICT into your English classroom.

    1 peer-graded assignment

    4 weeks

    3 hours per week

    • Week 1

      Promoting 21st century skills
      • Understanding 21st century skills
      • Critical thinking
      • Collaboration and communication
      • Creativity
      • Review
    • Week 2

      Integrating ICT
      • Technology and change
      • Evaluating technology
      • Technology, autonomy and collaboration
      • Review
    • Week 3

      Understanding educational policies and practice
      • Educational policy and teachers
      • Child protection
      • Internet safety
      • Applying policy
      • Peer Graded Assignment: The Classroom and the World
      • Review
    • Week 4

      Using multilingual approaches
      • The languages we speak
      • Other languages and learning English
      • Multilingual teaching approaches
      • World Englishes and the future of English
      • Review

Prove you're job ready

Highlight the new, job-relevant skills you’ve gained and supplement existing qualifications with a hard-earned, industry-specific digital certificate – plus one for every course within your ExpertTrack.

  • Learn the latest in your chosen industry or subject.
  • Complete each course and pass assessments.
  • Receive certificates validated by the educating organisation.
  • Impress employers with learning outcomes you can add to your CV.
  • Make your career dreams a reality.

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How ExpertTracks work

Join an ExpertTrack to master new skills in your chosen specialist area. Work through a series of topic-focused courses at your own pace, and pass the final assessment to earn a digital certificate award which proves your expertise.

Join a free 7-day trial

Decide if the ExpertTrack is right for you with free access to the full suite of courses and assessments for a week.

Keep learning for $39/month

Pay a monthly subscription fee of $39 for as long as it takes you to complete the ExpertTrack. You can learn at your own pace and cancel at any time.

Earn digital certificates

Receive a certificate for every completed course and pass the final assessment to earn a digital certificate.

Become an expert

Use your specialist training to progress further in your career or build expertise in areas you’re passionate about.

World-class learning with British Council

The British Council builds connections, understanding and trust between people in the UK and other countries through arts and culture, education and the English language.

We work on the ground in more than 100 countries. In 2019-20 we connected with 80 million people directly and with 791 million people overall, including online and through our broadcasts and publications.

Meet your instructors

I'm an English teacher and teacher trainer. I'm interested in online learning/teaching and pluralistic approaches to languages and cultures particularly in refugee/immigrant contexts

I work for the British Council as an E-Learning Consultant for the teacher development team. This work includes supporting the build of our online courses and teacher training.

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  • Stay motivated by using the Progress page to keep track of your step completion and assessment scores

Join a global classroom

  • Experience the power of social learning, and get inspired by an international network of learners
  • Share ideas with your peers and course educators on every step of the course
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Map your progress

  • As you work through the course, use notifications and the Progress page to guide your learning
  • Whenever you’re ready, mark each step as complete, you’re in control
  • Complete 90% of course steps and all of the assessments to earn your certificate

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FAQ

ExpertTracks are a series of online courses designed to help you master new skills in specialist areas. You pay a monthly subscription fee which includes access to all courses within the ExpertTrack, as well as assessments and the final digital certificate.

Each ExpertTrack comes with a 7-day free trial period. You may cancel your subscription at any time and your subscription will automatically cancel when you finish the courses and assessments in your chosen ExpertTrack.

Yes. All of our ExpertTracks come with a 7-day free trial. You may claim one free trial period per ExpertTrack.

You have seven days before you will be charged your first monthly subscription fee. When you join an ExpertTrack you automatically receive a 7-day free trial period. You can cancel at any time during the trial period and no payment will be taken from your account.

Please see our full refund policy here.

No, all of our ExpertTracks consist of fully online courses. This means you can take an ExpertTrack from anywhere in the world.

No. ExpertTracks are designed for you to master new skills in a specialist area. You will earn a digital certificate that proves your learning, but it does not carry accreditation.

If you’re looking for certified or accredited courses, many of our microcredentials offer university credit or professional certification.

Have more questions about ExpertTracks? Read the ExpertTracks FAQs, or contact us.