On Tuesday, May 23rd, the English Department attended a talk by the reputed teacher, researcher and author Dr Herbert Puchta at Universidad Diego Portales. His presentation was based on three main topics related to adolescents and young learners in the classroom.
The next day, the representatives of Cambridge University Press gave us a big surprise, when they offered the possibility that Dr Puchta could come to Trewhela´s. In that way, all the English teachers were present on this occasion on May 24th, and Dr Puchta gave us a talk on young learners, the difficulties we find in the classroom and some techniques to overcome this.
We could not turn down such an important chance to talk directly to one of the most important authors in the field of teaching English. He referred to the students and getting to critical thinking, conveying three messages for educators:
* Train to think
* Foster exploration of values
* Help develop self-esteem
It was important to confirm that – what our School has been doing for years is on the right path: our Educational Project goes precisely to that. Students showing critical thinking, a project based on values and trying to make our students improve their self-esteem by recognising their different skills in diversity.
That’s why the English Department found this chance something not to be missed, due to the importance of the guest, his work and findings along years of research, edition of books and course books.
Héctor Sánchez Toledo
English Supervisor
