30 abr 2017

by | in Career, ELT Management, Reflections about Education, Teacher Development

We have been discussing the importance of mindset and beliefs in education. The impact of the teachers' confidence that their learners can achieve higher, as well as their thoughts about their own teaching to influence learning outcomes. Focusing on teacher development, here are some tips of what teachers can do and how leaders - trainers or managers - can contribute to the teachers' growth mindset towards productive professional development that may benefit not only learners, but groups of teachers as well as the schools they work. From my point of view, even...

20 mar 2017

by | in ELT Management

    Imagine a seguinte cena: Uma escola ou instituição de ensino onde a vasta maioria das ideias geniais viram realidade, ou seja, saem do papel, e geram resultados tangíveis, tanto em termos de ganho de qualidade pedagógica quanto no ganho financeiro da instituição. Algo desejável? Por que então a realidade é tão diferente? É impressionante o número reduzido de escolas de idiomas que utilizam a implementação das estratégias por portfólio de projetos. Mais surpreendente ainda é perceber que os institutos mais bem-sucedidos utilizam projetos mas não são seguidas como exemplo....

05 jan 2017

by | in Career, ELT Management

In Brazil the beginning of the year is hiring season for teachers. Unfortunately it’s unusual for ELT job ads in this country to list required and preferred KSAs (knowledge, skills, and abilities or attitudes). When they do, something that usually shows up is “living experience abroad” (“vivência no exterior”). To be me, in all honesty, that requirement simply boggles the mind. Here are a few issues I ponder over when I see that: 1. Why LIVING, not WORKING experience? How can “living” be a job requirement? Hey, I haven’t died, even...

24 nov 2016

by | in ELT Management

According to ABF (Brazilian Franchising Association) there are currently 35 franchisors specialized in offering English teaching services. Some franchises have a staggering number of one thousand schools each. There are also countless independent teaching institutes in the market, employing a massive amount of education professionals. Yet, for all that, Brazil is still lagging behind the race for proficiency. One of the reasons is that basic management processes are overlooked. This article aims to shed light on how schools can maximize chances of success through rational planning and management. Management...

31 out 2016

by | in ELT Management

In my previous article (Strategy design and execution in education management – Part 1) we delved into strategic planning and how a single strategy is converted into multiple projects, also called portfolio of projects. In this text, we will focus on project execution, some of the main limitations and some solutions. The Fortune magazine claimed, in 1999, that 70% of strategic failures are due to poor execution and in 2003, suggested that less than 10% of strategies are well executed according to the plan. Evidence endorsing this idea abound...

28 set 2016

by | in ELT Management

When designing a strategy, a paramount and inherent aspect for a successful endeavour is that each action is in line with the expected performance and result indicators. There must be a clear goal, a road map that will reveal the path to be trailed, what one should expect and the final destination. As Seneca suggests: "If one does not know to which port one is sailing, no wind is favorable"  A strategy will always demand a series of actions to be successful. Depending on the magnitude of the task, we...