Shaping the future of education: Future Learning’s project-based approach with Trinity’s Certificate for Practising Teachers

Future Learning is an innovative English language school based in Ireland. They offer a range of programmes including; Study & Work, Teacher Training, Summer Programmes, Mini-Stays and more.

Future Learning were one of the first schools to become a recognised course provider of Trinity’s Certificate for Practising Teachers (CertPT) and have been running the qualification since 2021. We sat down with Academic Director, Peter Lahiff to discuss why they chose to offer Trinity’s CertPT and the results they have seen.

Why did you choose to offer Trinity’s CertPT qualification?

In recruiting for our summer schools, we noticed a gap in the skills needed for qualified teachers of other subjects in mainstream education who wanted to work on our international language programmes. We wanted to run a course that would help these teachers grow as a professional while also being affordable and doable in terms of the time commitment.

We started this out as a purely online programme during the pandemic but have now moved to delivering it mainly in person as the importance of the social element of learning has become ever more apparent. 

How did you choose the specialism(s) that you are running?

It made sense to focus our CertPT on project based, technology enhanced learning as this is at the core of the unique Future Learning approach to language learning across all our programmes.

How does the CertPT align with your school’s ethos and other aspects of teacher training that you provide?

There can be a tendency for teacher training to feel like it is "do what I say but not what I do", but this course is a distillation of what we do in our schools every day at Future Learning. All the educational programmes that we run are centred around a project-based learning approach. That gives us real experience of making the approach work in practice for adult language learners of all ages and younger learners from 12-17 from all over the world. We believe that project-based learning is uniquely suited to equipping students with the skills of communication, collaboration, and effective use of digital tools while they are learning the English language.

What does the typical student undertaking the CertPT with you look like?

The course participants are a mix of experienced teachers who are looking for a fresh perspective, and newly qualified educators wanting to get deeper into the topic of project-based learning. It is especially relevant to teachers of STEAM subjects at second level as well as being generally applicable in multi-subject primary school settings.

How have you measured success with the CertPT?

Our course participants tell us that the tools and techniques they learn on this course are incorporated into their practice and continue to be useful to them years later. 

A recent student had qualified as a primary school teacher in Spain when he took on the course and was looking to get into language teaching in Ireland. Project based learning had been covered in a theoretical way in his degree course and he was keen to learn more about putting it into practice. The two most useful things he took from the CertPT were critically assessing the use of technology in the classroom to ensure it makes pedagogical sense, and the importance of differentiating the roles in a team in facilitating effective collaboration on a project. After receiving his certificate, he joined the young learner programme at Future Learning as a summer teacher and has gone on to become a permanent member of the teaching team delivering the project based adult academic year programme at Future Learning.

What does the future look like for the CertPT and qualifications like it?

Developments in technology since we designed this course have made it even more important for teachers to develop a confidence in being able to effectively incorporate technology in the classroom, and the value of the project-based approach in harnessing it in a purposeful way. We continually update the content of our programmes to keep up to date with next tools and apps.

Explore the Trinity CertPT with Future Learning

Elevate your teaching career with the Trinity Certificate for Practising Teachers (CertPT). The flexible course can enhance and enrich your teaching skills in your own time. Create an immediate impact on your students by applying your assessment learning directly to your class.

To find out more about how Future Learning can enable you to meet learners’ needs in the ever-evolving world of English language teaching with Trinity’s CertPT, visit their website today