Teresa's Story

From theory to practice: How CertPT helped Teresa bring meaningful interaction into her teaching

When Teresa joined Trinity's Certificate for Practising Teachers (CertPT), she was already teaching university English courses while studying for her PhD. Although she had a strong academic background in English language teaching and education, she was looking for a way to continue growing professionally and to see how educational theory could make a real difference in her classroom.

"I saw it as an opportunity for professional development"

"I've been teaching university English courses since 2019, and when I joined CertPT I was still a relatively young teacher," Teresa says. "I felt that if there was a good opportunity for professional development, then I should take it. I didn't overthink too much."

Because of her background in English language teaching and education, many of the concepts introduced during the course were already familiar.

"I already knew ideas like collaborative learning, scaffolding, the Zone of Proximal Development and cognitive load academically. What really surprised me was seeing how those theories could be transformed into real classroom interaction and classroom activities. That was the moment pedagogy became much more concrete and exciting for me."

One of the aspects she appreciated most was being able to put new ideas into practice straight away.

"That was probably the most important part for me. I could learn something and immediately think about how I could use it in my own classroom."

Discovering new possibilities

Teresa describes the course as intensive.

"I'm not going to lie, it was quite exhausting! We completed the taught part in one week, from morning until the afternoon every day, with only a short break."

Even so, she says she enjoyed every day because it introduced her to new ways of thinking about teaching.

"It exposed me to so many possibilities and opportunities for interactive teaching."

"I'd already considered myself as quite a student-centred teacher. I like to include lots of activities in my classes and keep my students busy. Sometimes my students even tell me, 'I'm so exhausted after taking your class!'" she laughs.

Even with that approach, CertPT introduced activities that gave her fresh ideas.

"I found techniques like jigsaw reading very powerful."

"In a traditional classroom, students might simply read an article, but jigsaw reading gave me a different way of thinking about learning. It gave students opportunities to move around the classroom, interact with each other and learn together."

Rather than copying the activity exactly as it had been demonstrated, Teresa adapted it to suit her own students.

"The original jigsaw reading is quite complicated, so I designed my own simplified version. It still worked really well, and I think my students had a lot of fun."

For Teresa, one of the biggest lessons from CertPT was learning how to adapt activities so they worked for her own classroom rather than trying to follow them exactly.

Reflecting on teaching differently

"I've always been the kind of teacher who reflects on my teaching," Teresa explains. "I'm always thinking about what I've done and how my students responded."

She found that the CertPT assessment tasks encouraged that reflection even further.

"When I was completing the teaching tasks, I was constantly reflecting on my own practice."

As she designed her own teaching materials and evaluated their impact, one idea stayed with her.

"I think meaningful learning is the core."

"I teach university students, so I believe English learning should go beyond survival English. It should be more than learning how to ask the time or how much something costs. I want students to learn things they can actually use in their lives."

For one of her CertPT assignments, Teresa created an online discussion forum where students debated topics such as global warming, fast fashion, veganism and technology entirely in English.

"I wanted them to debate in English."

Because her students were at university, she also encouraged them to think like novice researchers by observing how discussions developed and reflecting on what they noticed.

"They realised they could actually use English to discuss the life around them."

"The students really enjoyed it, and I received a lot of positive feedback. CertPT gave me the opportunity to reflect on this kind of teaching and improve what I do in the future."

Communication before perfection

Teresa's philosophy is simple: language is for communication.

"I don't really agree with the idea that English is just English."

"We learn languages because we need to use them to communicate. If a language loses that function, then there's no meaning to it."

She encourages her students to focus on communicating clearly rather than trying to use complicated language.

"In an EMI context, we don't need to use very fancy English. If I can understand you and you can understand me, that's perfect."

"Of course, university students need to learn the technical terms of their own subjects, but the most important thing is interaction, communication and making your meaning clear."

Growing beyond the classroom

After completing CertPT, Teresa continued her professional development by taking part in Trinity's trainer standardisation programme and online task marking programme.

She admits she was nervous at first because she joined later than many of the other participants.

"Everyone else already seemed to have their own ideas for their demonstration teaching."

She is particularly grateful for the support she received from her trainer, Steven who recognised Teresa's enthusiasm for interactive learning and encouraged her to build her session around that strength.

"The part I enjoyed most in CertPT was interactive activities, and Steven suggested I focus on that. I thought it was a wonderful idea."

The experience also gave Teresa the confidence to support conversations about EMI more widely within her university.

"People know that I took the CertPT course, so they ask me what I think about the EMI policies on our campus. I feel happy that CertPT empowered me to explain what the core and the spirit of EMI really are. At the same time, I also have a lot of concerns about how people are doing it nowadays."

Teresa's advice for teachers

Rather than encouraging every teacher to take a course simply because it's available, Teresa believes professional development starts with understanding your own goals.

"I'm quite a practical person," she says. "I think meaningful professional development starts from self-awareness."

"Before joining any programme, ask yourself: what kind of teacher do you want to be? Then think about what support that programme can offer you."

Looking back, Teresa sees CertPT as much more than a qualification.

"For me, CertPT was not just training. It was a space for reflection, experimentation and professional growth."

"If you really engage in the process, I think it can empower you and help you grow as an educator."

"For me, CertPT was not just training. It was a space for reflection, experimentation and professional growth."
- Teresa

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