Creative English
Developing A Risky Practice: Teaching and Facilitating – Reflections of a Creative English Trainer
- Case Studies
- Creative English
This notion that the leader needs to be ‘in charge’ and ‘know all the answers’ is both dated and destructive… Fear leads to risk aversion. Risk aversion kills innovation. — Peter Sheahan in Brené Brown’s ‘Daring Greatly’ In my first few weeks as a teacher in a private English language school in Italy, the Assistant Director of Studies ushered the first-timers into an empty classroom, and gave us some advice. ‘Never, ever respond to a question from your students with the words ‘I don’t know.’ Never tell them you don’t know something, and never tell them that you’re new to
“They have become my family”: Paper by Dr Anne Smith
- Academic Papers
- Creative English
Dr Anne Smith has published an OpenAccess article in the ArtsPraxis journal, entitled “They have become my family”: Reciprocity and responsiveness in a volunteer-led program for refugees and migrants. Creative English is an applied theatre program that supports English language learning for adult refugees and migrants in the UK. The program is shaped by an ethic of care, focused on responsiveness, reciprocal relationships and empowering individuals to take action. This article identifies challenges and opportunities highlighted by the rapid expansion of a project governed by these values and delivered by volunteers.
Volunteers Share Their Experiences
- Case Studies
- Creative English
Originally writen for the Department of Communities and Local Government’s Learn English Tumblr, our trainer Charlie and two of our amazing volunteers share their experiences with teaching on the programme. The Differences between ESOL and Creative English Charlie, Creative English Trainer Prior to starting work as a Creative English Trainer for FaithAction, I spent seven months working as a teacher in a private language school. My first two months working on Creative English have struck me with some of the incredible differences between ESOL and Creative English, and I thought I’d take the opportunity to explore some of them
Balancing creative and functional language needs: Paper by Dr Anne Smith
- Academic Papers
- Creative English
Dr. Anne Smith has published an Open Access article in the latest issue of the SCENARIO journal of language, culture, and literature. This article argues that play and creativity are cornerstones of a person-centred approach to adult second language education. However, when learners are refugees, asylum seekers or migrants already living in the country where the language is spoken, it is important that language learning also addresses their functional needs. Creative English is an applied theatre programme for adults in the UK that balances these functional and creative needs while developing confidence in English language communication skills. Drawing on participant-led,
Research and Practice in Adult Literacies: Paper by Dr. Anne Smith
- Academic Papers
- Creative English
Subscribers to the journal RaPAL (Research and Practice in Adult Literacies) can read about Anne’s journey to develop Creative English in her article, ‘‘Laugh your way to confident English’: A volunteer-led approach to meeting the needs of migrants’ in their summer edition. The article describes the impact of learning through fun and laughter for participants and volunteers, helping learners build their confidence to become the next generation of volunteers on the project.
Barking and Dagenham Post
- News and Media
- Creative English
Creative English is again mentioned in the Barking & Dagenham Post, when local charity Community Resources for Change received £65,000 from BBC Children in Need to run a Creative English Family Learning course of the local community. The article features programme creator, FaithAction’s own Dr Anne Smith PhD.
Christ Church Sparkbrook
- Case Studies
- Creative English
We have 23 learners on our records this year and an average class is between 6-9 people. All our learners are female[…]. We are finding the majority of our learners are attending the course in order to build up their confidence when out in the community, although two ladies were attending to work towards their citizenship test. Because of the range of cultural backgrounds within the group – Pakistani, Chinese, Yemeni, and Bangladeshi – what is apparent is how this course is a great platform for building community cohesion; and we are seeing the learners come along to other events
Paper by Dr Anne Smith and Bobby Smith
- Academic Papers
- Creative English
The paper, “What’s in a name? Shifts in identity, delivery and impact in a national volunteer-led programme using applied drama to learn English” by FaithAction’s Dr Anne Smith and Bobby Smith was published in ‘Research in Drama Education: The Journal of Applied Theatre and Performance’, Volume 20, Issue 4.