Meeting Options for Migrant English Tutors

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Category: Migrant English

The training course for Migrant English Tutors will move to Term 1, starting from 2025. When the course was held in Term 3, the 2nd meeting of the year was scheduled to coincide with the last day of the course, so that the new tutors could have the opportunity to meet and hear from the experienced tutors.

Due to this change, we took the opportunity to re-consider when to hold the 2nd meeting and what to do at this meeting. To this end, a survey was conducted in September 2024, to get the thoughts of Migrant English Tutors regarding this 2nd meeting, which is intended for tutors to share ideas with and seek advice from each other. 18 tutors responded.

The results of this survey are given below.

1. What form of meeting would you prefer?

Options:

  • Formal meeting held in a meeting room at The Pines
  • Informal catchup over lunch
  • Informal catchup over morning coffee in a cafe
  • Informal catchup over afternoon tea in a cafe
  • Other:
  • Would be good to have an hour in a nearby classroom and followed by an hour of casual chat and coffee
  • Informal but somewhere that allows a large group to be able to engage in conversation without disturbing others.

2. Would you prefer to meet during the holidays or during the U3A term?

Options:

  • During Term 2 holidays
  • During Term 3
  • During Term 3 holidays
  • Other:
    • I have no preference, whenever is decided

3. Please state and describe any planned activity you would like to see at the meeting.

  • 2 short volunteer presentations in an hour but interactive to have informal exchanges of ideas with existing and new tutors
  • Last formal meeting that I attended, I found it extremely helpful to have feedback from Tutors who have taken complete beginners. I think that is something which all tutors can learn. Perhaps how to deal with learners who are difficult and not so focused on learning English.
  • Feedback and experiences from other tutors
  • Sharing new ideas and resources for tutoring
  • Sharing challenges and possible solutions
  • Can we explore our learners interacting with each other at this second session to give them an opportunity to meet others getting tutoring and also to give us all some feedback on what they enjoyed with the tutor and what they didn’t – I understand this may be hard – just an idea
  • Would it be difficult to organise an activity if meeting in a café?

4. If you have anything else to add, please do so below.

  • I love the opportunities to get to know other tutors. Informal is always good as we have time to chat with everyone. Thank you.
  • Keep presentations and answers short if possible. Would be great to hear more from new and old tutors to gain a diverse perspective on their concerns. Good work
  • Given that I do not participate in the Migrant English program for the time being, I don’t believe my input is of any real relevance
  • Thank you
  • Only suggested a meeting as this could allow for more general discussion and would enable the new tutors to meet with more experienced tutors. This might not be possible if meeting at a cafe and quite a lot attended.