Who we were and why we were there, What we did (and What else we did) and Life beyond the summer school … read on and find out more. In addition you will find discussion of our approach in How we did it

• Participant diary
• Participant list and comments
• Summer school gallery
• Summer school programme
• Summer school report
• Evaluation summary

Who we were and why we were there

We came from 11 different countries - Poland, Britain, Hungary, Serbia, Bosnia, Macedonia, Romania, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Croatia and finally Brazil - both teachers and trainers and often the two together. Our reasons for coming were very diverse but the aim was to create a community of participants and tutors regardless of our particular backgrounds, and to produce the items you will find throughout this edition. See also Participant list and comments

There were two strands:

·         The teacher strand produced the individual items on the theme of food that you will find here

·         The trainer strand in addition worked on background guidelines on the methods used to produce these items for use on future summer schools and elsewhere. See How to … an introduction

Some participant comments on their reasons for attending the summer school

The product of our aims you can find on these pages but the participants had other goals as well - in our Evaluation summary you can see to what extent they were achieved

Ø       I'm sure I will gain much more experience, I will meet interesting people and I will learn many new things useful for me as a teacher of English

Ø       Learn how to write web page materials, exchange ideas, see and hear how other people cope with teaching routine day in and day out, make friends

Ø       I have never carried out ‘fieldwork’ abroad, that’s why I expect this activity to be of a special interest and value for me, as well to enable me to get a better understanding of Polish culture in particular

Ø       Managerial skills to be able to reproduce a similar course when returning to Brazil with a team of local tutors

Ø       I’d like to get some new ideas, for sure other people have some experience to be shared. I hope to meet other English teachers - they are special people, who live not only for themselves

Ø       More knowledge how to produce webpages … to improve my knowledge as well creating my own materials for a webpage

Ø       To know more about the theme of food and internet resources - to have lessons plans for sharing it with my colleagues to be used for in-service teacher training courses or any other materials for such courses

What we did …

Our objectives were to develop awareness and skills in intercultural approaches and ICT, to learn about the theme of food and to discover Kraków, and in those contexts produce the Food issue of the British Studies Web Pages. We organised the programme into four stages to achieve our goals - see also Summer school programme and Participant diary.

Orientation phase - 2 days

Reporting back on Kraków orientation

The object of the orientation was for everyone to ‘find their feet’ with regard to each other, the summer school, the British Studies Web Pages, the theme of food, the resources of the web, intercultural approaches and finally with the city of Krakow itself. This was an intense period necessary to prepare everyone for what was to come.

Preparation phase - 4 days

A session on intercultural approaches

This phase was intended to prepare participants in everything necessary to prepare a successful item: many perspectives on the theme of food, on intercultural and ICT approaches and on possible approaches to items and leading up to a choice of subject for an individual item. Participants were thinking all the time about ideas, approaches and who they would like to work with, as well as being stimulated by the trips to Tesco, Wieliczka and their own exploration of Kraków.

During this time our sessions included work on the internet tools of Webquest and e-pals, and how to construct online quizzes via ‘hot potatoes’. We looked at the relation of food to literature, to realia, to the media and so on. Intercultural methodology and fieldwork techniques were introduced as well and we discussed the future of our learners, the world and the role of English in it as a background context.

The preparation phase ended with a session where each of the groups outlined their webpage item plans to the others and were allocated item tutors to work with.

Our homemade ‘spidergram’ showing how the items related together

Production phase - 4 days

Working on a webpage item

This was the time allocated for participants to prepare their items and a particular characteristic of this phase is that there was no timetable. Each participant group worked with its item tutor planning its own programme of work together. Much time was spent exploring the internet, interviewing, discussing, doing fieldwork, designing activities and presenting them all in a form suitable for the web. A great deal of work was done by the computing tutors advising participants and demonstrating techniques. The results of their combined work are what you see in this edition.

Evaluation phase - 2 days

The final two days were used for finishing off work, reviewing each other’s items and inviting some local schoolchildren in to have a look at the materials we had prepared to see if the level was appropriate. On the final morning we completed a formal evaluation - the results of which can be seen in the Evaluation summary.

What else we did

Our summer school objectives were not only to prepare webpage items but also to provide a wide range of experiences locally. See also Summer school gallery + Participant diary

There were organised visits -

The group outside Tesco and Inside St Kinga’s chapel in Wieliczka

• to Tesco to see how a big hypermarket works behind the scenes and try to find out why
• to the Wieliczka Salt Mine - salt is fundamental to our diet and this UNESCO heritage site was on our doorstep (see Salt - Wieliczka and elsewhere)

There were sessions with guest speakers

Mike Solly + Peter Leese + Peter Whiley

·         An ELTeCS presentation with Mike Solly and Tamas Kiss to discuss its work and encourage participants to make bids for funding

·         Using authentic life stories: the art of making an interview - a session from Beata Piątek & Peter Leese from the Jagiellonian University in Kraków (see Featured archive article for other papers by these authors)

·         Peter Whiley presented his book: Culture Vulture (contact MacMillan Polska)

There were a variety of local events - see Summer school gallery

The Lajkonik festival + Jewish cemetery

• Guided tours of Wawel Castle and Kazimierz - the Jewish Quarter
• The Lajkonik Festivities on the Market Square
• An optional trip to Oświęcim (Auschwitz)
• A variety of events connected with the annual Jewish Festival

• Gimpel a play based on Isaac Bashevis Singer’s short story
• A concert of Jewish songs in a synagogue
• A workshop on Jewish cooking (see - Kosher food)
• Events connected with the International Street Festival, a Jazz festival and many more

And finally there were social events at the venue itself - see Summer school gallery

Hungarian contribution to the international evening + The barbecue

• Some quizzes
• An international evening prepared by participants on the theme of food with prepared samples of national dishes
• A barbecue with a band of musicians – JRM Band - playing mostly Celtic, Scottish and Irish music organized by the British Council in Kraków

Life beyond the summer school …

Our summer school did not finish on the final day. Through the summer checking, copyediting, proofreading, reviewing and coding for the web went on in order to produce the edition you are now reading. This involved continuing dialogue with the participants.

In addition we have set up a Nicenet site where participants can maintain contact and report back on their use of materials and some of these may later appear on our items. If you too have any valuable experience from reading or using our items - please contact us at ewelina.wroblewska@britishcouncil.pl

How we did it - our approach

These were some of the background principles on which we constructed our summer school. It was set up and managed by the BC Culture in ELT project and thus reflected its approach, but also took into account Hornby traditions and what the tutors and participants had to offer.

Organisational

Ø       Two strands but a single summer school - this was very important as we wanted everyone whether trainer or teacher to work together

Ø       Product-led but process-centred - meaning that although our aim was to produce the edition you are reading, the real learning for everyone was in how we did it. Therefore participants should leave with awareness and skills that they can put into practise in their home situations

Ø       Community of participants and tutors - we were all there to learn from one another and all equally valued

Ø       ‘Organic’ and participant-centred - in the sense that the summer school should evolve and change according to the logic of its own development, and involve participants as well as tutors. The item themes were selected by participants

Ø       Tutor development - this must be present. If tutors are not developing skills and learning from each other and from participants it is not a successful summer school

‘Dimensional’

Ø       International dimension - not only through the participants and but also through Kraków itself as it is a multicultural as well as an international city. Many items reflect this aim

Ø       Local dimension - the location is always seen as a participant of the summer school and Kraków was a very popular and active participant

Ø       Internet dimension - through the work of the computing tutors, the internet skills developed, the searching by participants and of course by having the whole world available at our finger tips

Methodological - general

Ø       ‘Learning by doing’ - both for tutors and participants. This was an important methodological underpinning to the whole school

Ø       Holistic - making all available resources - the venue, the location, the tutors, the participants etc - work for our overall aims

Ø       Material writing awareness and skills - on the summer school this means in a web context

Ø       ICT awareness and skills - as these are increasingly necessary and we must be able to guide our learners in their successful use

Methodological - culture and language

Ø       Intercultural approaches - we focused on contemporary thinking in the field of culture in ELT, both to introduce it to participants and then for it to inform the items produced. They should therefore help teachers prepare for future syllabus demands

Ø       Multiplicity - recognising that there are perhaps as many approaches to culture in ELT as there are cultures, and inclusiveness - valuing each of them for what they have to offer and therefore the position of each participant and tutor

Ø       Investigative/ ethnographic/ fieldwork approaches - fundamental to making use of ourselves, our location, the internet and to practising techniques for future use with our students. The trainer strand was largely directed at building the awareness and skills necessary for this

Ø       Communicative approaches - our work is firmly placed in this context recognising the close links between them and intercultural approaches. In a world where English as an international language (EIL) is the future the ability to exchange cultures successfully is central

Finally …

Ø       A summer school is much more than a course - we tried to offer a very wide range of opportunities for learning, a tutor-participant community, an extensive social programme and a publishable final product

In the last pre- summer school letter to participants we wrote …

“We are offering you

·         a community of teachers, trainers and tutors working together for professional development - each of us with equal value

·         increased awareness of developments in culture in FLT

·         increased skills in preparing activities and materials with cultural outcomes and the skills for preparing them for the web

·         a greater intercultural understanding of the theme of Food

·         activities and materials for your own classes and something of your own to appear online

·         an opportunity to achieve some personal goals

·         a satisfying experience professionally and socially

·         opportunities for further post-summer school cooperation

·         for non-Polish participants - an introduction to life in Poland, and for Polish participants an opportunity to meet fellow professionals from other countries”

In our Evaluation summary you can see to what extent we achieved these aims.