ILMPCSL: Pedagogy for China Secondary Education (long)

Module code: ILMPCSL

Module provider: Global Academy

Credits: 0

Level: 7

When you’ll be taught: Triple Presentation: S1, S2, & S12

Module convenor: Dr Carrie Zhang, email: c.x.zhang@reading.ac.uk

Pre-requisite module(s):

Co-requisite module(s):

Pre-requisite or Co-requisite module(s):

Module(s) excluded:

Placement information: NA

Academic year: 2026/7

Available to visiting students: No

Talis reading list: No

Last updated: 4 September 2026

Overview

Module aims and purpose

This module represents a 3-month programme delivered annually for a selected group of English Language teachers who work in basic education at schools in Guizhou Province (China) and who are sponsored by the Guizhou Education Association for International Exchange.

The course does not form part of an awarding programme; it is CPD for practising teachers. 

The course aims to empower participant teachers by improving their knowledge and skill in pedagogy and their own English Language proficiency through active, interactive, experiential and reflective learning. Additionally, the course will develop participants’ intercultural competence through cultural experiences such as talks, visits and events. The combination of these activities will enhance participants’ confidence in planning and delivering effective teaching.

Module learning outcomes

By the end of the module, it is expected that students will be able to:

1. Improve understanding of educational cognitive learning theories and language acquisition theories.
2. Expand knowledge of pedagogies, teaching methods and approaches in English teaching at school level. 
3. Build confidence in teaching skills and classroom techniques.
4. Improve English Language skills to help enable professional practice in intercultural contexts. 
5. Devise personal reflective practice techniques, in order to develop a reflective approach in professional development and autonomy in teaching.

Module content

1. Global Outlook Development, through school placement, cultural visits and events, intercultural workshops, and discussion sessions following cultural experiences.

2. English Language Enhancement, through input sessions on English Language knowledge, and English Language skill workshops, plus a self-directed language project.

English Language knowledge:

• English/Chinese comparison
• Spelling principles
• Pronunciation
• Functions
• Discourse

Skills workshops:

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3. Pedagogy Development, incorporating school visits and reflective practice.

Theories:

• Cognitive and Social Constructivism
• Revised Bloom’s taxonomy
• Second language Acquisition 

Methods:

• CLT
• TBLT
• Project-based learning
• Teaching Ë¿¹ÏÊÓƵ / Writing / Listening / Speaking / Vocabulary / Grammar 

Learners:

• Motivation
• Classroom dynamics

Assessment:

• Success criteria
• Monitoring and feedback
• Preparing for exams

Skills:

• The Thinking Abilities Framework
• Developing critical thinking
• Meta-intelligence and self-efficacy
• AI literacy & the use of AI in teaching 

Reflective practice:

• School Placement plus reflective follow-up
• Micro-teaching
• Lesson plan presentations
• Reflective writing
• Action plans

Structure

Teaching and learning methods

The module takes place intensively over 13 weeks, all in-person.

Teaching sessions as lectures and seminars take place each morning, Afternoon sessions vary between, tutorials, half-day visits and free study time. Specific formative task-based assignments are given regularly, to encourage reflection and discussion.

There are around 15 contact hours per week.

One week consists of school visits, and some weeks include a day or half-day excursion.

Study hours

At least 160 hours of scheduled teaching and learning activities will be delivered in person, with the remaining hours for scheduled and self-scheduled teaching and learning activities delivered either in person or online. You will receive further details about how these hours will be delivered before the start of the module.

Please note the independent study hours above are notional numbers of hours; each student will approach studying in different ways. We would advise you to reflect on your learning and the number of hours you are allocating to these tasks.

Semester 1 The hours in this column may include hours during the Christmas holiday period.

Semester 2 The hours in this column may include hours during the Easter holiday period.

Summer The hours in this column will take place during the summer holidays and may be at the start and/or end of the module.

Assessment

Requirements for a pass

There is no summative assessment as the course does not lead to an award.

Summative assessment

Penalties for late submission of summative assessment

The Support Centres will apply the following penalties for work submitted late:

Assessments with numerical marks

• where the piece of work is submitted after the original deadline (or a DAS-agreed extension as a reasonable adjustment indicated in your Individual Learning Plan): 10% of the total marks available for that piece of work will be deducted from the mark for each calendar day (or part thereof) following the deadline up to a total of three calendar days;
• where the piece of work is submitted up to three calendar days after the original deadline (or a DAS-agreed extension as a reasonable adjustment indicated in you Individual Learning Plan), the mark awarded due to the imposition of the penalty shall not fall below the threshold pass mark, namely 40% in the case of modules at Levels 4-6 (i.e. undergraduate modules for Parts 1-3) and 50% in the case of Level 7 modules offered as part of an Integrated Masters or taught postgraduate degree programme;
• where the piece of work is awarded a mark below the threshold pass mark prior to any penalty being imposed, and is submitted up to three calendar days after the original deadline (or a DAS-agreed extension as a reasonable adjustment indicated in your Individual Learning Plan), no penalty shall be imposed;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three calendar days after the original deadline (or a DAS-agreed extension as a reasonable adjustment indicated in your Individual Learning Plan): a mark of zero will be recorded.

Assessments marked Pass/Fail

• where the piece of work is submitted within three calendar days of the deadline (or a DAS-agreed extension as a reasonable adjustment indicated in your Individual Learning Plan): no penalty will be applied;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three calendar days after the original deadline (or a DAS-agreed extension as a reasonable adjustment indicated in your Individual Learning Plan): a grade of Fail will be awarded.

Where a piece of work is submitted late after a deadline which has been revised owing to an extension granted through the Assessment Adjustments policy and process (self-certified or otherwise), it will be subject to the maximum penalty (i.e., considered to be more than three calendar days late). This will also apply when such an extension is used in conjunction with a DAS-agreed extension as a reasonable adjustment.

The University policy statement on penalties for late submission can be found at: /cqsd/-/media/project/functions/cqsd/documents/qap/penaltiesforlatesubmission.pdf

You are strongly advised to ensure that coursework is submitted by the relevant deadline. You should note that it is advisable to submit work in an unfinished state rather than to fail to submit any work.

Formative assessment

Formative assessment is any task or activity which creates feedback (or feedforward) for you about your learning, but which does not contribute towards your overall module mark.

The module provides practice of working on formative tasks collaboratively, on a daily basis. The default format of classes is workshop style.

Tasks presented as semi-formalised formative assessments are:

• Submission of lesson plans
• Submission of action plans with follow-up interview
• Self-directly language project, including presentation.

Reassessment

Additional costs