 I'm Jessica and I started teaching English in India so this was my first experience teaching and then I came to Ireland to complete my M-Phil and now that I've been teaching for about a year in Ireland I'm starting to see a lot of parallels between the classroom in India and the classroom in Ireland and how we can approach negotiation within the classroom. So first a bit of background the school that I worked in in India was an NGO for girls who were underprivileged and it was a Hindi medium school but they did receive three classes of English every week however most of the teachers were between an A1 A2 maximum B1 teaching English to the students. So after securing some funding we decided to start a teacher training and a language class. So first we had language classes for the teachers so those who were not at a B1 level we gave them the typical you know grammar, writing, reading, listening just to boost their level so they had a better understanding of English. Those who were a B1 level or higher this is our whole group language class and teacher training were placed in a teacher training program and the aim of that was to continue provide continuing professional development and also to introduce theory application and classroom techniques as most of them were not officially trained as teachers. Okay through this portion of the program we introduced reflective journals, needs analysis, communicative style learning and teaching and also addressing specific concerns that the teachers had especially because they were in such unique teaching position. So as interest grew even the cleaners at the school were asking for English classes. So this is our group of cleaners taking English class and they were our false beginners. They are exposed to English in their everyday life on the streets but they're not able to produce English or really understand and additionally they usually have limited education in their own language and often have literacy problems in their own language as well. So focusing on the teacher training classes we negotiated which means the teacher would facilitate and provide a framework instead of pre-selecting the content and we would plan to deliberately involve the teachers in deciding the syllabus in the curriculum, the topics, the activities and the assessment. With our goal of providing the teachers with a useful program and no set curriculum, a variety of learners in the tracks in the program and also a lack of resources we felt that a negotiated curriculum was the only way to proceed. Without a negotiated curriculum we felt that we would be imposing our preconceived ideas without a true understanding of their teaching context and the everyday realities that they faced. So we were shown time and time again that it was more than just a class and the teaching methods negotiation was needed. So as you can see children were often brought to the class because they had to. There was no option. This also happened with the students. They were often bringing younger siblings to the class so you could have a two-year-old with your 12-year-olds and teachers also expressed concern of situations students were facing at home or societal problems and teachers themselves may face issues at home, restrictions on the curriculum for the government, not taking into consideration the needs of the school and also again societal problems. So we aimed to address these issues and to have the learners really analyze and come up with their own solutions for addressing these issues within their classroom. As outsiders we weren't prepared to say you need to do this, you should do this, this is how you solve this issue because we had no experience with these issues. So to focus on some of the successes of the negotiation, first how we use it was through our learning journals and by asking the teachers what they find challenging in their classroom and the answers to these questions were explored and composed the content of the course. So as new questions came up our class would take a different direction and it was frequently revisited every week it seems that there was a change in our syllabus. So then we structured the classes around these questions by giving background information introducing personal reflection journals and working on tasks. What they wrote in the journals and the idea for the tasks were completely up to them. We also had weekly meetings with the teachers and the principals to talk about how everyone was feeling about the program, what the successes were, what the challenges were and which direction we would take. And then also to provide a sustainable program we started implementing the teachers in the training program were teaching the other teachers who were in the language program. So that way there was no need for anyone from the outside to actually run the program. It was self-sustainable within the school coming from the teachers themselves. However we did face quite a bit of challenges. So first was the learner educational background. A lot of them I had not really had experience with negotiation. They weren't quite sure about things that we typically think of as like critical thinking, self assessment, due to the traditional teaching method that they were teaching themselves. What we would think of as autonomy was also lacking there. And so learner's reactions range from dropping out of the program, resistance, not completing assignments, insistence for us to teach traditionally, request to focus only on grammar and complaints that they weren't learning or could not see their progress. And so after reflection we realized that we didn't make our constraints explicit to the learners. We initially allowed too much flexibility. And while we were listening to the learners to pick the topics we weren't explicitly telling them why or how we were picking the topics. So we never explained why we were negotiating or that we were even negotiating. So it was very one-sided on our part. So we didn't compensate for the lack of experience and lacked much wanted and needed structure for the students. So our learners really didn't actually feel that they owned the course. So within the context of India some suggestions would be gradual negotiation through a draft syllabus, a split track, so having a balance of grammar and teacher training. Learning contracts where each learner can identify their own personal goals negotiated with the teacher one-on-one. Continued learning logs but turning this into a dialogue. So they write down their questions, their concerns. They hand it to the teacher. The teacher actually responds. And this also makes it so that all voices are heard. And it's not just one voice overriding everyone. And it allows the teacher to be able to pick topics based on what the learners want. And then also assessment. So really focusing on trying to introduce some sort of certificates at reaching certain levels where of course all of this would still need to be negotiated with the learners. So within Ireland and India there's a lot of multilingualism and also having multiple languages in the classroom. So in India, Hindi is not the only language. Most of the time I would say about 90% of our teachers and also students, Hindi was their second or third or fourth language. And English would have been their fourth or fifth language. And neither Hindi nor English was what they spoke at home. So also immigration. There is a high level of immigration as we all see here. And also in India from other areas in India coming for work and moving because of opportunities. So that created a revolving door within the school and also within the teachers. And I think we're all familiar with that here. So everyone there is considered non-native speakers, both the Hindi and English. And so there was aspects of integration. So when you receive a new teacher, where are they from? How is their culture different? Each section of India has a different culture. How are they going to integrate into the classroom community and also the wider society? And then also access and support. It's not enough to get the teachers into teacher training or get the students into school. There was a need for support to get them to the other end. So if we just got them in and let them do what they need to do, most of them would drop out, leave the school, fall through the cracks. And then also alternative and varied needs. I think we can see that with our students. Not everyone is here in Ireland for the same reasons. And not everyone in India was there teaching for the same reasons. So we really needed to be able to address that. So focusing in the classroom in Ireland, I've taken my experiences from India and I really tried to make more of an active effort to negotiate with my students here in Ireland and a more conscious effort. So flexibility within the course. So not just following the course book, following the curriculum. Within my class, I teach events levels. We have one day dedicated to off book. And every week we talk about it as a class. What do you want to see? What are your needs? Why are you here? And we start to pick topics. So within my class, there's a lot of EAP, a lot of business. Most of the students are looking for university or to get a job in their field. And also so teacher reevaluation of learner needs on a continuous basis. With the revolving door, our class is not going to stay the same. We can have new students every week. We can have students leaving every week, which makes negotiation even more important. Because we're having new students a new dynamic all the time. So talking with the students, figuring out their needs and having that input into the curriculum is really important. And then also learning outside of the classroom. So if you are teaching verbs of the senses, taking them to a museum and having them sit and listen and record what they hear, what they see, what they might taste at a cafe. So really bringing the learning just completely outside of the classroom. Just to get them integrated and also going around in the society that they're living in. And access to lectures, conferences and talks. So especially advanced learners who are interested in industry or in academics and providing that link between academia and the industry. A lot of the students just don't know about the talks, about the conferences, about the lectures, but they are interested. I've started telling my students any time I hear about talks and you'd be surprised 20, 30 students will show up to a talk that I've told them about. That also provides another thing for you to talk about in the classroom the next day. Additional options. So providing optional presentations or providing them the chance to teach small 10 minute mini lessons on something that they are an expert in. So that's for motivated students, not everyone, not course. All right. And also then again learning contracts and learning logs. So having something written and a continued dialogue. So I see a real need in Ireland for teachers to communicate with each other and with the learners and start, you know, talking about how to negotiate and really individualize our classrooms for the students that we have.