13.30-14.00 - Registration 14.00-15.30 - Can Students Learn on Their Own? The holy grail for many teachers is that students should take charge of (and be responsible) for their own learning. It’s the mantra we proclaim on all occasions. But is it achievable and if so, is it achievable for all? Some people – like Sugata Mitra for example, or the push for online adaptive learning – suggest that all teachers need to do is set the right tasks. Others think that students need constant help, direction and teaching. Whole education systems rely on tests to keep the whole show on the road. In this talk we’ll look at what learner autonomy really means in a world where the future seems to offer great possibilities, but the students – the students! – may make it difficult. 15.30-16.00 - Coffee Break 16.00-17.30 - Work in Progress: Motivation and the Teenage Brain Neuroscience tells us that adolescent brains keep on developing right up until the end of the teenage years and humans learn (to some extent) how to use the pre-frontal cortex to control some of the less controlled activity in the limbic system, for example. Teenage brains are, in other words, a work in progress and “an excellent opportunity for education and social development” according to British neuroscientist Sarah-Jane Blakemore. This session will look at the implications of this and suggest some activities that are appropriate for this stage of development. JEREMY HARMER TWO NEW CPD WORKSHOPS THURSDAY 25 FEBRUARY 2016, MALTA