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It shows how such a programme allows teachers to learn from one another through classroom observations and peer mentoring, where observers practise teacher-educator skills by taking on the role of 'mentor' in post-observation conferences. A third colleague attends the post-observation conference with the aim of helping both the mentor and observed teacher reflect on and learn from their interaction during the conference, and to explore the implications these discoveries may have for effective teaching and mentoring.

This article explores how teachers can engage with ideas (research findings, theory, and professional knowledge) through participation in a reading discussion group. Focusing on one group formed by English language teachers at a Japanese university, the study employs survey data, attendance statistics, and observational notes regarding the group's meetings over one school term to investigate the relative merits of six discussion formats, varied according to the type of text discussed (conference presentation slide handout, opinion piece, plenary address video, book chapter, book review, and transcribed interview) and, in one case, the participant make-up (an author was invited to discuss his own work). The paper also identifies group management practices that are most effective for facilitating participation.

A theme park at the Tokyo Disney Resort may seem like a dubious choice for a university English class trip, but a bit of structure can make virtually any outing into an educationally worthwhile experience that promotes class bonding and provides contexts for learning new language and increasing fluency. This article will show how, drawing from the author’s experience organizing two kinds of park trips, one based on student-recorded (and later transcribed) conversations and the other on English-only scavenger hunts. Students’ perspectives on the trips and activities will be provided in the form of survey data and quotations from journals.