LifeWithSunny

Teaching / YouTube / My Life

[lifewsunny]

Language Learners: Personality through Communication

More of a thought. When speaking to one of my students about why he wanted to learn English, he explained to me how, through communicating more clearly, he would feel comfortable with his use of English, and with himself using it as a person. He explained how, it was frustrating only being able to communicate to a very standardised level, and that he felt a lot of what he said was merely empty information.

Something that really struck me was when he explained how, without being able to communicate clearly, his personality wasn’t shown to others and that they, they didn't really know him as a person. I’d never really considered how through our use of language, we do convey our personality, through humour and intonation and pace. His statement really made me think about all of my students that I've taught and how, just because I wasn’t able to communicate with them efficiently, I thought of them in one way, when in fact, they might be a completely different person to what I thought.

It makes you think about how important language and communication can really be. So perhaps with the idea of a ‘student’s personality’ in mind, the idea of communication is a good motivator to help our students progress in their communication to really see who they are as people.

[lifewsunny]

Which route do I take? PGCE or QTS?

With PGCE being the qualification (Post Graduate Certificate in Education) and QTS being the license (Qualified Teacher Status), it doesn't matter which route you take within the UK, as the QTS is a direct recognition of the work you've done. The use of the PGCE is viewed more so for if you work overseas, as the QTS is done within a British setting, the PGCE helps in showing your greater understanding of education on a general level, as to apply it to different contexts. A PGCE comes with more studying within a University environment. You will learn about your subject in a more in-depth approach, as well as education and topics surrounding it. 

A QTS route offers more practical time within the school setting and offers you a more hands-on approach to learning about how to be a teacher. 

It is always recommended to someone planning to teach overseas to have a PGCE (which comes with a QTS anyways) rather than just going through a QTS approach. If you're in the UK, it really doesn't matter. The PGCE will show to overseas employers that you are recognised as a teacher in the UK, as well as having extensive and further knowledge about education, in order to apply it to their context of teaching and you may have the ability to work within different situations from that of what you were specifically taught in. A QTS however, may raise some questions as to whether you would be best suited towards a different environment, and perhaps with experience, would be seen as more suited. 

[lifewsunny]

Doing a PGCE: What is an NQT and QTS??

Firstly, let’s deal with all the acronyms...

PGCE: Postgraduate Certificate in Education

NQT: Newly Qualified Teacher

QTS: Qualified Teacher Status

Ok, so now that’s done, let’s get into what each one means exactly.

PGCE: This is the qualification received after completing your teaching degree. Due to the course only available to those with an initial ‘undergraduate’ degree, this degree then provides a ‘postgraduate’ qualification. However, due to the amount and nature of the studies and work that is carried out, it falls somewhere in-between an undergraduate and postgraduate qualification, which brings us onto the next point.

You will receive a CERTIFICATE in postgraduate studies. What this means is that you actually qualify with having completed 1 third of a Masters degree. This works out as Masters degrees USUALLY hold 180 credits, 60 of which you have completed due to the amount of study and work you completed. This means that you now have the option to complete a Master’s degree and will only be required to complete 2 thirds of that, to then have a Master’s degree AS WELL.

So, hopefully you’re still with me so far. PGCE. Certificate that counts as a bit of Master’s degree but not quite. Yes? Ok, the next thing now.

NQT: This simply should be seen as if you took your driving test and passed. You CAN drive, but you are new to it and therefore, should still take care and others will do the same around you. You still need those ‘P’ plates on your car to let everyone know, “Oh, they can drive but they're new to it all, so we’ll make sure to give you plenty of room and support”. That’s what an NQT is basically, like a probation year. Every teacher will complete this year, most likely in the UK but some may wish to do it abroad, which is where it gets a little tricky.

Completing your NQT year is completely necessary and you will be required to do it for your QTS (will go into that in a second). You can complete it abroad, however, there is a select list of which countries and schools you can do it in though. You can find that list here --> https://www.cobis.org.uk/schools/for-teachers/nqts

You will need to find a registered school abroad that is recognised by the British government and holds a British curriculum to have your NQT year signed off. This way, after your first year (NQT) of teaching, you will then be recognised as a veteran teacher without any obstacles.

So, on to the next thing!

QTS: This is awarded to you once you complete your PGCE and it means you are now LEGALLY a teacher with a teaching licence. Fantastic! There is one catch though. Remember above in the NQT section? Well, your QTS is taken back if your NQT is NOT completed and that means, you’ll have to do the PGCE all.over.again... No thanks...

So, the point of this is, yes, you will be awarded with a QTS and be a legal teacher, but as you’ll still technically be in your ‘probation year’, you are required to complete the NQT year which will then lead to your QTS being recognised fully and FOR LIFE! Once you have completed your NQT year, BOOM! all done! You will have your QTS forever and nothing more will be required of you! 

You’ll be a certified, qualified and experienced teacher who will be able to teacher pretty much anywhere! Your PGCE qualification is internationally recognised and will get you into nearly any teaching job, in the UK or abroad. Your QTS will allow you to teach within government and international schools as an actual teacher there, (ESL teachers, say goodbye to painstaking English language classes!), and your NQT year will be signed off and you’ll be recognised as an actual, capable teacher now!

So that is pretty much the gist of it all! Hope this helps : )

[lifewsunny]

23/06/2019 - Manchester, UK

So, I’m now going to be doing a PGCE in Secondary English come September.

It’s been an extremely annoying, frustrating and trying time over the last month or so. Assignments, resubmissions, dissertations, PGCE related interviews and preparation courses have taken/taking their toll.

I’ve decided to do a PGCE specifically for 2 reasons. 

1) QTS

2) English subject knowledge

Going forward in my career as a language teacher, I feel that I should know about ‘English’ as a subject in its’ entirety, in order to be able to teach it effectively. Just from an ESL/ELF perspective isn’t enough and through the PGCE, I’ll definitely increase my plausibility as an English Teacher.

I’ve found out that I can do my NQT year abroad, so, fingers crossed, by August 2020, I should be out of the UK for the foreseeable future and finally out of, what my tutor has referred to it as, Purgatory. 

[lifewsunny]

Experience vs Qualifications

In the field of TESOL, a usual problem I’ve come across is the perception towards Experience and Qualifications and how these two aspects are usually seen by teachers and institutions. 

Institutions 

It feels like it’s a commodity mostly for institutions to recognise qualifications more so than experience and this can, and mostly does, cause serious problems in the work environment and in the precedent that is being set for future teachers. 

“Do you have a degree? Do you have a CELTA/TEFL? Ok, you can teach!” This is generally the process institutions go through and leads to a mass of newly qualified teachers, flooding into jobs with only a handful of ‘experienced teachers’ who are able to set some kind of standard. It is a catch 22 situation of, “if these teachers aren't given the position, how can they ever become experienced? And if they are given the job, will the qualificaitons be more or less important than the experience they gain?” 

Experience

Many ‘discussions’ with teachers about the field of TESOL often end with, “I’ve been teaching for 10,15, 20+ years. I know more about it than you do. I’m right and you’re wrong.” This attitude is something that seems more apparent in South East Asia, in referring to the context of Asia mostly. This view, in my opinion constitutes for very little except knowledge into the EFL market, as opposed to the pedagogy of actual language teaching.

The teachers in these 10, 15, 20+ year teaching situations have often limited themselves to Government school or kindergarten jobs. Easy scheduling and good pay. There seems to be little ambition and growth as a teacher and instead, the ‘experience’ in itself is quite limited in terms of teaching practice.

The teachers in the field of TESOL seem to work with the ethic of, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”, and this is something that language teachers have been practicing for years and years. The real shift in teaching practice has only been from the Task-Based Approach, which has seen a shifting change due to technology. Otherwise, the teaching practice has mostly been left to a Present Practice & Produce method. So, is experience really a key factor in ‘knowing’ more than someone with more qualifications?

The purpose of this post isn’t to determine an answer or to sway you into choosing a side. The reality of the situation is that teachers are currently depending on ‘either’ of the aspects and this is creating teachers with outdated teaching practices, or overly qualified teachers with minimal, practical experiences to fully comprehend their qualifications and how they should be used. By making teachers more aware to the balance of teaching and being qualified in teaching, we can make teachers more aware to what is actually required in the classroom, for a teaching and learning perspective, instead of, “What does the market in TESOL need us to do?”

[lifewsunny]

01/06/19 - Manchester, UK

My assignments are all completed and now I moved onto the dissertation part of my Master’s Degree. Very much ready to get this over and done with now. Hoping the my PGCE placement doesn’t fall through and I can get straight onto that because I don't really have a plan B...

All this final work is consuming my time and everyday is the same robotic process. Hopefully it’ll be done soon and I can add some variation into my life!

[lifewsunny]

Doing a ‘Masters in TESOL’

Over the past year I’ve been studying a Master’s Degree in TESOL at the University of Manchester in the UK. 

My reasoning behind it was to further my career in the field of TESOL, as I’d ideally like to open up my own language school in the not too distant future. This meant leaving my job and life in Vietnam and returning to the UK for a year to study.

Following my previous post on Teacher Development vs Teacher Training, I did explain the reasoning behind why teachers may seek this route and how it affects them prior and following. (Something to read for further and background knowledge). I think something to understand about doing a MA in TESOL is the realistic element to actually ‘living’ it, as opposed to just ‘studying’ it. A lot of what I was unprepared for and did not expect, was the culture shock inside the classroom. 

Culture

Something to remember is that within the UK, a large amount of the big cities and universities actually have a large population of international students, with the majority being from Asia. On my MA course, out of around 40 students, 90% of the students resided from China. This is very important to remember as it can directly affect the working and studying environment in which you’re in. Some issues I personally faced from studying in this environment was:

- Lack of collaboration, communication & English skills

- Inability to critically think towards concepts and ideas

- Difficulty to share opinions or personal experiences

These were just some of the issues and that is because of the large culture difference. This directly affects the way you study, as most of the course relies on group work and collaboration of ideas between peers. Every student on the course has teaching experience and has been within a teaching environment. Hearing, learning and sharing about it supports a large part of studying on the course and I personally noticed, as did a handful of other students, that this was not available due to the mixture of students and the clash of cultural learning differences.

Reflection

The course (for the UoM) was split into 2 semesters, the first focusing heavily on reflection on our teaching practices and the 2nd semester focusing on moving forward from the masters, and what we could use to a practical level in the future. The reflective element to the first semester was strange, as being pulled out of teaching experiences, that we were capable of, to then question our practices felt almost like taking a step back or re-doing out teacher training.

For some, the large input of methodology, concepts of pedagogy and academic readings into what we had already been doing for 3+ plus years, felt quite frustrating and difficult to grasp. By looking backwards firstly, instead of forwards, it did feel like a struggle but ultimately, provided us with the background understanding in which our teaching practices were built upon. Now understanding the foundations to both TESOL teaching practices and our own, it was clearer to see how we might change and adapt our practices to benefit from the newly learnt concepts, ideas and pedagogy that we had learnt. 

An interesting thing for myself personally was learning about the different paradigms of TESOL, which even though I had been exposed to and involved within, it was still very much a new concept that I enjoyed learning about and was grateful that I had learnt about it, so I could move forward with my teaching practices in the future.

Practicality

During the course, it is important to note that the level of practically is zero. The course is strictly from an academic and theoretical perspective and there is actually no practice of ‘teaching’ involved with the year of studying. This was quite shocking for me, with having just left teaching in the classroom for the last 3 years to now being in the reverse role of the student instead. Some students enjoyed this aspect but others felt the shake of not practically reflecting what they had learnt.

Personally for myself, I work much better when explaining what I have learnt, as to enforce the understanding. I would have ideally done this through learning and then using that information in a practical teaching setting. Luckily, I had managed to find a part time teaching job during the year and this actually helped in gaining more understanding with what I was learning in class.

The second semester adds more of a practical element, in the sense that the assignments provide options which are focused towards development. Within two of my assignments, I was given the opportunity to create a course design for teacher training and for teacher development. I enjoy these assignments especially as they involved some form of practically to my learning. I knew that I would use the concept of design in development and training programmes and so for myself, this was extremely useful. I could see myself doing those exact activities in the future and this felt more use of my time, than the first semester had felt.

Overall

If you’re looking into doing a Master’s degree in TESOL, or to further yourself as a language teacher, my advice is know what you want first. My post on Teacher Development vs Teacher Training is especially helpful in understanding the first steps towards doing more education, as it explains the differences between ‘Development’ & ‘Training’. This is quite important to know and could essentially save you a year of time wasting. Another time saver would be reading my post on Qualified Teacher Status, believe me, I wish I had known about it sooner.

It all massively depends on what you want to do in the future and you need to have a very clear picture of what that is before you decide on doing further education. Initially, I wanted to go to Korea and work with a University setting, to move away from language schools and the issues that come with them. This reason led me to my Masters degree but actually, I wish I would have done a PGCE instead.

A PGCE offers Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) which is a recognised teaching licence and allows you to work in a government issued school, both in your own country and internationally. This firstly means, you can work in international schools ANYWHERE and secondly, if you don't want to do language teaching anymore, your skill set is more specified to do other things in teaching. Another reason is that a PGCE offers a third of the credits required to pass a Master’s degree. If I had done a PGCE first, then a Masters after, I would have had a third of it done already, with a QTS already in hand and would have had a year to focus purely on the academic side. Instead, I feel like I got into my Master’s degree with the focus of further job prospects but instead, I’m realising that I still need more qualifications. My master’s degree DEFINITELY provided me with fantastic TESOL based knowledge that I didn’t expect and didn’t enter into the course specifically for, but that is the reason for why you need to be very, very clear as to why you want to study further.

I am happy that I’ve done this MA. I know so much more about the field of TESOL now than I ever did and it’s so enlightening to me. I know that a lot of what I have learnt is going to directly help me in the future, as it is now with writing these posts. I do wish I was aware to the QTS licence and the route I would have needed to go on to gain it, but it’s all a learning curve.

So, if you’re interested in doing a Master’s in TESOL, just think carefully, why do you really want to do it? Read the other posts linked to this piece and look at the other things I speak out on my blog. Good luck!

[lifewsunny]

Insights into Teacher Training and Development

Following the 'Insights into Language Teachers' questionnaire, I wanted to delve further into Teacher Training and Development and hear from those in the community about their experiences.

I decided to follow up my previous questionnaire with a more in-depth look into Teacher Training and Development. I’d like to hear from the language teaching community about their opinions and experience on the matter.

[lifewsunny]

EFL & ESL: What’s the Difference?

English as a Foreign Language (EFL) & English as a Second Language (ESL) are 2 of THE most common abbreviations/phrases used or better yet, ‘thrown around’ within the language teaching community. 

I recently created a questionnaire in asking language teachers what the answer to this question was and the responses were worrying..

Out of 26 respondents, 73.1% had experience of 5+ years where 11.5% were still in their first year of teaching. This meant that collectively, the question of Explain the difference between ESL and EFL had 88.5% of the respondents having 3+ years of teaching experience and the worrying part is, only around 6 or 7 answers out of 26 were somewhat correct or had a vague idea. 7 answers out of 26. For teachers with 3+ years of experience, it’s quite worrying how the difference of ESL and EFL isn’t known and if you’re asking yourself, “But why is it worrying? Is it even a big deal?” I thought the exact same thing a year ago and realised that it actually is a big deal.

Without getting too technical and dealing into academic papers and references, I'll explain it clearly and simply in the hopes that it’ll be more relatable. 

EFL is taught in countries where English is not the first language. The learning of EFL would mean that exposure to English is mostly within the classroom. That means contact time is roughly about 4 - 6 hours a week and its strictly within an academic setting. The importance of understanding EFL is the ‘context’ and ‘relatability’ of learning.

When teaching EFL, the likelihood is that students are using a mix of British and American materials, which means that their learning environment has turned into a British and American learning environment, yet, when they leave the classroom and are expected to carry on learning, their environment isn’t British or American. So, how could we expect the relatability of their language learning to translate to outside of the classroom? Within their school work, by speaking to other foreigners, when applying for jobs within or outside of the country that requires use of English.

What EFL means is that we’re teaching our students English as a foreign ‘concept’ and unfortunately, it isn’t relatable enough for them which is why the progress is usually very slow. Notice how those students from International schools usually are far ahead of the curve. They enter into the classroom and they’re completely fluent, with perhaps an accent, vast knowledge of vocabulary, a large understanding and are super confident in their speaking, and mostly with you. Those international schools have actually created an ESL environment which follows onto the next part.

ESL is when English is taught within an English speaking ‘context’. This means that causal actions, such as going to the shop, asking for directions, boarding public transportation, is done in English. So the environment is reinforcing the classroom environment. This is why it is usually considered that, EFL is strictly within a foreign country and ESL is only from a native English speaking country. It mostly is but not always, as with international schools or students living in an area with a high expat ratio. (District 2 in Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh comes to mind)

So with ESL providing a fully immersive environment in English, students find their learning more relatable as their environment is changing, it’s a continuous sense of relatability for them as opposed to students who are within an EFL context. This means that within a classroom, depending on the students you could have both EFL and ESL situations as each student would have a different sense of relatability, depending not their outside environment. 

I could talk further about other paradigms of TESOL but for language teachers, this information is enough to try and create a relatable environment for your students to help them further their studies more accurately. 

[lifewsunny]

04/05/19 - Manchester, UK

So I created a questionnaire out of curiosity that was related with insights in TESOL and the the response has been so amazing and exciting. It sounds really weird that I’m getting excited over a questionnaire, but I purely did it for my own curiosity and I had some hunches going into it, which have been confirmed AND they backup my teacher development plan that I’ve been making. 

It’s all very relevant to my teaching development but it’s just awesome to see that I started with an idea, I had my own reasons and understanding for it, then I did a questionnaire to confirm my reasonings and the data is actually in support of it! This means that my teacher development plan, when fully finished and polished off, could actually be a viable plan of redeveloping the way we look at teacher training and development AND affect the hiring process of novice teachers, which is an actual shambles right now.

Basically, what I’m saying is that I MIGHT BE ABLE TO CHANGE THINGS AND THAT IS QUITE EXCITING. 

If you are a language teacher and want to do the questionnaire, here it is https://forms.gle/PwTLRiUDkuU8SAaK9 I’ll definitely be writing some form of follow up from it. I’ve currently got 26 responses but I’d love at least 50!

[lifewsunny]

Insight into Language Teaching

This questionnaire aims to gain an in-depth look into language teachers, language teaching and the field of TESOL and it's current condition

Decided to do some research for my own personal interest, I may use it towards my Masters, undecided on that. 

I’ve create a questionnaire that should last around 5 - 10 minutes that asks questions about language teachers and teaching. If you’re a language teacher, I’d really appreciate it if you could fill this out for me.

Thanks!

[lifewsunny]

01/05/2019 - Manchester, UK

So, after spending forever looking at jobs in Taiwan and finding some really good opportunities, I’ve decided I'm going to say in the UK for another 1 or 2 years.

Taiwan is requesting a QTS (Qualified Teacher Status) licence and that can only be obtained by doing a PGCE (or other similar courses). This means I kinda spent a year doing the wrong degree...

So I’m enrolling onto a PGCE course, (I’ve just applied so we’ll see what they say) and then I think after the PGCE, I’ll do another Masters degree. Mainly because a Masters degree is worth 180 credits and a PGCE actually gives you 60 credits towards a Masters. 60 credits from the PGCE, 60 credits from the dissertation, that means I only have 60 credits left which will probably be 2 or 3 classes for the entire year. So seems like its worth doing another Masters if a 3rd of it is already done tbh...

But yeah, finishing my assignments and dissertation, going to do a PGCE, then probably another Masters as I do my NQT year (Newly Qualified Teacher). A lot to think about, but at least it’s all within the field of teaching so I’m not deviating from what I want to end up doing in the future. 

That’s all for now!

[lifewsunny]

The Language School Trope

Following a prior post “First Time TESOL Teaching Jobs”, I wanted to expand upon the The Language School and what new teachers often don’t realise goes on in these institutions.

Firstly, languages are a business and what this means is, their goal is first and foremost, to make money. 

Secondly, yes, you may have just completed your TEFL or CELTA qualification but that in no way means ‘you are qualified’. Your journey into learning how to teach has just started. (Check my post on What is Development and Training & Development)

Language centres (LC) are probably the most common job for a newly qualified language teacher. They offer an environment to learn a lot about teaching, they pay a decent salary and you’ll be working with a lot of people who are in the same position as you. It seems great and wonderful when you first get there, but a lot of what isn’t advertised or spoken about much is how unprofessional language centres can be and how they can become quite a numbing environment to work in, especially if you’re planning a career within the field of TESOL.

After working for a LC for a while, you’ll begin to realise that you’re actual disposable or very interchangeable as a ‘teacher’. LC are desperate to fill classes with students and for that, they need to have someone in the classroom to teach. 10 years ago, LC would have required the utmost from their employees in terms of qualifications, experience and standards. A lot of the teachers that would have been in a LC 10 years ago have likely stayed in the field of TESOL, within a/that LC or have progressed further in the field of education. In today’s LCs, the environment is littered with unpredictable teachers, most of whom or travelling. The quality of LCs has massively dropped and the requirements to teach there are next to nothing.

Due to the requirements dropping, the quality of language teachers has also dropped and what this means is that new teachers are being herded into LCs to simply be someone to manage the class so that money is still flowing into the school. There is barely any development for teachers and the workshops that do exist are presented in a way that it feels like ‘extra work’ for teachers. I myself am guilty of having some opportunities but turning my back to them due to the way they were presented to me and advertised. 

LCs often don’t offer their teachers much until after completion of the first year. This is when room for negotiation takes place but even then, you’ve been almost left alone for the first year and would likely have developed your own view on teaching, picked up numerous bad habits and skipped over essential learning points for your teaching practice.

LCs use teachers as marketing almost, there is a huge gap in diversity, with numerous blatant racial occurrences. Materials and resources are limited. You aren’t valued as you can be easily replaced. The western management is usually powerless to the native management who likely to run the company, so in terms of change, little can be done. Local staff are pressured to perform to an unrealistic standard, which can create tension within the class, with your teaching assistant and even between you and your TA. 

As a new teacher, none of these issues will be mostly apparent as the ‘standard’ of teaching isn’t recognised yet, but looking back from where I was to where I am, it is blindingly clear that working in a LC is an extremely negative environment to be in for both students progressing in their studies and for teachers who are given the title of ‘teacher’. 

LCs need to raise the bar on their standards and need to have some form of moral compass. TESOL is becoming a field that seems to be polluting countries with foreigners who claim to be teachers, which lowers the standards from the countries they’re from, the level of education that they’re bringing with them and the standards from TESOL institutions. LCs need to take some responsibility and need to adopt a much more academic focused model rather than a business model, which is the current case.

Yes, unfortunately this post is much more of a rant that I would have liked but overall, if you’re looking to ‘teach’ without much thought to anything else, a LC will be fine. If you’re looking to join this field and make it into a career, perhaps look for government led programmes such as EPIK (Korea) or JET (Japan) that take on and manage new teachers as they’re placed in public schools and are expected to perform to a certain standard and grow and learn as they teach.

[lifewsunny]

Teacher Development vs Teacher Training

My prior post discussed teacher development and what it is, using Head, K & Taylor, P (1997): Readings in Teacher Development (Chapter 1: Defining Teacher Development). 

This post uses the information about TD and moves forward to explain the differences between TD and TT (Teacher Training). Within the field of TESOL, neither of these 2 concepts are incorporated much into our teaching practice and this leads to misconceptions and negative attitudes towards TD and TT. Sometimes, they are difficult to even differentiate due to the lack of knowledge and exposure teachers have with them. 

Within the discussion of Teacher Development and Training, the bi-polar scale helps to show the differences between the two concepts and how we can understand them easier. However, it is argued that rather than separation of the two, they should be closer linked to allow for a more cohesive growth for teachers.

Adrian Underhill believed that TT depended more so on pedagogic skills and knowledge of the topic. The idea of understanding methodology, techniques and more technical ideas was something that should stem from training. He understood that ‘the kind of person I am affects my teaching, but I don’t really see what I can do about this other than by gaining experience’. TD more so looked at the personal self of a teacher within the classroom and how they operated. ‘I believe that education is change and that I will not be able to educate unless I am also able to change, otherwise my work will come to have a static quality about it that is not good for me or for my students.’

Underhill recognised the differences between the technical and the practical, but still saw the cohesive element that they shared in helping towards the overall growth of a teacher and their practices. Tessa Woodward reinforces this idea and explains how with the bi-polar scales, it creates a sense that one side is more dominant or better than the other side. This causes a shift in the focus with teachers and educators towards one or the other, having not quite understood the differences and benefits of both, but rather that the concepts offer only one choice.

Rob Bolitho takes this idea of ‘one or the other’ and talks about how they can compliment each other rather than stand a part. His personal perspective reflects how a teacher’s personality into their practice can be just as important as skills based teaching practice, although this is not to say one is better than the other. He explains how the unfortunate reality is often that development is traded in for training, and this can usually be seen when teachers decide to study a Masters course or take additional in-service training to ‘grow’ as teachers.

The developmental aspect can be seen as having ‘room to grow’. With growth, we take what we know and try to address it from a different angle. He explains how some teachers may do this through yoga or drama classes, building upon what they already have and expanding it to use it differently. Training introduces us to new concepts and ideas and what we know can either be replaced or left untouched. 

With training, there seems to be the notion that, “Now I have finished, I am qualified”, and this idea is what can stagger development from teachers. By understanding that training acts as the technical instrument in our teacher practice and development allows us to grow those skills, our teaching practice flourishes and we become better rounded as teachers.

*Bolitho’s article raises some interesting questions such as:

. What aspects of your present job did your initial training not prepare you for?

. What did you do/have you done about this?

. What else would have been helpful in your initial training?

. What kind of in-service training would be most helpful to you now?

. What can you do to help bring this about?

Development promotes the idea of ‘change’ and by taking time to understand what we can change about ourselves/our teaching practice, only then will we begin to develop. The cohesion between TD and TT is that we can’t replace one with the other but rather use TD to build upon our TT.

What a lot of TESOL teachers don’t receive is TD and that is mostly down to the ‘learning on the job’ notion imposed by their institutions. By looking at the above questions * we are able to find a starting point into a journey of development and this will allow us to grow as teachers and to understand what is needed to develop.

Part 1: Teacher Development: What Is It?

References

Head, K & Taylor, P (1997): Readings in Teacher Development (Chapter 1: Defining Teacher Development)

Tessa Woodward - How are training and development different?

Adrian Underhill - The differences between training and development

Rod Bolitho - How can training and development compliment each other?

[lifewsunny]

Teacher Development: What Is It?

As a TESOL teacher, it is unfortunately rare to see much training or development happen within this field and if it does happen, it’s something that YOU actively have to find and chase up. Any kind of training or development is quite sparse in the field of TESOL and as a language teacher, it is seen that these ideas are only really considered for someone who has a certain level and interest in the field of TESOL, rather than someone who is new to the profession.

This is unfortunate as it means a HUGE percentage of language teachers are being alienated and isolated from growing professionally, as language teaching isn’t quite considered a ‘profession’ but more as a ‘job’. This stigmatises both those teachers who aren’t aware and those that are, towards growth in their teaching. It divides teachers into two groups almost. One being seen as ‘Professional Language Teachers’, who appear to take the job ‘seriously’ and would spend extra time learning, researching, attending conferences and being seen as ‘experts’ and another group being seen simply as ‘EFL Teachers’. Those are the teachers that are travelling perhaps, under qualified, uninterested, only concerned with money, teaching to get by or to have a gap year. 

With training and development difficult to attain, it changes the whole dynamic of the ‘profession’ of language teaching and causes it be unbalanced and segregated in the different options and aspects it provides for its teachers.

Chapter 1 (Defining Teacher Development) of Head, K & Taylor, P (1997): Readings in Teacher Development mentions a lot about training and development. The characteristics of the two, the differences, the uses and the importance of them is discussed through their understanding and with the understanding from other researchers and educators. 

The emergence into teacher development first began with Adrian Underhill and was further explored by Rod Bolitho. The initial understanding of a need for TD as a mainstream concept was through the creation of the Teacher Development Special Interest Group by Underhill and what this did was bring the already existing concept to the surface. Through creating a mainstream outlet for teachers, it was realised that TD was already happening due to the huge expansion of the language teaching industry, the low pay and poor conditions of service many were experiencing within their institutions, the abundance of expected qualifications for language teaching jobs and with higher academic courses lacking a practical element. With these initial reasons leading to the emergence of TD, Richard Rossner defined that the characteristics of teacher development (TD) are majorly dealing with the needs and wants of individual teachers, the introduction to new ideas and challenges, skills and language development and that the process should be done from the teachers perspectives as opposed to being done from a management perspective.

From a relatable aspect, language teachers are rarely given developmental opportunities within their institutions and those teachers that have are often easy to identify. However, the segregation between the teachers is all but too noticeable as from stigmas that have formed. The ‘expert’ teachers are highlighted as almost alien to the rest of the teachers. A level that a ‘regular’ teacher could only dream of achieving. This situation is actually that of a teacher who has experienced TD rather than training and has had the chance to grow within their field.

Martha Pennington’s views on TD and how Teacher Development is an important concept in teacher education because it looks at individualised professional growth throughout the career as opposed to something that ‘has to be done’ to get the job or as a part of your contract. By exploring TD, it allows the ability to exercise judgement and make choices appropriate to the situation, helps with confidence to reach out towards new goals and objectives, helps with feedback skills and with a tolerance towards a variety of perspectives on teaching. Ultimately, TD gives teachers a voice. It allows us to critically think and question things in our profession and in our given teaching situations. Thinking back to past language teaching positions, I can see how due to the rigidness and lack of TD within my job, I was given non of this. Instead, the school dictated everything down to the last detail and this caused for robotic teaching and a lack of desire to actively and consciously think about what we were doing in the class and with our students. The lack of TD in that situation meant that I wasn’t thinking as a teacher, for myself, for my growth and instead, chose not to question the teaching practice bestowed upon me.

Teaching Development means we take what we know and grow upon it. By having room to grow, we are using existing concepts and ideas we have learnt, and handling them from another or new perspective. This is what development ultimately does for a teacher. It is quite likely however, that with the ‘on the job’ mentality most institutions have, chances for development are limited to ‘observations’. Here, we are judged and pointed towards ways we can do things differently. The difference from the information above to the description of an observation appears to be very different and one could almost argue that this is not a clear sense of development.

The above information paints a picture into what teacher development is and to some small degree, why we need it. As language teachers, we are expected to perform to a standard that we are neither trained for or helped to develop into, rather, we are given the option for ‘on the job experience’ and left to panic during observations, when giving our rationale for why we did something in our teaching practice or when discussing language points with other teachers. 

We aren’t given the tools, yet we’re still expected to produce something when our managers or school expect to see them. We’re put on a very short leash and language teachers are suffering. The standard seems to be dropping dramatically as schools would rather fill up the classes and present a ‘teacher's face’ rather than find someone qualified or even help their teachers to develop.

I will follow this up with a Part 2 and look further into Teacher Development through ‘Teacher Development vs Teacher Training’.

References

Head, K & Taylor, P (1997): Readings in Teacher Development (Chapter 1: Defining Teacher Development)

Rod Bilitho - The emergence of teacher development

Richard Rossner - What are the key characteristics of teacher development?

Martha Pennington - Why is development an important concept in teacher education?

[lifewsunny]

First Time TESOL Teaching Jobs

As an ESL/EFL teacher, you’re going to likely start your ‘career’ in 2 or 3 types of teaching environments.

- Kindergarten

- Langauge Center

- Kindergarten

What tends to happen in the Public Schools is that you ‘perform’ to a class of 20 - 50 students for around 45 minutes, before moving onto the next class. You’ll do this from around 4 - 8 times a day and your practice of teaching will be that you are deemed the ‘fun teacher’. You’ll take over from their regular teacher for an hour of English Language Teaching. You’re expected to be FUN and ACTIVE, with lots of games and to create an exciting and humour filled environment. 

Within Kindergartens, you’re expected to do a similar role but you’ll be locked in all day. You’re be treated as a trophy of some sorts, especially with the parents and with the marketing department. You’ll be given your class and expected to do a lot of active, fun and engaging dramatic play with the students as they learn English vocabulary, pronunciation and basic grammar. If you’re lucky, some kindergartens will definitely provide more of a professional environment and you’ll really feel part of the school. With others however, you’ll simply wander in and out of your classes until the day is done and that will be your life.

The most common first time TESOL teaching job however is The Language Center. In this place, you’re working an evening and weekend schedule. You’ll start from around 5 and could finish at 9 or even 10pm. You’ll have 2 weekdays off (likely a Monday and a Friday) and you’ll work with students from around 3 years old up till 17 years old. The language centres hire an abundance of teachers from all over and with a vast range in experience and qualifications. What you’ll realise quickly are the teachers who have been there for a while and aren't really going anywhere, the teachers that want to work their way up in the field and the teachers that are there for a good time and have no idea what they’re doing in life. 

With working in a language centre, your first year will be extremely difficult and nerving, from a professional element. You’ll speak too vast and rub the Teaching Assistants the wrong way as you try to figure out what you’re doing exactly. Something to remember, the teaching assistants are usually 20 year old students who get paid next to nothing but probably have about 30x the amount of responsibilities and pressure that you have. Be kind to them.

It is assumed that there will be a lot of help, training and opportunities to grow, but unfortunately, this is not the case. Realistically, in the first year of teaching, you’re left to yourself to figure out what the hell is actually going on. You’ll be observed and given some feedback. This will be loose and not that kept up on,  as the manager will probably be a wreck from the pressures put on them from the native side of the company rather than the foreigners.

A BIG THING to remember is that the school needs students! More students = More money and language schools are all about the money. You’re not there as a ‘teacher’, you’re there as a marketing ploy to attract more students. You wouldn't go into a university lecture with a lecturer who had done a 1 month, minimal training course would you? Language centres take hundreds and hundreds of ‘teachers’, throw them into classes and expect them to keep the students happy so that the company can make more money. With the minimal stress of the job, a 25 hour working work, (likely) cheap food and living and a good salary and a lot of attention from the locals, first time teachers rarely try to push themselves as teachers and coast through their time ‘teaching’.

I’ll be following up this piece with another called ‘The Language School Trope’

[lifewsunny]

Qualified Teacher Status

Qualified Teacher Status is a licence issued by your country’s government, that enables you to teach within a pubic educational environment. 

Why is this important? As English becomes more of an integral part into the education of students, especially those in non-English speaking countries, schools in those countries are looking for teachers from English speaking countries and ideally, expect them to have more than just a CELTA or TEFL or experience teaching in EFL/ESL environments. 

Taiwan is one example of this. To work within a public school or in most private schools, a QTS licence is expected and this is likely due the nature of the curriculum that would be taught to the students. A QTS means that you have likely spent a minimum of a year within your countries education system and actually taught in classes with native speaking students. This means your TESOL experience is somewhat put to one side, and your teaching experience is the main thing that those overseas schools want to see. 

Being able to show your capabilities as a teacher, in a government issued educational system reflects on your abilities to be able to interact with the curriculum, your skills as a team player, working with parents, grading, course design, pedagogic and methodological knowledge and an actual interest in the field of education.

If you’re looking at gaining a QTS, it means that you’ve probably spent around 3-5 years teaching within TESOL environments and have realised that you want to be a teacher, but you want to move forward and make a career out of it. A QTS can be gained by a number of ways. The most common is in the UK, a PGCE holds a QTS qualification. A lot of teachers may choose to go down this route which is fine. Your country’s government website will have the information, as the licence is directly from the government. The QTS is not a qualification, but you need to do a course to qualify to hold the licence. It’s almost like having a drivers license, so long as you train up and pass the course, you’ll be given it to then legally do what you’ve been training to do.