[Sean Smith on EFL] Developing as an English teacher

Following is part two of a two part miniseries on professional development in the ELT industry. - Ed.



In part one of this series on professionalism and professional development we discussed the state of professionalism in Korea and looked at education and conferences as aspects of professional development. In part two we are looking at several other opportunities that language instructors have for professional development.

One of the more obvious choices for personal professional development is to read books and journals. For teachers with little or no background in teaching theory, I strongly recommend what I call, due to the picture on the cover, The Apple Book.

Teaching English as a Second or Foreign language edited by Marianne Celce-Murcia has 36 articles by well-respected authors on all facets of language teaching and looks at issues specific to children as well as adults. Teachers with a solid foundation in theory and practice will obviously choose books that are more specialized and related to specific areas of interest - for me this includes learner autonomy and CALL.

Journals are a little more difficult to find than books, but well worth the effort. If you are teaching at a university you should be able to access journals online via your library database.

For those not teaching at universities then you`ll have to make do with online journals such as iteslj.org or tesl-ej.org. Journals and books may be more academically oriented than some teachers like; in that case consider reading blogs by ELT teachers.

I find blogging, both reading and writing, to be very helpful in professional development. Reading blogs is an excellent method of staying in touch with current developments and practices in ELT teaching. Through reading ELT and general education oriented blogs I have found many useful websites to use in class or direct my students to. Additionally, reading about teachers in other countries and contexts dealing with the same issues helps teachers to find solutions that they may not have thought about before.

Another way to improve your teaching ability is to have opportunities to give - and receive - feedback with other teachers and participate in professional discussions. This is quite different than message boards as the reader is not able to initiate a new thread. The benefit here is that topics are more focused and with a good blog the reader is assured of quality material.

Self-reflection is also a powerful tool to improving teaching and classroom management. Taking some quiet time to consider how a class went will help a teacher to understand why activities succeed or fail.

This reflection is particularly useful when a previously successful activity bombs: Has the activity become dated? Were the students the wrong age or level? Did classroom atmosphere or your mood affect presentation? What about classroom conditions - too small, hot, or cold? Was it a full moon? Who knows. But thinking about it can help the teacher fix or change things in the future or even decide that the activity bombed inexplicably - and change nothing.

Self-reflection can be done in quiet time, a diary, or a blog. Creating a checklist before reflection will help focus and encourage a balance between positive and negative criticisms. My university asks teachers to demonstrate what goes on in their classes. Teachers are provided with a choice: lesson plans, five activities created by the teacher, teacher observations, or a reflective journal. I have done the lesson plans, a reflective journal and the teacher observations.

Observing and being observed is an interesting experience for both the novice and experienced instructor. Observing a teacher gives the observer an opportunity to objectively watch another class that is nominally similar to their own (students and educational context.) However, for the person being observed it can be potentially nerve wracking, especially if there are high stakes attached to the results of the observation.

If the person being observed is able to trust the observer and accept positive as well as negative criticisms regarding their instructional methods, then they will definitely come away enriched. I have been on both sides of this and found both to be rewarding. I came away with new teaching activities and techniques from watching and I received insight into what my peers think about my teaching.

This naturally follows into discussion with colleagues as professional development. After an observation it`s important to talk - this discussion can help both teachers organize their thoughts and experiences in the classroom. The same goes with self-reflection. If after thinking about a situation in your classroom, you are unsure of how to proceed in order to resolve or fix it, talking with colleagues is a good way to get a different perspective.

Talking with a colleague or friend at a different school is an excellent way to share ideas and work through material that you have learned from attending conferences, reading books, journals and blogs. Discussing the latest technique or activity you tried out in class can diversify your repertoire of material and increase your classroom satisfaction as well as that of your students.

To delve deeper into professional development, action research is also a very useful way to learn about specific aspects of one`s own teaching, but is the most difficult to undertake without experience, and may be easier with an experienced researcher to help guide the process. The research could be as simple as looking at one activity in a class or a larger study across many class periods or even different classes.

Undertaking action research will no doubt encompass almost all of the above options and provide the teacher-researcher with the opportunity to present at conferences as well as get published in academic journals.

There are clearly many different approaches teachers can take towards professional development. Choose the ways that are best for you and grow as an educator. The benefits are there for the taking.





To contact Sean or comment on this column, visit his website eflgeek.com - Ed.