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Diversify Your EFL Career: Explore Different Contexts and Roles

   

As an English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teacher, you have a wealth of opportunities to expand your career and explore different contexts and roles. While traditional teaching positions in language schools or universities are common, there are many alternative paths for EFL teachers to take, which can offer new challenges, skills, and experiences.

Here are some innovative and creative roles that EFL teachers can explore:

 

Teaching for Specific Purposes

Find job opportunities teaching business English or exam preparation courses.

 

Material and Course Design

Take your teaching role up to next level by creating and designing English teaching content or courses. 

 

Using English in other roles

Use your knowledge of English to take on roles outside of education like tourism and translation. 

 

Corporate Trainer: Many companies have a need for employees who can communicate effectively in English, especially for multinational companies. EFL teachers can offer their expertise to train employees in business English, cross-cultural communication, and presentation skills. You can prepare for this kind of role with our Teaching Business English 60-hour TEFL Course

Online Teacher: With the rise of online education, EFL teachers can work remotely and reach a wider audience. Platforms like VIPKid, iTutorGroup, and Cambly are popular choices for EFL teachers who want to work online. Find out more about how to be your own boss with our Teaching English Online as a Freelancer 30-Hour TEFL/TESOL Course. Keep developing your skills with courses like 10-Hour TEFL / TESOL Micro-credentials for Games and Activities for the Online Classroom for Very Young Learners, Young Learners, Teenagers or Adults. You could even gain knowledge depending on the group size like with the 10-Hour TEFL / TESOL Micro-credential, Teaching English Online to Groups.

Teacher-Trainer: Experienced and knowledgable EFL teachers who are passionate about professional development can consider becoming teacher trainers. They can deliver workshops, courses, and seminars to help other teachers improve their teaching skills and knowledge of English language teaching methodology.

 

There are many alternative paths for EFL teachers to take, which can offer new challenges, skills, and experiences.  

Content Creator: EFL teachers can leverage their knowledge and skills to create content, such as course materials, videos, podcasts, or blogs, to help students learn English. These materials can be sold online or used in their own teaching practice. Learn everything you need to know about how to create your own English course for Specific Purposes with our Designing Custom Courses 40-Hour TEFL/TESOL Course or Materials Development for the EFL Classroom 20-Hour TEFL / TESOL Micro-credential. 

Language Assessment Specialist: EFL teachers can work in the field of language assessment, developing or evaluating language exams or tests, such as TOEFL or IELTS.

You can learn all of the pedagogical strategies required to teach an exam preparation course with these Micro-credentials. 

  • Teaching TOEFL Test Prep 20-Hour TEFL / TESOL Micro-credential 
  • Teaching PTE Test Prep 20-Hour TEFL / TESOL Micro-credential
  • Teaching IELTS Exam Prep 20-Hour TEFL / TESOL Micro-credential 

Language Immersion Program Coordinator: EFL teachers can help organize and run language immersion programs, where students live and study in a foreign country. They can use their teaching skills and knowledge of the local culture to create a dynamic and engaging language learning experience. 

Tour Guide: EFL teachers with a passion for travel and culture can consider becoming tour guides. They can use their language skills and knowledge of different countries to lead groups of tourists and provide a unique perspective on the local culture.

Translators or interpreters: English language teachers can also learn more about becoming a translator or an interpreter. In translation, you could aspire to a written translation job or an online or face-to-face consecutive or simultaneous translator. 

In conclusion, there are many alternative and exciting paths that EFL teachers can take to diversify their careers. These roles offer the chance to utilize your teaching skills in new and innovative ways and to gain new experiences, perspectives, and challenges. If you want to know more about how ELT Think Tank can support you on your path, just contact us

 

Interested in becoming an English teacher? 

Find out more about our 140-hour blended TESOL/TEFL Certification course. 

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Tatiana

Gómez Ramírez
Banner Post English teachers

Top tips for teachers to maintain their English level

As a teacher, it’s crucial to communicate effectively with students and provide them with the necessary support and guidance. In this blog post, let’s discuss practical tips for improving your English skills as an English teacher and taking your teaching to the next level.

 


 

1. Make a plan to learn: The first step to improving your English is to make a plan. Decide how much time you want to dedicate to learning and what resources you will use. This could be a combination of websites, books, or courses like Enhance. The key is to find what works best for you and stick to your plan.

2. Be accountable: Find ways to make sure you stick to your plan by making the plan with a co-worker or teacher friend or joining a community of practice. You can always join the ELT Thinkers WhatsApp group to share teaching ideas and ask questions to fellow teachers. Find out more about teacher collaboration in this post

3. Use content that works best for your level: Choose websites with content that work best for your level. Find content such as movies, TV shows, music, podcasts, books, newspapers, blogs, or magazines. Start with materials at your level and gradually increase the difficulty as you improve. Find some great ideas in this post

 

"Improving your English skills takes time and effort, but it is well worth it for you and your students."

4. Go to Language Exchanges or find a language exchange partner: Language exchanges are a great way to practice speaking with native English speakers. You can find a language exchange partner online or attend local language exchange events.

5. Play word games or puzzles in English: This is a fun way to improve your vocabulary and grammar skills. Try playing crosswords, word jumbles, or other word games in English.

6. Take an online English course: Taking an online English course is an excellent way to improve your language skills and become a better teacher. Enhance is the perfect way to learn, enhance or maintain your English so you can confidently teach.  

Bonus Tip

Keep a journal in English to practice writing: Keeping a journal in English is a great way to practice your writing skills. Try to write about your teaching experiences and reflect on what you’ve learned. This will help you to improve your writing and reflect on your teaching to become a better teacher.

In conclusion, improving your English skills takes time and effort, but it is well worth it for you and your students. These tips will make you a more effective teacher and provide your students with the best possible support and guidance. Additionally, you’ll be able to aspire to different job opportunities.

Do you want more tips and details on improving your English as an English teacher? Sign up for our webinar! 

Happy Teaching!

 

You stayed until the end!

You stayed until the end, so we have a surprise for you! You get a 10% discount on Enhance, English course for teacher to take your English and teaching to the next level. Valid only until Feb 15, 2023.

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Tatiana

Gómez Ramírez
1

An overview of teacher collaboration

Abstract

One of the most important roles in education is that of the teacher; that role that has not been easily removed from the field as it migrates into the self-pace / self-teaching world of technology. Hence, teachers are called to share experiences to improve their practices as these practices may vary in contexts and may account for greater growth for other peers. This endeavor is not to be taken lightly and without proper care since it requires some guidance to be deemed successful. This paper explores the importance of such information-sharing in aims of improving teachers’ practices and provides some guidelines to apply for teacher collaborative development to work properly.

Uno de los roles más importantes en la educación, es aquel del docente; ese rol que no ha podido ser removido fácilmente mientras el campo educativo migra a la auto enseñanza y el mundo de la tecnología. Así pues, los docentes están llamados a compartir sus experiencias en pro de la mejora de sus prácticas, las cuales varían de acuerdo con el contexto donde se aplican. Este trabajo no puede ser tomado a la ligera y sin el cuidado y guía que requiere para ser exitoso. Este artículo explora la importancia de compartir experiencias docentes; adicionalmente, provee algunas guías para compartir estas experiencias de manera exitosa.

Key words: Professional development, teacher collaboration, teacher skills.

 


 

Relevance of teacher professional development

Language learning, more than a process, is a full enterprise. There are many parties that foregather for the purpose of achieving a constant refinement of the learning process. One of the parties or stakeholders involved in the procedure, and one of the most meaningful for the whole operation, is the one of teachers. According to Hattie (2003 in Mora-Ruano et al. 2019) “teacher quality alone accounts for 30% of the variance in student performance.” (P.1) and thus, in the learning process outcome itself.

Accordingly, professional development has become an important topic of discussion in education and the continuous hunt for such development among teachers channeled the efforts towards strategies like teacher collaboration which, according to Mora-Ruano et al. (2019), is “acknowledged […] as a core element for the professional development of the school and its members” to the point where “many official policies and education reforms around the world plead for more collaborative practices among teachers.” (p.2)

The endeavor of improving teachers’ skills has led the community on to reflective strategies such as self-efficacy (Bandura 1982) or action research itself (Lewin, 1952) which, according to Grushka et al. (2005), “increased respect for teaching craft knowledge” (p.1); although, in many cases, the goodwill of these actions become fruitless when they turn into “token observations focused on minor technical aspects of their teaching.” (Ibid). Hence the importance of focusing on achieving effective professional development strategies for teachers instead of new ways of exerting control over their actions.

Shaping collaboration

Dellicarpini (2014) defines collaboration as “activities where teachers work together in some way to achieve some end result with the goal of enhanced student Outcomes.” and describes it as a spectrum of possibilities that move between the “formal Collaboration” orchestrated by the administration and based on a fixed structure and the “informal Collaboration” defined as “teachers sharing information about students that they teach, the materials that they use, or strategies that have worked for them.” (p. 131)

The definition of collaboration has changed and teacher development has moved from the outdated view where they were “bombard[ed] with externally imposed methods and techniques through crash teacher training courses (Ostovar-Namaghi & Sheikhahmadi, 2016, P. 199) to a new method where teachers “now collaborate and learn from each other’s experience” (Ibid). However, for this strategy to work, it is necessary to consider several requirements pointed out by Friend and Cook (1992, in Dellicarpini 2014):

    1. It must be voluntary in nature.
    2. It includes parity or equal standing among the participants.
    3. It requires that participants share a goal.
    4. It requires that participants share responsibility for decisions and outcomes.
    5. It includes shared accountability.
    6. It requires participants to willingly share resources that include not only materials but time, expertise, commitment, support of colleagues, and other resources.
    7. It is emergent: As participants engage in successful collaborative contexts, their skills and positive beliefs are enhanced, therefore making their collaborative experiences more successful.

(Dellicarpini, 2014, p. 131)

According to Hargreaves (1998 in Forte & Flores, 2014) “collaboration may take different forms such as team teaching, collaborative planning, peer coaching, mentoring, professional dialogue and collaborative action research.” (p.92) Once the basic requirements are fulfilled, the next step would be to choose a strategy that meets the needs and goals of the collaboration according to the context. A good start could be the six types of co-teaching defined by Cook and Friend (1995 in Graziano & Navarrete, 2012, p.110) “one teaches, one observe”, “one teaches, one assists”, “station teaching”, “Parallel Teaching”, “alternative teaching” and “ team teaching”.

The aforementioned types of co-teaching allow for a greater diversity of collaboration practices; according to the level of experience, confidence, expectation, and enthusiasm of the participant teachers; however, still depending on the goodwill, persuasiveness, and commitment of the administrators in charge of the institutions who should create the right atmosphere for encouraging teachers to take a leap of faith and decide to become part of a professional development community.

Conclusion

Having reviewed the importance of teachers for education and for the learning process, it is fundamental to acknowledge the relevance of professional development not only for teachers as individuals but for a whole institution. It is not uncommon to find teacher training institutions encouraging teachers (especially those who are still under training) to carry out action research. Undoubtedly, this is one of the best ways for teachers to develop professionally;  collaboration and coteaching should be a great starting point for those who do not feel ready to jump into action research but desire to start the path of professional growth. Once again, it is advisable for administrators to ponder on the optimal conditions suggested in this paper, so they can successfully provide their teams with an environment that invites teachers to collaborate. 

Bibliography
Bandura, A. (1982). Self-efficacy mechanism in human agency. American Psychologist, 37(2), 122–147. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.37.2.122
DelliCarpini, M. (2014). Modeling collaboration for ESL teacher candidates. The New Educator, 10(2), 129-144.
Forte, A. M., & Flores, M. A. (2014). Teacher collaboration and professional development in the workplace: A study of Portuguese teachers. European Journal of Teacher Education, 37(1), 91-105.
Graziano, K. J., & Navarrete, L. A. (2012). Co-teaching in a teacher education classroom: Collaboration, compromise, and creativity. Issues in Teacher Education, 21(1), 109-126.
Grushka, K., McLeod, J. H., & Reynolds, R. (2005). Reflecting upon reflection: Theory and practice in one Australian university teacher education program. Reflective Practice, 6(2), 239-246.
Lewin, K. (1951). Field Theory in Social Science, a publication of the Research Center for Group Dynamics, University of Michigan.
Mora-Ruano, J. G., Heine, J. H., & Gebhardt, M. (2019). Does teacher collaboration improve student achievement? analysis of the German PISA 2012 sample. In Frontiers in Education (Vol. 4, p. 85). Frontiers.
Ostovar-Nameghi, S. A., & Sheikhahmadi, M. (2016). From Teacher Isolation to Teacher Collaboration: Theoretical Perspectives and Empirical Findings. English Language Teaching, 9(5), 197-205.
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