Moving outwards and sideways

Teachers step outside the world of the classroom to focus on more things than just
knowledge and skills.

It makes professional understanding more profound and working reality more rewarding.

D1: Learning by learning

● To reflect upon our teaching practice we need to become learners ourselves again.

● By voluntarily submitting ourselves to a new learning experience, our view of our

students’ experience can be changed.

● They discover things about themselves and about language learning in general.
1. How frightening it can be to speak in class.
2. Many ‘communicative’ activities are mundane and uninvolving.
3. How difficult it is to talk in a foreign language in class when you have
nothing to say.
4. How much you want to understand every single word in the reading texts.

● We find out how important our teacher’s approval is to us, how susceptible we are
to teacher criticism.

● We realize how important it is for the teacher to set us clear goals and guide us in
other ways.

● Teachers who learnt a language as a L2 or FL will have highly relevant memories

of the experience of learning that language.

● Teachers who teach their first language will not have the same history and for
them going back into the language classroom as students will be challenging.

● Learning a foreign language offers personal and professional development at the

same time for the same price.

● Learning almost anything will be of benefit for our understanding of the process of
learning and help us to see what the world looks like from our students’ point of view.
D2 Supplementing teaching
● To counter the potential sameness of a teacher’s life.

● Increase our range of occupations and interests so that teaching becomes the
fixed center in a more varied and interesting professional life.

● Writing materials: one-off activities, longer units or whole books.

It can provide us with powerful insights, so that both the writing and the
teaching become significantly more involving and enjoyable.

Publishers are always looking for people with new ideas, people prepared to
trial new materials or write reports.

Teachers need to get in touch with publishing houses (visiting their

representatives at the book exhibitions or find the addresses on the Internet)
and say that they are eager to pilot material or write reports.

Some teachers produce teaching ideas because they are not satisfied with
what is on offer.

You need to try not to get ignored by publishers.

-First: find out the name of the individual in the publishing house who deals
with the area you work in.

-Second: write a short letter to that person, explain who you are and what
you are working on (one-or-two page synopsis).

Publishers of magazines and journals: interested in potential contributors

(articles, teaching ideas, or review books).
-Read the notes for contributors carefully to match the editor’s requirements.

● More than just materials (or article) writing:

Cambridge ESOL, Trinity Exams, TOEFL and TOEIC are always on the
lookout for markers, examiners and item writers.
-Find out the name of the relevant subject officer and express your interest
(who you are and where you work)

Set up your own website to provide material (subscription or free of charge).

Record material to make it available as MP3 files.

● Help to organize entertainments for their students (run drama groups, sport teams
or conversation get-togethers).

● A change of teaching sector: a developmental move both as a way of researching

teaching and as a way of making life more challenging and interesting.
 ● Becoming involved in training teachers has huge developmental benefits.

● Any move to a different kind of teaching will force us to look at our teaching afresh
and revitalize our professional lives.

● Become involved in the running and organizing of teachers’ associations: most

associations allow any member to stand for election.
-Get the satisfaction of knowing that they are doing something important for their
fellow teachers.

D3 More training?
● To develop as a teacher you should undertake more training.

● Those with initial teaching certificate may want to think of going further in the
future:
Enhance their basic course: e.g. special supplement on the teaching of young
learners or business English.

Study for a more advanced qualification such as the Cambridge ESOL

DELTA.

● Many organizations offer their own specialized courses for different teaching
sectors and if teachers have exhausted these they can study at Master’s or Doctoral
level.

● What we choose to study depends on our own interests and goals.

● We should make sure that the institution we choose to study with has the
appropriate accreditation and a satisfactory reputation among colleagues and the
world.