https://www.tefl.com/blog/article.html?

teaching-english-is-it-really-a-long-term-
career&document_id=1108097

Teaching English: Is it really a

long-term career?
14th January 2020

By Lara Treacy

If you are still trying to weigh the pros and cons of becoming a teacher of
English, doubt no more. When choosing a career we are usually guided either
by what we love doing or by the financial benefits of a job. In my opinion
teaching English can be the perfect combination of both - it is a fun job (you
are guaranteed to never be bored) and there are plenty of opportunities to
make good money.

Another point in favour of choosing teaching English as a long-term career is

that there are a lot of options to transition to from teaching per se to other
areas within the TEFL industry: you can become a DOS, open your own
language school, move into materials creation and TEFL writing, or into
teacher training.

Pros:

 Fun. Nobody can deny that teaching is fun - every day you meet different
people from different cultures and backgrounds who you get to know
and learn things from. I have been asked before if I find it boring
teaching the same grammar/vocabulary year in year out and I have
always said no - language is a living thing that changes, develops and
evolves. Therefore, firstly, I am not teaching the same stuff over and
over again, and secondly, even if I am, teaching it to different people in
different contexts makes it feel different.

 Travel. What other job can give you such amazing opportunities to travel
and experience different countries and cultures? You can spend a year
in one country, then move to another one, etc. until you have found the
perfect place to settle down or you have had enough and decided to
return home.
  Variety. Teaching English can mean a lot of different things: for some it
is teaching children at kindergartens and schools, for others - working
with teenagers and adults in language schools. There’s also teaching in
an academic environment like colleges and universities, teaching in-
company, giving private lessons or teaching online… You can specialise
in teaching General English, Business English, EAP (English for
Academic Purposes), ESP (English for Specific Purposes), exam
preparation… You can stick to what you like the most or you can mix
and match what you teach, how and where you teach and who you
teach. The choices              are unlimited.

 Flexibility. If you need some time off for your family or some other
projects you can always go part-time or freelance.

 Pay. Even though teaching English is not the best-paid job in the world,
it offers a unique opportunity for you to control how much you want to
earn: your salary will depend on the country you choose to work in, on a
company/school you work for, on your level of qualifications and
experience and on the number of hours you teach.

 Job guarantee. Being a TEFL teacher means you are always guaranteed
to have a job - even when job opportunities in your town/city are scarce,
you can move to another city or country, or start freelancing with some
private students (a number of language schools have started out this
way) or teach online from the comfort of your home.

Cons (and the reasons they’re not that bad):

 Teaching is one of those jobs where you often have to take work home -
correcting student’s homework, tests, essays and preparing for lessons
can feel overwhelming, but with a little bit of careful planning you can
get on top of it. If you are working at a language school where you have
space, resources and an internet connection, you can always stay there
after classes to do your preparation and corrections for the next day so
that you don’t have to take work home. If you are teaching in-company
or working with private students or online, you can set aside some time
to do this at home. But why not take your work and your laptop to a cafe
and feel like one of those digital nomads or like a famous writer having
a cup of coffee and working away while people watching and spending
quality time with yourself.

 Burnout. Like any other job teaching can lead to burnout. Not because it
is a high pressure or stressful job, but because it is quite intense. It
involves communicating with many different people (this can be
especially challenging if you are an introvert), ensuring customer
satisfaction and lots and lots of preparation. But there is a solution -
take a break. The academic calendar will give you that opportunity
regularly enough and even if you think that you’ve had enough and you
 will never get back into teaching, never say never. You might find that
you miss teaching and how rewarding it feels after a while and a great
thing about teaching is that it is really easy to get back into it. A
teaching career gives you a great opportunity to take breaks, to try
something else and then if you have not found anything that you like
doing better, it will welcome you back and you will be an even better
teacher with all the experience of other jobs you have tried (for example
I like telling my students about my experience working for Google and I
think it gives them a motivation to improve their English and an
ambition to find their dream job.)

Transitions and career progression

From teaching English you can move into various areas within the TEFL
industry, depending on whether you want to try your hand at something new or
to move up the career ladder.

 Exam preparation. This is a very specific area and if you become an

expert in specific exam preparation you can help your students pass
exams like IELTS, TOEFL, Cambridge exams, etc. which they might
need for their academic, professional or personal purposes. This
qualification is in high demand in every language school.

 Be an examiner. You can become an examiner and work in your local

exam centre or you can work remotely correcting and marking written
parts of the exams.

 Materials development. If you like the creative part of teaching and are
always on the look out for new exciting materials and resources for
your students, you can move into the materials development area. The
growing number of online schools and institutions are looking for
qualified professionals able to develop both general and custom-made
courses for their clients. The popularity of online and blended learning
has created a demand for specialists who can develop well structured
courses using a variety of media - from PowerPoint presentations to
video lessons.

 Teacher training. Another interesting transition area is Teacher training.

If you consider yourself an expert in teaching and want to share your
expertise with fellow teachers or people who are training to become
teachers, this is your chance. You will need to do an advanced course
to get qualified and it will give you the opportunity to become a CELTA
trainer, for example, or work in your local teacher training institution.

 Becoming a DOS. If you want to move up the career ladder, the next
step is Director of Studies, where you will move from teaching to
planning and administration, organizing and ensuring the smooth
 running of the education process in your language school as well as
hiring new teachers. Having qualifications like DELTA or a Master’s
degree in TEFL will help you get the job, but there are other ways you
can become a DOS. To get a taster of what the job is like, you can start
as a DOS in a summer school. Experience is often all that is needed for
this, it will look good on your CV and will give you the necessary
experience to move into a management position.

 Starting your own business. If you have an entrepreneurial flair, why not
open your own language school. You can start small and be a Jack of all
trades - teacher, DOS and school director in one, and gradually hire
more staff and grow your business. If you have enough capital, you can
even buy an already functional school in any country (check out
businesses for sale on TEFL.com)

Conclusion

In my opinion teaching English is a long-term career, and on top of that it is a

career which you can enter any time, put on pause any time and come back to
any time. It is extremely flexible and varied, with lots of opportunities for
growth and development, for career progression or transitioning into other
areas within the industry.

I started my teaching career 19 years ago, there were times when I got tired
of teaching, I took breaks, tried other jobs, but always came back to teaching.
I have now transitioned into online teaching and am thinking of trying my hand
at materials development. You can rely on TEFL to welcome you back even if
you go astray from time to time.

Lara Treacy

Lara has over 18 years’ teaching experience and has lived and worked in
Russia, Hungary, China, Oman, Ukraine, Ireland, Portugal teaching English in
colleges, universities, language schools, in-company and online.
Online Teaching: The Digital
Nomad
27th January 2020

By Mary Catharine Breadner

Adventure, new cultures, and our students, these are my favorite parts about
being an EFL teacher. The opportunity to meet students from all cultures and
engage with them in a way that most people don’t get to is by far what keeps
me working in this exciting field. For me, becoming a foreign language teacher
was to do just that, move to a foreign country learn about the culture and
meet people. I had been a teacher in my own country, but the opportunity for
some adventure was the greatest allure.

Now, as I have started doing the majority of my teaching online, I often get
asked – so can you teach from anywhere? And the short answer is yes. I can
teach from anywhere, but there are some things that you need to consider.
Working without a home base may sound appealing but before you go jet
setting you need to think about what this would actually mean.

IS IT POSSIBLE?

Physically working from anywhere is possible, but is it really legal? And the
simple answer to that is no if you enter a country on a tourist visa you are
there to be a tourist. Many people will say that as long as you keep a low
profile, you aren’t taking a job away from a local person, then you should be
fine. However, I encourage you to do your homework, if you intend on entering
a country on a tourist visa, and plan on working you may be breaking the law.
Getting caught working illegally would greatly limit your ability to travel in the
future.

So that being disclosed, let’s assume that you have done your homework, and
you are going to legally acquire the correct visas and paperwork. The next
consideration is getting paid. International transfer fees and withdrawal fees
can be expensive and complicated. You will need to make a plan for how to
manage your money while you are abroad. And also, how much you will need
to budget for the necessities like a quiet place to teach and a consistently
strong internet signal.
Having access to a strong internet signal is by far the most important
consideration. Without it, you simply can’t work. And if you have too many
interruptions or reliability issues you will not be able to keep students. They
will simply find a teacher that is able to have a consistent signal.

Hardware and tools are another consideration, you will need to haul your
laptop, a headset, and some other classroom props, like a whiteboard. This
will all become part of your travel kit. And to be honest, over time I have gone
mostly digital. I use a digital whiteboard, I print very little, and exchange
homework files completely online. It is possible to have very little, but
depending on the level and age group of your students you will need to think
about what you really need, and what you really want.

PRACTICAL CONSIDERATIONS

Being dependable is extremely important online, missing a class or leaving a

student hanging out is not only going to hurt your reputation but will also cost
you your job in most cases. One of the biggest challenges is managing your
schedule over multiple time zones, and keeping on top of time changes in the
spring and fall. Some countries change with daylight savings while others
don’t, so you may have a perfect schedule but with the time changes all of a
sudden you will be double booked. Also, when you are moving from one time
zone to another, you need to think about lighting. If you are going to teach in
the middle of the night, you will need to invest in a better webcam as well as
lighting. A dark video call looks very unprofessional and also does not inspire
a good learning environment. You will also need to think about international
holidays and travel interruptions.

Flexibility is one of the reasons that most people want to work online, but with
flexibility comes the struggle to get enough work. Sure, you have the
opportunity to choose your own schedule but you must also work during the
hours that are in demand. And you will need to match the demand hours with
your time zone. It might seem achievable to teach at 3 am sometimes, but if
this is going to be your regular schedule you might not be getting the work-life
balance you originally wanted. You will also experience ebbs and flows as an
online teacher, for example you will see higher inscriptions for exam prep
courses as the deadline for American College applications are due. You will
see a shortage of work in December and over the summer months.

Cost of living is usually one of the key factors in being a digital nomad, you
can work for a lower than standard salary in your own country, and find a
place where that salary can be stretched further. And the answer to this
question is probably. However, make sure you think about things that you will
need, like health insurance, money for consistent internet service, and other
day-to-day expenses that we don’t always think of when on vacation.

Your classroom, working from home means that you have a dedicated area in
your house to work from. Being on the road means that you will need to think
about where you are going to work. Things like lighting, background, noise will
all impact your classroom. Some students, as well as employers, will not be
happy with lots of distractions in your background or if the lighting makes it
impossible to see your face. So before booking a place to stay, or trying to just
figure it out when you get there, you will want to try and plan for that out
before you go. Using background blurring functions is an option, but this isn’t
always very professional, so check with your employer to see if this is
acceptable. Noise is probably the biggest problem; with a high-quality headset
you will be able to control some of the noise issues but if a student can’t hear
you or you can’t hear them, you are really going to impact the quality of your
teaching.

INCORPORATING AUTHENTIC MATERIALS

Traveling can provide some of the richest authentic materials and inspiration.
Pictures are one of the best things to share and generate conversation in the
classroom. Students also want to know more about their teachers, so you can
incorporate traveling into lots of lesson ideas, for example talking about trips
in the past or future, schedules, future arrangements, and the list goes on.
Being authentic is a great way to make your lessons interesting. I also find
that geopolitical topics are often of great interest, and can really bring out
lots of authentic vocabulary building sessions. Most materials are available
online, but there is always an added touch to bringing in materials that are
from your own experience.

EMPLOYER EXPECTATIONS OR FREELANCING?

As mentioned above, you have already checked out the law, you will also want
to review your Employer policies and expectations. Employers may not
support a teacher that is traveling and can not send updated information
about their internet connection. They may also have legal requirements for
you to be working in a country where they are legally able to operate. If you
are planning to move around, you will want to be open and honest with your
employer, if you aren’t this might be grounds for termination.
You will also want to think about firewalls and other tech issues that exist in
countries with internet restrictions. So, ensure that the video conferencing
software is going to work wherever you are choosing to go. This might sound
straight forward but depending on your IT skills this could be a challenge.

Lastly, will be the communication with your employer. Does your employer
offer around the clock support. Obviously, if they are having student bookings,
there should be support for your students. However, teacher support might be
different, so consider if you have a problem how you might resolve it on your
own. And Freelancing is all of the above, plus putting in your own efforts for
marketing and support. It is your reputation that is on the line, so you will
want to make sure that you have crossed all your t’s and dotted those i’s.

FULL-TIME JOB OR A SIDE HUSTLE?

Online teaching is a full-time job for me. I often get a surprised reaction when
attending workshops or conferences with other teachers when I tell them that
I mostly work online with some in-person contracts. When I started online
teaching, I used it to supplement my income, and eventually, I have been able
to reverse it, so I use in-person to supplement my online work. Being an online
teacher, like any other full-time job requires full time commitment. So, if you
are planning to be more of traveling worker or a worker who travels you might
be more limited in your teaching time. If you are going to work only enough to
have extra spending money while traveling you will want to choose an
Employer who allows for the ultimate in flexibility. If you are going to make it
your full-time source of income, then you will want to think about the
practicalities of working enough hours and maximizing your off time. To be
honest, I think it can be what you want it to be and is an excellent option if
you want to be free from a brick and mortar building.

My final thoughts on whether or not the digital teacher is really possible isn’t a
simple answer. There is a lot more to think about than just an internet
connection and some video software. The legalities of working abroad, as well
as the requirement to have a quiet place to teach. Yes, it is possible, but I
think it is hard to be successful. Unlike other forms of online work, being an
online teacher still requires your presence and commitment at a particular
time. It requires a rapport with a person on the other side of the screen. In
other words, you and how you perform are key to your and your students’
success.
Mary Catharine Breadner

Mary Catherine is an EFL freelance teacher, currently living and working in

Portugal. She works with students of all ages, in both the in-person and online
classroom. In her free time, she loves to travel and spend time with her family.

Uncertainty continues to
overshadow China teaching
17th February 2020

By Claudio Dau

It has been more than a month since the epidemic started and, unfortunately,
we still cannot see the end of it. The latest news can feel very confusing but
luckily between the over-alarmists and the extreme optimists, a few
international media seem to be balanced and objective. What is certain is that
the problem is far from being solved. Whether, as some Chinese media are
claiming, we have basically reached the turning point or, as the WHO recently
reported, this is just the tip of the iceberg, it is unlikely that things will return
to normal within the next few months.

For many teachers, the situation is still uncertain. It is almost a tradition for
foreign teachers to use the holiday period of Chinese New Year to travel
around the world, especially in south-east Asia. This means that the majority
of them are still blocked outside of China. Some have returned to their
countries of origin, partly because of expenses, partly because they are not
very optimistic about a quick solution . Others have decided to stay in
neighbouring countries, hoping to be able to come back soon to what is their
second home, even if some are forced to become visa runners and have to
change country every two weeks or so.
Regarding the teaching aspect, news is becoming more consistent towards
the continuation of the next semester for universities and other schools
around the country. There are, however, some unconfirmed rumors of
universities in Chongqing and Chengdu, among others, that have decided to
cancel the coming semester and even to ship back the belongings of foreign
teachers to their countries of origin. What is certain is that, especially in
Hubei, face to face classes are not allowed and public schools, universities
and private language schools are resorting to online teaching.

Chinese students of elementary and high school have already started

receiving online material from their schools and proud mothers are posting on
social media pictures of their children studying in front of a laptop or tablet.
With regard to universities, we should see the beginning of online lessons in a
week or two. Most teachers have already been informed and have started
preparing some material. The same goes for private language schools which
are now posting on social media videos and pictures of their teachers
providing online lessons. While, for the latter the problem might not be as big,
for universities, high schools and elementary schools this might prove to be
challenging.

Usually, private language schools have classes of no more than 10 students

and often less, thus creating the opportunity for lessons using group video
calls on WeChat, QQ or Skype. Public schools of all levels, however, have
much more crowded classes (the average seems to be around 30 to 35
students per class but the figure could be even higher) and this will probably
create more than one problem for their teachers. Of course, group calls
cannot be made between 30 or more people, thus teachers could only send
material and exercises and hope that students will be honest and smart
enough not to cheat on their tasks. I say this because of the absolute terror of
some students of making mistakes that could lead them to cheat, thus
hampering their learning process more than anything else. In any case, given
the situation, this is the only feasible option.

It is surprising, but understandable, that similar precautions are being taken

around the country. From the capital to the southernmost province of China,
the rumor is that schools will give online lessons for at least the next few
weeks.

The lockdown is officially in effect only in Hubei province and a few other
cities of different provinces. In many other areas life seems to go on almost
normally. A teacher living in the south of China told me that he is going out
every day and, even if there are some shops still closed, the majority of
businesses are open. The only problem is related to the high number of
canceled flights which makes exiting the country very difficult, if not
impossible. Something similar was reported by other teachers living in the
capital. A few contacts in Shanghai, however, claim that going out "is strongly
discouraged" and "not worth it anyway because everything is closed" apart
from "basic public services". Similarly, in Hubei, the situation has not changed
yet and nothing new can really be said. People are still confined at home,
protective masks are mandatory when leaving home to buy groceries (the only
allowed activity) and there is an almost complete paralysis of all kinds of
businesses. In the last few days, a guide on how to buy food online is being
passed around social media. There are in fact several companies offering
delivery services, usually dropping the goods in specific pick-up zones
arranged for most communities.

Another aspect that has recently surfaced is the fear towards teachers who
have lived in China, particularly in Wuhan, and are now back in their home
countries. I have already experienced some very nervous reactions and seen a
number of pale faces when people "discovered" that I lived there. Another
teacher, V., told me that in her country where noone is infected and seems to
be pretty safe in that regard, people are literally panicking and "see her as a
threat" every time she mentions living in Wuhan or if they see her phone with
Chinese text. It seems that no matter how much you reassure people about
the fact that you left the country before it all started, and most importantly
that you feel good and did not have any kind of sickness whatsoever, they still
see you as a potential threat and sometimes even avoid you completely. It
seems likely that this could create issues for teachers who decided to leave
China and look for jobs elsewhere. I am afraid that, especially in the short
term, more than one could experience this kind of problem and find it difficult
to get a new job.

In conclusion, despite the growing concern and the increase of deaths and
infection, the people of Wuhan are still staying strong and are helping each
other in any way they can. There are also numerous touching stories of people
of diverse backgrounds, from farmers to businessmen, sending support of any
kind: providing food, medical supplies and equipment and so on. The dark side
of this is that many see this tragedy as an opportunity to gain attention,
popularity and personal benefit. There is a lot of material appearing online of
people claiming to raise concern and support for Chinese people,
unfortunately though, many end up being just attention seekers or
speculators.

To end on a positive note, Chinese people are very determined to get through
this issue no matter what and, even if this will certainly cause them more
problems in the future, both socially and economically, they will surely come
back from it.
Claudio Dau

Born in Sardinia, Italy, Claudio Dau is a CELTA qualified 33 year-old teacher

who has lived and worked in the UK, Spain and finally China. He currently
teaches English in a Chinese university in Wuhan. 

Getting to grips with your 2020

job search
6th January 2020

If you are planning to change jobs in 2020, here are some pointers to consider:

THE JOB:

Where is it? What does it entail? What are the prerequisites?

Do as much research as possible before applying. If the job entails a move to

another country, check out the climate, local customs and laws, standard and
cost of living, ease of travel etc.

What are the duties, hours and a typical timetable? Be realistic. Are they
attractive/feasible? Would they provide a good work-life balance, given your
other responsibilities and commitments?

Ascertain the specific professional requirements as set out in the job

advertisement and ensure that you have the qualifications, skills, training and
experience requested.
It is common practice for prospective employers to check out applicants’
references and to require any gaps in their work history to be satisfactorily
explained.

In addition, with TEFL positions increasingly involving the teaching of all age
groups, there is a concomitant need for employers to safeguard their clients
by obtaining background checks on prospective employees. What does this
entail? Essentially, they will wish to check the validity of the content of the
application. Also, to ensure an applicant's eligibility to work with young
learners, employers may request ‘a clean DBS check’. Previously referred to
as a CRB (Criminal Record Bureau) check, DBS = the government’s Disclosure
and Barring Service. Each country will have its own system but sometimes
employers request one obtained from the teacher’s home country.

A UK DBS check provides a record of any criminal convictions or cautions

regarding the person concerned. A standard check covers spent and unspent
convictions, cautions and final warnings while an enhanced check also
provides any additional relevant information held by police. Job applicants can
request a basic DBS self-check at a cost of £25.00. via the government’s
website. It normally takes 14 days to receive the certificate.

However, employers may require more than a basic check, i.e., standard or
enhanced. In this case job applicants need to obtain an application form from
the employer who has requested the check; complete the form; and return it
with the necessary documentation (see here). The process can take up to 8
weeks to complete and the cost varies from £26 for a standard check to £44
for more in-depth information. For further details see www.gov.uk. 

International Child Protection Certificate (ICPC)

Some employers may request an ICPC. This is a criminal record check for UK
nationals or those who have lived in the UK who wish to work with children
overseas. This is supplied by ACRO, the UK's Criminal Records Office. It is the
responsibility of the job applicant to apply and pay for an ICPC. The
information disclosed covers convictions, impending prosecutions, cautions,
reprimands, warnings, and current investigations held on UK police databases
plus it may also contain criminal conviction information regarding offences
committed in other countries (see here).

To apply, it is necessary to provide a letter from the prospective employer

saying that the applicant has been offered a post which involves working with
children and that local legislation requires that UK citizens employed in such
posts require an ICPC. The certificate costs £60.00 plus postage and is issued
to the prospective employee who has applied for it. The certificate carries the
name of the prospective employer and is non-transferable. The process takes
approximately 10 days, not including postal service time and applications can
be made online or by post.

THE INTERVIEW

Prepare well for the interview. Too often we can focus simply on creating a
good impression of ourselves and leave with many questions still unanswered
because we did not ask. Scrutinize the advertisement and additional post
details, if available, and begin to list any queries or doubts you may have.
Then do some homework on the organisation and country/place of work as
this generally triggers further questions. It also demonstrates interest and
application on your part. During the interview itself you will probably be
invited to ask any questions you may have but, if this is not the case, do not
be afraid to say that you would like to. It is useful and professional to take
notes at this stage and to ask for clarification, where necessary. For
suggested interview techniques see here.

THE CONTRACT

- What to look for in a good employment contract

To everything in life we bring expectations, not least to a new job. However,

these may not be fulfilled if they are not aired and shared with prospective
employers, (as is the case with their expectations of employees) and they
need not be fulfilled unless they are included in a legal and signed contract.
So, if it’s not in there, don’t expect it! That being the case, where does one
start?

Some organisations attach a ‘Terms and Conditions’ document to the

contract  which, when signed, implies the signatories’ acceptance of these.
The bare bones contract should at least include the following:

- post title and main duties

- salary and how and when it is paid

- other benefits such as accommodation provision/allowance; meal vouchers;

transportation......

- contract duration
- period of notice on both sides

- probation period, if applicable

- working hours

- leave entitlement

- travel to and from post (e.g., air tickets or reimbursement of flight costs), if
applicable

- medical cover/provision

- baggage and/or settling in allowance

- internet access for professional/private use

- visa and work permit requirements, if applicable

SUGGESTED CONTENT IN ‘TERMS AND CONDITIONS’

- If there is a salary scale, guidelines to how one is placed on that scale is

both useful and appropriate, as it can avoid conflict thereafter. Minimum
requirements and the award of additional points, based on qualifications and
experience, should be clearly stated as should, how and when one progresses
up the scale and what the ceiling is.

- Sick leave entitlement and details of the procedures to follow if you are
unable to work because of sickness.

- Information on maternity/paternity benefits, according to local law.

- Where applicable, information on national insurance contributions and

income tax.

- Pension schemes or superannuation compensation allowances

- Number of contact teaching and non-contact hours.

- List of teaching duties with a typical timetable.

- A list of administrative and other duties.

- Line of Management.
- Disciplinary procedure for misconduct, negligence or poor performance

- Grievance Procedure

- Dress and/or other codes, where applicable.

INDUCTION

Some would say that one can judge the quality of an organisation by the
thoroughness of its induction programme. Whether true or not, a good post
induction will include the following:

- A description of the organisation with its stated aims/Mission Statement

- A company organogram, to include all staff

- A list of staff and their job descriptions

- Detailed information on course structure and content

- Typical students’ profiles

- List of academic and other resources available to the staff member

- Detailed information on other duties such as placement testing; report

writing...

- Opportunities for professional development

- Relevant procedures, such as Fire and Safety Regulations

- A description of the host country/town, where applicable

- Information on accommodation including availability, prices, how to locate

etc.

- Information on local shops and entertainment

- Cost of living indicators

- Emergency telephone numbers: police, ambulance, line manager

- Where to get a local sim card for your mobile

- Useful telephone numbers: flat agencies, public transport, places of worship
etc.

- Information on bank accounts, movement of money etc.

- Visa and passport renewal information

- Information on the import of personal effects

- The social environment: local festivals, events, restaurants....

- A social programme for new staff

One of the most effective ways of inducting new staff is to run a two-day - one
week programme which involves the whole organisation and where new staff
compile their own induction folder through a series of tasks and report-back
sessions.

THE JOB OPTIONS

Whether you’re looking for a post in your home country or farther afield, there
is plenty on offer. There are tempting summer school positions from teacher,
on site or homestay to ADOS, DOS, Director and activity leaders. While the
range of overseas posts is vast. With TEFL internships and trainee tutors in
Spain/Italy; short term teaching contracts in Austria and Germany; and
teaching vacancies in France, Tunisia, Vietnam, China, Saudi Arabia, Thailand,
Kazakhstan, Taiwan, Estonia, Japan, Cambodia, Indonesia, Oman, South
Korea, as just some examples. Not to mention the range of online
opportunities available.

So if it’s a new job for the new year, do your homework and happy hunting!

Working as a Summer School

Director of Studies
10th March 2020
By Iga Naumiec

I’d already been an English teacher in Poland and China for some time when I
decided to try my luck teaching English in the UK at summer camps. I got the
job and I spent my first summer in the UK teaching. Having enjoyed it, I
applied for a teaching job the following year with a different company. But
when I went to a summer English camp the second time I thought that it might
actually be my last as an English teacher.

For some time I had been considering a slight career change. I was planning
to work less the next school year in order to be able to do a course. The
summer was to be the perfect way of saving money for that course. I wanted
to become a qualified Director of Studies.

Yet, after a week into my second summer camp, I a got an offer to take the
job of Director of Studies in a different centre, due to my qualifications and
vast experience as an EFL teacher. At that time I had been a teacher for about
10 years and had done my M.A. in Linguistics and my thesis investigated
teaching grammar, speaking practice and using metalanguage in class.

After I accepted the role, I got a Dos handbook and in a few days I was
supposed to have a crash course induction as I had to quickly cover for a
person previously appointed for the position. I had to absorb the knowledge
fast and not let the centre suffer from an insufficient substitute in the
management team.

Was it an easy task to run the academic side of the centre? No.

Was I planning to come back the following year? Let’s analyse the factors
which had an impact on my decision on whether to return or not.

1. Location. Different summer schools offer positions in various places across

the UK ranging from the capital city to ones in the middle of nowhere.
Sometimes no choice is given to a candidate but usually once you’ve been in a
given centre you return to the same one the following year. I was offered a job
in London. The drawback could be the fact that the accommodation, the
canteen and the study buildings were scattered around the heart of the city
(of course, it doesn’t have to be the case in all London centres). Student
safety has to be a prime concern in a busy place like that so a lot of staff’s
attention is focused on providing it. On the positive side, I got the chance to
walk a lot (a Dos is mostly based in an office with a lot of administrative
tasks). Furthermore, my days off were filled to the brim with things-to-do.

2. Induction. This is what the induction for a Dos usually looks like. It starts 5
days before the first students arrive. There is a meeting for all the staff
management teams concerning safety & welfare issues, first aid, some
general rules in the company, detailed information about the centres, teachers
& students. A Dos also spends the whole day at induction with the Academic
Manager who acquaints them with all the academic duties and issues. All in
all, the induction lasts 2 days. Later, the teachers arrive so the Centre
Manager, the Activity Manager and the Director of Studies induct the team and
all the staff go to their centres to prepare the campus itself - the classrooms
and the accommodation for the students’ arrival. As summer camps occupy
colleges usually just vacated by regular students, the centre preparation has
to be done from scratch. My company pays for the induction days and provides
staff with accommodation which I know is not always the case.

3. Responsibilities. When it comes to DoS’s responsibilities, I do not think

they differ from duties in other companies. A Director of Studies is responsible
for the academic side of the course and managing the teachers. The academic
duties encompass a wide array of tasks. Key ones are: placement testing,
marking tests, doing oral testing, creating class lists, assigning teachers to
classes, preparing the teaching rota for the whole week, forming project
groups, organizing exams, having reports & certificates ready for students
leaving in a given week, substituting for teachers when necessary, observing
classes and giving feedback to teachers afterwards, conducting weekly CPD
sessions (usually addressing problems the teachers signal), answering any
problems students or teachers might raise, and having daily meetings with the
staff. As far as other chores go, in my centre a DoS would do the wake-ups
and lights-off, assist the Centre Manager, write student reports and cooperate
with the Activity Manager.

4. Timetable & time off. My company differs a bit as far as teachers’ duties
go. Apart form teaching, they are involved in a weekly project as well as
events, trips and pastoral duties. The schedule is pretty busy to be honest but
the pay is good plus a teacher can get a weekly performance bonus. Yet,
teaching takes place only in the morning. Later, teachers either have a slot off
(afternoon or evening) or they lead excursions or their team to complete a
project which they present at the end of the week. Every member of staff
would get 1 day off plus the evening preceding the free day. A Dos will have a
day off when the students go on a whole day excursion. During the day when
the students are off-site a DoS might have some time to oneself.

5. Teachers & colleagues. I have to say I have been lucky with the teachers
I’ve cooperated with so far. Most of them were native speakers and 1-2 near
native-level speakers with a CELTA Certificate. I found them very well-
qualified and enthusiastic which made them easy to work with. It’s important
to discover other skills the teachers might have in order to utilise their
strengths at work. It’s always good to have a tech-savvy in the team, a film or
sports person, one with artistic skills, which are going to be extremely
valuable when it comes to projects and project presentations. Sharing and
helping one another out comes in handy as close cooperation is vital in a busy
summer camp environment. If staff can use their skills or qualities to share
their knowledge or hobby with students as well, the more diverse the course
becomes and students do enjoy being a part of a team for a short while.

6. Students. The London centre I worked at tends to attract a bit older and
more mature students. There are probably 2 reasons for that. No 1 is that,
apart from a regular English programme, the company offers studies in certain
subjects in English, i.e. Maths, Physics, Law, Medicine, English Literature (the
subjects may vary from year to year), which requires students to have a higher
language competence to fully participate in the course. No 2 the location of
the centre (the very centre of London) probably attracts students whose
parents believe they would benefit more from spending a summer course in
the capital city with all the theatres, museum visits etc. which are organised.
Students of all nationalities arrive and the difference is that there are no
groups. So even though there are students from the same country, they come
independently which requires more maturity on a student’s part. It may lead to
the fact that there are rarely elementary language groups. Also the classes
are quite small, up to eleven students, which creates more opportunities for
students to actively participate.

7. Money. The salary is definitely the major factor in making a decision to

work in summer camps. The money you are offered might be inclusive or
exclusive of holiday pay. Do make sure beforehand. You might also be given
an end of job performance bonus. Accommodation and full board concern only
residential staff. Just be warned -  there are some companies where some
money will be deducted for it from your remuneration. All in all, you can earn
good money at summer schools.

Summer camps are busy and no recruiter is going to lie to you about that. It is
an extremely intense period of time and ability to work under stress and keep
cool is definitely an asset. Sometimes unpredictable problems crop up so the
ability to react promptly, yet calmly, to unexpected situations is a big plus. If
you follow this simple rule, everything should fall into place sooner rather than
later. If you are lucky, you will not be alone and will work with a bunch of
people who will make work very bearable, if not even enjoyable, for the fixed
period of time. What you need to show is flexibility, patience and a desire to
make things fun.

P.S. I am the kind of person who loves it when there’s a lot going on so a
summer camp environment is definitely the place for me. Of course, I came
back the next year and am coming back this summer and spring as well :)
Iga Naumiec

Iga has been an English teacher in private and public schools for 14 years.
She’s also worked as a Director of Studies since 2017. In her spare time she
loves cooking and binge-watching tv series.

Summer School: Teaching

between the Lines
24th February 2020

By John Flynn

Like so many TEFL teachers that ply their trade in Summer Academies, you
tend to have many memorable and defining experiences, some good and some
less favorable. The following article is based on the summers I spent at a UK
based Summer School. It was based at a boarding school located in the south
east of England for students aged 11-18 and was used by Summer Academies
during the Summer months.

The student market it focused on attracted students from China, Russia, Israel
and Turkey and but the classes were also made up with students from Spain,
Italy, France, Germany, Japan, and Venezuela. The ages of the students
corresponded with the age level of the boarding school, 11-18 years old. The
Levels ran right across the CEFR (Common European Reference for
Languages) from A1 Beginners to C1 Advanced.

Like many English Summer academies, a usual day is quite long being filled by
Classes, Activities, Excursions, Meetings and CPD Sessions, which will sound
familiar to any TEFL teacher that has summer school experience.
The course induction was held on the Friday prior to the Summer Program
beginning. Some of the topics covered were pretty standard, i.e.,: line
management; people to contact in certain situations; the rules of the premises
and grounds;  fire drill procedures;  and rules of the Academy. One aspect of
the induction which I found particularly significant was a point made by the
Senior teacher of the Younger Ages. Namely, the importance of remembering
that persons under 18 in a country where their first language isn’t spoken falls
under the category of “vulnerable people”.  I felt it was a very important point
to raise and that there is a paramount responsibility we have as teachers for
the wellbeing of the children and teenagers in our classes.

Our days would usually consist of two ninety-minute General English classes
that would run until 12.30, followed by an English in Action class.  These were
classes based on themes and topics.  Then there was a Workshop class.
These could be classes in Film Production; Stage and Screen; Creative
Writing; Health and Fitness; and Exam Preparation. I was able to participate in
Film Production that involved themes with Pirates and Kings and Queens.  I
would say this requires a lot of work because you are acting as Writer,
Producer, Director and Editor for these workshops, but it is also rewarding
when you see the end result and the students enjoying themselves. The Exam
Preparation and Creative Writing workshops were less taxing as these were
topics I would have worked on during a regular academic year   

In my last year at the Academy, they offered a program that focused on

Business English and skills that included CV building, Interview Skills, Holding
a Meeting and Enterprise Skills. I was privileged to be a part of this program.

Aside from classes, the rest of the timetable consisted of Morning meetings,
Evening meetings, CPD sessions and Excursion Meetings.

Touching on the topic of CPD (Continuous Professional Development) the

Academy was quite proactive in allowing teachers to run the CPD sessions.
This resulted in a very varied program with interesting sessions on, for
example, Interactive Learning; Teaching with Limited Resources; Teaching
through Drama; and Cambridge Exam Preparation. I was fortunate enough to
be able to run the Cambridge Exam Preparation session.

A considerable part of the weekly schedule comprised the weekly Excursions.

Although it was always emphasized that the Excursions were a “Lesson On
The Move”, they were a welcome change of pace for the students and
teachers alike. Although this by no means diluted teacher responsibility for
student accountability and wellbeing at all times while on excursions, they did
give the students a unique opportunity (and indeed teachers) to experience
some of the historical and national gems that Great Britain has to offer. These
excursions included such sites as Buckingham Palace; St Paul’s Cathedral;
Oxford University; Roman Baths; Portsmouth; Tower of London; Blenheim
Palace; and Brighton.

The excursions also provided different cultural experiences for the students.
An example of this would have been our Excursion to St Paul’s Cathedral. Our
student group included students from Turkey and Israel, none of whom had
been inside a Christian place of worship before, so they found the venue quite
intriguing. An unexpected bonus was that there was mass being offered during
our time there so it was a new cultural experience for these students to see a
Christian religious service.

This schedule was from Monday-Friday. Aside from some Level Placement
Testing that only lasted an hour or two, teachers did have their Saturdays and
Sundays to themselves which was always appreciated.

Of course being a returnee teacher at a Summer Academy for three years, one
does experience highlights and low points, as in any teaching situation. In my
case-

A highlight of the Summer Academy came in my first year when the Academy
had a British Council Inspection. Anyone who has experienced this will tell
you of the additional pressure it places on Academic Management and
Teachers in order to pass this Inspection, and we were no exception. Areas
such as Strategic Management, Staff Management and Development and
Student Administration are only part of the criteria, so much emphasis is
placed on Administration, Reports and Lesson Plans that have to be of the
highest standard (which should always be the case). It was such a triumph for
the academy and the group of teachers that we successfully passed the
inspection and impressively so.

Another highlight was the camaraderie among the teachers.  This was
especially true during our Inspection year. Everyone worked together towards
a common purpose which created a bond between us. For me it is this ethos
of camaraderie that can make a Summer Academy a worthwhile and
memorable experience. 

Also, as I hinted earlier, another highlight was the excursions. Obviously for
the students, they get to experience these places for the first time. But this is
also true for teachers. Many of the places that we visited, I know I would
never have seen otherwise. It is one reason that one becomes part of the
TEFL community, to experience and see new places.

Unfortunately with highlights come low points, and my experience was no

exception.
During my first year, there was one staff member who was new to the UK and
therefore experienced difficulty dealing with the local culture and staff. It
coincided with the British Council inspection and potentially could have had a
negative effect. However, the professionalism and camaraderie of the rest of
the staff carried us through and it is fair to say that the highlights were far
greater than the low points.

To conclude, I am asked as to whether or not I would recommend teaching in

a Summer school in the future. It’s a question that does need much weighing
up. On the one hand, Summer Schools provide the opportunity to experience
multicultural classes which you may not experience on a year-round basis. By
having multicultural classes, you are taken out of your familiar routine and it
is refreshing to create lesson plans and source material that can be enjoyed
by students from all walks of life. Part of being a good TEFL teacher is about
discovery and the process is rewarding for both students and teachers alike
when your class material is carried off successfully.  Also, in my case, being
granted the opportunity to attend and present CPD classes is also a valuable
feather in any teacher’s cap and a positive addition to one’s CV.

On the other hand, for the uninitiated, the workload can be very long and
intense.  I have had some days of up to 12-14 hours, but this does come with
the territory. Also, if one returns to the same school year on year, its is likely
that staff dynamics will have changed and that can take some time to get
used to. But, on balance, the pros outweigh the cons. As teachers we can all
experience crises of confidence in our teaching abilities and my experience of
teaching summer school has gone a long way to restore that confidence just
when it was needed.

To all my fellow TEFL teachers, I wish you all the best of luck in your
endeavors as a teacher and perhaps our paths will cross for some professional
and memorable collaboration in the future.

John Flynn

John has lived and taught English in Poland, Slovakia, Spain and the UK. He
has taught levels from 3 years old to Adults along with holding classes in
Cambridge, Trinity and IELTS exam preparation and Business English courses.

Tools for your online classroom

11th November 2019

By Mary Catharine Breadner

Keeping students engaged is always important, whether we are working

online or working in a traditional classroom. I believe that managing an online
classroom requires several tools. In this article I will discuss some of the key
points in designing your very own online classroom. Like any other classroom,
you need to think about who you will be teaching. If it is children, then you will
need to think about bright colours, characters, topics that will interest them.
Teenagers, don’t want to be treated like children, you will need to bring a
certain level of sophistication to your style, and of course adults who
appreciate some serious and some more fun material as well. I am not going
to specifically address IT or platforms in this article, for those of you wanting
to know more about that check out a previous article I published.

Course books, PowerPoint, other content

I think we can all agree that preparation is the key to a successful class and a
successful course. Having a timetabled plan with a list of contents that needs
to be covered is also required when teaching online. I tend to favour
coursebooks (either developed by someone else or developed by yourself) to
be a great way for students to anticipate what is coming next. I like to break
my lessons into 4 manageable categories: theory, speaking, reading, and
listening. I do almost all of my writing practice as homework, and do editing
and correction as review during class or even assign it again as homework. In-
class time is precious, and I find that writing practice is more effective for the
student to do in their own time.

The choice of material will also have to be in line with your student’s
preference. Some students like having a structured coursebook they can use
to study and practice. It is also very practical for lesson planning; and adds an
element of legitimacy to your classroom. PowerPoint slides are an amazing
tool, as either the sole content or as a supplement to a coursebook.
Developing your own PowerPoint is great to share with students before or
after a lesson as well. They are also very practical to share on-screen with
your student. 

Other content, such as videos and audio recordings are also important, I like
to use audio podcasts for students. There are ranges of levels, and you can
almost find a podcast about any topic, so it is easy to tailor the content to the
interests of the student. Video is very similar, providing short content and is
another great resource to build a lesson. Both video and podcast audio can be
used by the student outside the classroom and then analyzed together in the
classroom. This type of content is also important so you can expose your
student to multiple accents, and enrich their listening skills.

You will undoubtedly be approached by potential students that strictly want

conversation classes. This may seem simple on the surface; I will get paid to
talk to someone for an hour. But this couldn’t be further from the truth! These
types of classes require well thought out vocabulary, questions, and back up
ideas if the conversation stalls. It is also important to remember, that
although a student may just want to improve their conversation skills, they
also need to build vocabulary and grammar skills. Depending on the level, you
will need to consider carefully how to meet the conversation goal by the
student, and an effective way to help them achieve this desire.

Routines and expectations

Routines are very important in the online classroom. I like to start and end my
classes in a very similar way, it helps to keep my classes running on time.
When working online, it is important to have 5-minute breaks between
classes, you will inevitably need to go to the washroom, grab some water, and
some time to load any materials for your next class. I like to make it clear to
students that all my classes finish 5 minutes to the hour, and 2-3 minutes
before that I always end the lesson with the same questions as well as a
quick homework review. My students also always receive an email after each
class with some feedback and their homework assignment.

Another routine I like to use with children is singing, it’s great to have a
welcome or goodbye song. Students love it, and it also is a great way to end a
lesson. Singing helps to improve your rapport with the student, and also gives
them a way to end the lesson on a positive note, especially if it was difficult. 

Finally, routines also help to manage expectations. Students can see the
patterns in activities and can engage more fully without requiring lots of
technical support. For example, I always set up my activities (like matching or
pre-teaching) in a similar way. Students will become efficient at using the
classroom tools (drawing tools, text tools, etc.) offered by your platform, this
will help to avoid you having to be an IT consultant as well as a teacher!

Background
I have been asked by many people, so can you teach from anywhere? Cafes,
parks, from your cellphone? And although I wish this was true, I think to offer
a quality experience to your students you need to be in a quiet area free of
distractions, including free from background noise or movement. That being
said, I do believe you can teach from shared coworking space, hotel rooms, or
other quiet places. It does not have to be the same location. A good tip is to
look for functions in your webcam or video conferencing platform that allow
you to blur your background – especially if it is not part of your lesson.

You might also consider what the student may see in the background, and
how you can use it to your advantage. For children and teenagers, you can use
your background to encourage curiosity or to increase engagement. For
example, it is fun to decorate your background for festive holidays, like
Halloween or Christmas. Many students from different cultures are curious
about your culture or traditions. It is a great way to have them ask questions,
or make comments. You can also use the background for visual cues, such as
vocabulary words, grammar structure, or other information. During speaking
activities, students can then have a quick reference to help them apply new
concepts.

Ice breakers, introductions

Building rapport and warming students language skills up is important to a
successful lesson, and it is the same in the online classroom. Games like,
‘would you rather…’ are really a fun way to get the student speaking and to
learn more about them. I also commonly ask students about their daily
routines, weekend plans (past or future), and general small talk. I like to use
icebreakers as a way to introduce the topic, for example, if you are going to
learn about the past tense, why not ask a student about their previous
weekend or favorite childhood memory. Get a sense of what the student
already knows, and then focus on problem areas in the lesson. Taking note of
what the student says or struggles with during your first few minutes of class
will help you to make the entire lesson more relevant and tailored to their
needs.

Group work
You can teach both group and individual classes online, however, group work
can be more difficult to facilitate. I encourage you to look into video
conferencing solutions that offer breakout options, this allows you to put
students in a virtual room where they can communicate together, and you can
virtually monitor each of these breakout rooms. It is a great way to have
students prepare mini-presentations, or roleplays, you can do almost anything
in these rooms as you can in a traditional classroom. It also gives you a
chance to increase participation of all students.

Homework is another way to increase group work, you can have students
exchange writing pieces. For example, have students practice emailing each
other and responding. You can require them to CC you on the emails, this way
you can chime in with corrections or take excerpts from the emails to review
with the entire class. 
I also like to have students prepare presentations for the class, and this can
be done in groups as homework as well. This type of teamwork is often
stimulating, and lets learners get more experience self-correcting and taking
feedback from peers.

Games, Puppets, Realia

Depending on the level and the age of the student, games, puppets, and realia
can be really helpful. I also lump in flashcards to this category. I often use
flashcards as prompts for students at the A1 level, these visual cues can help
them memorize and learn new vocabulary. You can also practice
pronunciation and reading with flashcards. 

Games are a must for my classroom, I like to use them to get students using
language in an authentic way, and many of the traditional games can be
played over video. Wordlist generating games like the ‘STOP game’ or
‘Scategories’ can be easily adapted. Taboo, another great conversation
starter, can be adapted using the chat function in most video conferencing
platforms. You can send instructions and words to individuals directly, as well
as the whole group. Using the chat box is a great way to give students
information, while keeping it secret from other students.

Realia is extremely useful, and so are puppets. Sometimes I use puppets to

demonstrate dialogue, it feels a little silly at first but it does help those lower-
level students understand. And realia can also be used in a ‘show and tell’
type activity. You can bring objects, but you can also have your students bring
objects to class, it is a great way to get the conversation going.

Mary Catharine Breadner

Mary Catherine is an EFL freelance teacher, currently living and working in

Portugal. She works with students of all ages, in both the in-person and online
classroom. In her free time, she loves to travel and spend time with her family.
TEFL vs TESL vs TESOL - The pros
and cons
28th October 2019

By Lara Treasy

DECISIONS, DECISIONS...

If you are a qualified English teacher looking to start a career you might be
facing a dilemma: whether to look for work abroad and kill two birds with one
stone (see the world and make some money on the way) or to stay in your
English-speaking country and teach foreigners coming to study, work or live
there.

Let’s have a look at your options in detail and by the end of this article you
will have a fair idea of which one is for you. 

First of all, what is the difference between TEFL and TESL?

TEFL stands for teaching English as a foreign language and it refers to

teaching English in countries where English is not a native/official language.

TESL stands for teaching English as a second language and it refers to

teaching English to speakers of other languages in English-speaking
countries.

You can also give both options a try and see what suits you best - TESOL is 
teaching English to speakers of other languages either in English-speaking or
non-English speaking countries.

To help you make an informed decision I have listed some advantages and
disadvantages of working in English-speaking and non-English speaking
countries.

ADVANTAGES OF TEACHING ENGLISH IN NON-ENGLISH SPEAKING

COUNTRIES 

Job opportunities. There are always plenty of job opportunities in non-English

speaking countries: you can teach private students, work in language schools
and/or give in-company classes to business people who need English for their
jobs. Everybody wants to learn English either for work, travel, study,
emigration or other purposes. 

Popularity.  Native speakers of English are revered and respected. Everybody

wants to meet them, talk to them, ask them questions about life in their
country, hang out with them. So be prepared to do a lot of socializing both
with the local teachers and the students outside the classroom. If you want to
feel like a film star, this option is definitely for you. 

Perks. Despite salaries being generally lower than in English-speaking

countries, working conditions are usually above average for the country in
which you are teaching. A lot of schools will provide accommodation, so that
teachers will only have to pay utility bills which saves you quite a bit of
money. Flights to and from your country of origin are often reimbursed. Some
schools provide medical insurance and others offer free classes in the local
language. These are just some of the common perks that you would not get in
your own country as a teacher of English. 

Cultural experience. Working in a foreign country gives you opportunities to

explore the country and its culture, to go on adventures and make the most of
your stay. You will always have plenty of things to do, see and try in your free
time. 

Students’ motivation. Students may be more motivated to learn English from

native speakers than from local teachers, they will often ask questions about
your country, its culture, traditions, language and generally show a lot of
interest.

DISADVANTAGES OF TEACHING ENGLISH IN NON-ENGLISH SPEAKING

COUNTRIES 

Salaries are often lower than in English-speaking countries and there can be

large differences in the standard of living and the tax system, but your local
salary should be more than enough to provide you with a comfortable lifestyle
(especially in the case where your accommodation is provided by the school).
You might not be able to save much, but you should definitely have enough
money to experience what the country has to offer in terms of food,
entertainment, adventure, cultural experience which more than compensates
for the lower salary. 

Students do not have much opportunity to practise their English outside the
classroom other than socialising with their teachers. A few of them might
have English-speaking friends and some of them will use English at work, so
you will need to come up with lots of authentic materials to use in the
classroom and for homework (films, YouTube videos, books, music).

Also, since you have students speaking the same language in your classroom,
you will have to constantly discourage them from using L1 to communicate
with each other during a class and encourage them to use English not only to
communicate with you as a teacher but also with each other. 

Culture. Depending on the country (how different it is from your home

country) and your personality, you might experience homesickness and
culture shock. These are very common and most teachers learn to adapt and
overcome the negative effects of the culture shock, but some might find it
very difficult to cope and have to leave the country before their contract is up.
To avoid a situation like that, research the country and its culture before
signing the contract, make friends with your colleagues and local teachers
upon arrival, do not stay home alone after work, but go out and socialise - it
will help you to adapt and integrate.

ADVANTAGES OF TEACHING ENGLISH IN AN ENGLISH-SPEAKING COUNTRY 

Job opportunities. A lot of foreign students travel to English-speaking

countries to study. People from other countries move to English-speaking
countries for work, creating a lot of job opportunities for teachers of English in
colleges, language schools, summer schools, and on government-funded
programmes for immigrants. 

Home comforts. If you stay in your own country you will be living in
comfortable and familiar surroundings, you will be able to spend time with
your friends and family and will never experience homesickness or culture
shock. 

Pay. Often you will be getting a better salary than you would working abroad
and will be able to enjoy the comforts of a good standard of living in your
country. 

Students. Students can practise English outside the classroom all the time
and that gives them extra motivation and makes classes more interesting.
They can share their experiences and ask questions about the language they
encounter in real life situations. Studying functional language (in a cafe, in a
shop, at a doctor’s) becomes a real practical necessity - so the students will
practice English, whether they want it or not, outside the classroom.
You can give them real-life oriented homework, e.g., find out how much
something costs, try Irish coffee in a pub and find out how to make it from a
local.

Another important point is that the interference of students’ L1 is minimised

by the fact that you have students from different countries in your classroom
and they have to use English to communicate with each other.

Culture. It is quite satisfying to teach others about your own culture and you
will have opportunities to explore your own country going on trips with
students (summer schools always organise day trips to various tourist
attractions). Also you will meet students from different countries and will
learn a lot about their culture from them.

DISADVANTAGES OF TEACHING ENGLISH IN AN ENGLISH-SPEAKING

COUNTRY

Perks. Even though your salary will be high enough, there will be no extra
perks like accommodation, flight reimbursement, or free language classes. 

Job opportunities. Since the job opportunities depend on the numbers of

foreign students coming to an English-speaking country to work or study, work
may be sporadic or seasonal. You might have to work part-time or freelance -
getting a few hours here and there, working for different schools, subbing. But
you can always rely on plenty of work opportunities in summer schools. It can
even be a good way to get some experience as a Director of Studies. 

Non-native teachers.  If you are a non-native teacher living in an English-

speaking country, your job opportunities might be seriously limited. Not
because you are not good enough, but since students are paying high fees for
learning the language in an English-speaking country they might expect to be
taught by native speakers. Schools may give preference to local teachers
though should not discriminate. You might be able to get some part-time
positions and subbing jobs and you can always rely on having work during the
summer. Summer schools pop  up like mushrooms  and there is often a
shortage of teachers between the start of June and the end of August. 

TESOL

A lot of newly qualified teachers choose to start their teaching career abroad
and move from country to country every year or two until they have satisfied
their thirst for travelling and feel a little homesick or decide to settle down
and return to their home country, either English-speaking or non-English
speaking. There they can choose to continue working in language schools,
pursue an academic career, become a freelancer and provide private tuition or
make a career move into teaching English online.

Online teaching is gaining popularity very quickly and it does not have such
clear-cut distinctions between TEFL and TESL. You can live in an English-
speaking country or in a non-English speaking country and teach students
from all over the world!

One of the major advantages of teaching English as a career is that it offers a

variety of options, so my advice is try everything and see where it takes you.

Lara Treacy

Lara has over 18 years’ teaching experience and has lived and worked in
Russia, Hungary, China, Oman, Ukraine, Ireland, Portugal teaching English in
colleges, universities, language schools, in-company and online.

CELTA, DELTA, MA? When is the

best career moment for extra
qualifications?
2nd September 2019

By Matt Duncan

CELTA, DELTA, Trinity Dip, M.A. in Applied Linguistics… there is an increasing

number of courses on offer for the aspiring English language teacher.
Navigating the opportunities and understanding the realities of what each
brings is key if you are to make it all worth your while. Many will start off their
career attempting the CELTA or Trinity TESOL (also known as TEFL-I
qualifications), the two most popular entry-level courses on offer in TEFL.
Ironically, what most teachers end up doing for their first jobs is nothing like
the small groups of adult learners neatly grouped into levels, and so why the
expectation and desire to put ourselves through it? Well, obviously, in order to
get a job. Not to say that it is essential for your first teaching position. In fact,
most countries require a 120-hour teaching qualification, with only the UK,
USA and Saudi Arabia actually stipulating that a CELTA/TESOL is required
(Deady, 2019). These shorter courses can be done in a combination of online
activities and an intensive weekend of observed teaching, so it seems clear
that a much more demanding (and expensive) CELTA or TESOL is not chosen
simply for box-ticking purposes to get a job, but for other reasons as well. 

In my case, I didn’t just want to do a CELTA to jump through a hoop and get a
job, but, really, I wanted a safe place where I could get up and actually try
teaching for the first time, while getting some supportive feedback in the
process. Standing up in front of a room and ‘teaching’ is a daunting task for
anyone who has had absolutely no experience whatsoever, and in some ways
the entry-level qualification is a kind of cultural rite of passage into the tribe
of the English Language Teacher. Indeed, in many ways, the camaraderie and
support from fellow trainees is just as useful as the knowledge and techniques
that you pick up. Interestingly, I have noticed that teachers from other fields
coming into TEFL tend to have worse things to say about courses such as the
CELTA. Given its levels of tribal indoctrination, perhaps arriving with a blank
slate is the best state in which to take it on for most. 

For many, that will be enough. They will find a comfort zone and a job they
love (or at least tolerate), and that will be that. However, others may look
further in terms of qualifications, whether out of choice or necessity. In my
situation, it was a bit of both, and this is probably the case for most. There are
those (far keener than myself) who are ready to thrust themselves into one of
the postgraduate level teaching diplomas immediately after their initial
qualification. However, there is a requirement on the DELTA and Trinity Dip
(also known as TEFL-Q qualifications) of at least 2 years of prior teaching
experience. This is an important detail to think about. Not only do you want
enough time to develop your own style of teaching in a range of different
settings, but you will also need time to decide if this is, indeed, the career
path that you want to commit to in the long-term. If the CELTA/TESOL is the
rite of passage into the tribe of the EFL teacher, then the DELTA/Trinity Dip is
a rite of passage into ‘Elder’ status within that tribe. Not to say that age is a
factor, but someone undertaking such a task would usually be fully
committing themselves to a career (or at least a long period of working) within
the world of TEFL. 

Certainly, the intensive version of the DELTA is certainly not for the faint-
hearted, as I found out when asked to sign a disclaimer before I started it. It
stated that I was fully accepting the responsibility for any possible
psychological issues stemming from the course! Despite the pressure-cooker
atmosphere of such an experience, I would say that it is a good opportunity to
check-in on your teaching behaviour, develop knowledge and a method of
practice, as well as simply to open more doors to teaching opportunities and
ideas, especially in the fields of Academic English, teacher training and
materials writing, to name a few. In the case of Academic English, the
increased opportunity is partly due to departments within universities being
under pressure to have teaching staff qualified to postgraduate level, in order
to improve positions on competitive league tables. These courses count, as
they sit at level 7 on the National Qualifications Framework. This is the same
level as a Master’s Degree, although with far fewer ‘credits’, which is the
measure of level of content of the course.

Famous agencies such as the British Council (who helped create the DELTA)
are also very welcoming of such qualifications, and in some cases willing to
fund them. These courses are also increasingly done via distance learning,
apart from the observed teaching sections of course, and this allows for more
flexibility in terms of working and learning at the same time. I took the DELTA
and did Module 1 (a written exam) and 3 (a research project) via distance,
with Module 2 being the aforementioned pressure cooker intensive course. A
word of warning for those teachers who work in more English for Specific
Purposes (ESP) roles (Business English, Academic English, etc.) and want to
do something similar. The face-to-face DELTA Module 2 is very much EFL, and
it was interesting to see some colleagues coming from EAP (English for
Academic Purposes) backgrounds having to quickly re-adapt back into that.
There does, in fact, seem to be a gap in the market for widely-recognised
English for Specific Purposes-related qualifications. Perhaps, then, doing a
diploma before specialising in a particular field would be easier. 

But then, could there be another option to avoid all of this stress? By taking a
Master’s Degree in something like Applied Linguistics and/or TESOL? Having
also done one, I wouldn’t say that stress would be in any way avoided. I think
they are different beasts in many ways. Sure, the diploma requires a certain
amount of research and academic writing, and, of course, there is also a
practical focus to a Master’s course in TESOL.  However, a teaching diploma
does involve much more attention to what goes on in the classroom, and a
Master’s is more focused on developing knowledge, while also building on
research skills. Why did I do both? Well, following my DELTA, I realised that I
wanted to specialise in a particular area of EFL, and one which would allow
me to stay in the UK, which I had decided to call home once more. My target
was the burgeoning world of EAP in the UK. Being someone who hadn’t really
done anything too academic for a while (except the DELTA), I felt that I
needed to go through the experience that my future students would also be
going through, in order to teach it better. Overall, I believe that I did this, and I
also gained a better understanding of the expectations and community
practices of an academic department at postgraduate level (which many of
the international students are entering into).  Incidentally, having a diploma
counts as ‘prior accredited learning’, meaning you can do one module less on
the Master’s (and save money), but the Master’s must have ‘TESOL’ in the title,
as it wouldn’t cover an M.A. in just ‘Applied Linguistics’, for example.

So it seems that the possible cop-out answer to the title question is: ‘it
depends’.  It depends on your level of confidence, the stage of your career,
your commitment to sticking with TEFL, as well as your particular career
targets and country of choice. One general piece of advice would be to take
on all of these extra qualifications before having children for those of you who
would, as juggling work and study is already a challenge enough without
throwing a baby or two into the mix as well. Although, I am sure that there are
teachers with the super-human powers to make this a possibility, too.  I am
just not one of them! Was all the money, time and frazzled brain that was
consumed worth it in the long-run? I can only speak for my own case, and
those that I know of, but I would say ‘yes.’ Once you have weighed up the pros
and cons and decided that it is for you, embrace it, don’t be overwhelmed by it
and keep a good grasp on your sense of humour and perspective, as they will
see you through it all and out the other side.  

References:  Deady, K (2019) Where on earth should I teach English abroad?.

Matthew Duncan

Matthew is an English language teacher with over 14 years of experience, now

working in EAP and specialising in EAP with learning technologies.  He has
taught in China, Japan and Spain before establishing a career working in
universities in the UK.
Are native teachers better? Non-
native teachers and self-esteem
20th August 2019

By Cristina Ene

Teaching is not always a walk in the park. In fact, it is not only stressful but
also draining as teachers give so much of themselves. I would argue that non-
native teachers have an added stress: low self-esteem. “Are they good
enough? Are they doing their jobs properly? Are the students happy? Are the
students judging them based on their accent?” These are common questions
that most non-native teachers ask themselves. It is true that native teachers
ask themselves these questions too. However, non-native teachers might ask
themselves these questions once too often, and they will probably give a
negative answer. What happens then is that their self-esteem gets lower and
lower, their performance suffers and students become unhappy. It is a self-
fulfilling prophecy.

Being a non-native teacher does not mean that you will go through this or that,
if you do, there is no way out of this situation. In this article, I will argue that
you need to (i) know your subject, (ii) get qualified and (iii) challenge yourself
in order to build-up your self-esteem and have a successful teaching career.

Know your subject

It is common sense that if you are to teach anything, you must master it first.
Thus if you are going to become an English teacher, you must know your
subject very well. Getting to C2 (proficiency) level is only the first aim in
becoming an English teacher. Once you have reached this level, a common
pitfall to avoid is thinking that it is the final stage. In reality, all languages are
fluid, there is no actual beginning and end to any level. That translates to
constant learning and improving, be it learning new words, improving fluency
or accuracy. What many non-native teachers feel is that besides this being a
life-long goal, it can feel almost impossible to reach it as there is always
something new to learn. Moreover, it is not unheard of for non-natives to feel
that they will never reach this stage and ‘competing’ with natives is pointless
as they get a ‘head start’. While that is true, it does not automatically mean
that natives are better teachers or that they can better explain the language
to students.
One major advantage non-native teachers have – and there is a tendency of
downplaying it as it is turning into a cliché – is that they have learnt the
language themselves, actively and consciously. They are very much aware of
the effort and time required to learn the language, of the joy and the
frustration that learning can bring. Speaking the students’ mother tongue is
not mandatory although teachers who speak it have an extra advantage – they
are more aware of the specific problems students might encounter when
learning English. Not speaking it does not take away anything as the teacher
is still able to empathise with the students. Non-native teachers can serve as
a role model for the students as they are living proof of what can be achieved.

Reaching success as a non-native teacher involves hard work. However, what

it really needs is a change of mentality. Many students, especially at lower
levels, are not always able to tell that their teacher is native or not, be it due
to their language ability or the teacher’s high command of English. What
happens when the students say “Oh, you’re native, right?” is that many non-
native teachers immediately feel that the students want a native teacher and
if possible, it is better to pass for one. Quite a few non-native teachers and
students regard being native as the ideal while being a fully proficient English
speaker is what they should be aiming for. In the long run, this works against
non-native teachers because it makes it less obvious for students that there
are many non-native teachers who have achieved a very high level of English
and are very talented teachers.

Get qualified

Knowing your subject is only the first step in becoming a successful English
teacher. Again, non-native teachers might feel that things are not fair as it is
sometimes easier for natives to get jobs without being qualified while non-
natives find it harder, if not impossible. Be that as it may, being qualified is a
must, not just because it makes getting a job easier, but because qualified
teachers are more confident and have higher levels of self-esteem. As I
mentioned in the previous point, this can also turn into a life-long journey:
getting qualified is not just about getting the CELTA (or other initial TEFL
qualifications), but getting further qualifications, such as the YL extension to
CELTA (or IHCYLT), DELTA and other certificates (like for example the online
or face-to-face IH courses).

Many non-native teachers complain that there are many of them doing these
qualifications while some students still say that learning can only happen with
a native teacher. While it is true that some students do not appreciate
qualifications, it does not mean that they are worthless. On the contrary,
being qualified is what makes one a good teacher. Gone are the days when
teachers were ‘God’ in the classroom and regarded as the only vessel of
knowledge. Although change is slow in certain parts of the world, this
traditional view is being challenged and a more modern one is becoming more
common. While the teacher needs to be a master of her trade, just knowing a
great deal about grammar and having a certain accent will not suffice. It is the
teacher’s ability to engage the students, to enable them to take responsibility
for their own learning, and to guide them. This is what qualifications offer
teachers.

 Moreover, when a non-native decides to become an English teacher and turn

this into a life-long career, it is unquestionable that what drives them to do
this is a great love of the English language and working with people as well as
a desire to help them. This means that investing the time, energy and money
into getting qualified should not feel as unfair, as something asked only of
non-natives but as something asked of all those who what to be teachers (for
shorter or longer periods).

Challenge yourself

A common situation that many non-native teachers find themselves in is the

following: they have achieved a certifiably high level of English, they are
qualified, they have some experience teaching, and yet they do not feel as
confident as they should. While this can be a personal issue, chances are that
what they need is a challenge. Once they have mastered teaching a certain
level or type of class, they need to move on to something new. Contrary to
popular belief, mastering a certain skill – in this case teaching a particular
level or age group – will not necessarily result in a significant increase in self-
confidence overall. Once one masters teaching a certain level or age group,
there are no challenges and they take it for granted. It begins to feel easy
therefore it must be easy which means they are not doing anything that great.

Reaching a plateau is a common problem for many teachers and the only
solution to this, as well as a way of giving yourself a confidence boost, is to
challenge yourself. A non-exhaustive list of examples includes starting
teaching a new level (especially a high level, even C2) or type of class (exam-
preparation or 121 with important clients), become a Cambridge or IELTS
speaking examiner or take on mentoring responsibilities. Yes, this will imply
working with native teachers, examining with a native teacher and mentoring
a native teacher and while this might sound daunting, it is outside the comfort
zone that growth happens.
Although getting a job usually involves competing against other candidates,
working with other teachers does not have to be a competition, as there is so
much to learn from other people. Despite students sometimes saying that they
prefer native teachers and the nerve-racking feeling that your accent doesn’t
sound as nice as a native teacher’s, there is also the reverse: sometimes
native teachers can’t identify with the students, they don’t understand what is
too difficult for them, what problems they might have. Working with native
teachers can be mutually beneficial: non-natives can share their knowledge of
what students need and how to explain language while native teachers can
share their knowledge of the language. Cooperating is in everybody’s interest:
the students get better teachers, the teachers get more knowledge and self-
esteem knowing they are becoming better teachers.

To sum up, being native or non-native is not what makes someone a good
teacher. It is the hard work you put into becoming a better teacher and your
passion for teaching which is the driving force behind it. For all the non-native
teachers fretting about their suitability as English teachers, here is something
to consider: think of every time you helped a student, or every time they said
admiringly they wanted to achieve the same level of English. Being a good
teacher is something that can be learnt, and as all other jobs out there, it
requires constant professional development.

Cristina Ene

Cristina Ene is a CELTA-qualified teacher with 5 years’ experience. She has

taught all levels and age groups, as well as General, Business and Exam
preparation classes. She is also a Cambridge Speaking Examiner and a
speaker at different ELT conferences.

Marketing yourself as an Online

Teacher
7th October 2019

By: Mary Catharine Breadner

Once you’ve made the leap from the physical to the online classroom, you will
play a greater role in attracting new students for yourself. The competition
online is stiff, so you will have to put lots of effort upfront to ensure that you
are a credible, and a serious teacher. Many people are still skeptical of the
quality of the online classroom, so be sure to bring legitimacy to what you are
doing.

Your online presence

A good place to start is your already existing online presence. Look at your
social media profiles, and ensure that you have appropriate privacy settings.
Remember, you want to have a professional first impression, so if there are
pictures of your college party days just ensure they are for you and your
friends only. You will also want to make sure that all your online CVs or
professional networks are up to date and have the same information. If
potential clients see work experience that differs from website to website,
they may think you are trying to hide something. On your professional
networks, you will also want to ensure all your credentials are up to date. So,
if you have taken any recent professional development, make sure it is added.
You will also want to ensure that any articles or conference presentations you
have made are also updated.

Once your online profiles are up to date, it is time to move from the passive
promotion to the active. There are some things that you may want to consider,
for example are you interested in teaching children or adults; do you want to
focus on English for special purposes (medical English, tourism English,
business English); do you want to become an exam prep specialist; or any
other niche that you feel you can contribute to. It is important to think about
what you want to teach, and what experience you already have. Once you
have some general ideas, you’re ready to get started.

Audience
For myself, I don’t specifically limit who I teach. As your client base will grow,
you will receive referrals from other students for new students that don’t
match your original target audience. It will be up to you to decide whether or
not you will want to keep your focus narrow or open it up more broadly. I
started doing exam preparation, and then as students took my exam prep
class, they started asking for on-going lessons, or English for specific
purposes. Expanding your offerings will require more prep time, however it is a
great way to expand your business. If you are just starting out, I recommend
focussing on one area, build a reputation in that area, and then decide to
expand when you have demand.

Personal or freelancer website

The next decision will be whether you want to have your own website or if you
want to market yourself on a pre-established freelancer website. You will
need to weigh out the options, and also evaluate your own technical abilities.
If you choose a freelancer website, there are some great advantages. These
websites market their services broadly across the internet and bring potential
clients to the site. The disadvantage is that you will be competing with other
freelancers in the same space. Your profile will need to attract students
amongst many other teacher profiles. You must also read carefully about the
costs to promote yourself on these websites, some of these websites also
restrict the amount you can charge, and unfortunately you may be competing
with people who are dramatically undercutting the services and classes at
well below market value. Do your homework. Review and analyze these
websites to determine whether or not you will be able to make a viable
business before committing.

If you decide to set up your own website you will have the freedom to design
and market your services. You won’t have immediate competition on the same
page and you will also be able to describe your products in detail. Once a
potential student is on your website, they will be able to really get a focus on
you as a teacher. The disadvantage of this is that you will need to have some
moderate to advanced technological aptitude. You will also need to make the
design attractive - students will have their first impression of your services
from your website. You might be an excellent teacher but, without a nice
website, they might think your services are subpar.

Competitive pricing
Doing market research is important, however as you will quickly determine,
the major online schools have a big impact on pricing. Depending on what
time zone you will be focusing on and where the majority of your students will
be located will impact your bottom line. You need to think about when you
want to work, and then think about where those students are located. Also,
depending on if you are marketing for after work or after school students, the
teaching hours are limited. For example, you may want to start by teaching
students several hours ahead, and then slowly work back across time zones
until you are closer in the geographical area to your own time zone. All of
these decisions will impact your price.

I also want to emphasize that teaching online is not a second rate or lesser
value option for students. As an online teacher, you do not want to undervalue
your work to attract more students, this will make your choice to teach online
an unsustainable career. Focus on why your services are actually more
convenient or palatable than the brick and mortar schools. You offer
convenience, flexibility, and zero commute time for students. I can not
advocate enough, that you need to do your research, and build a financial plan
that will actually support your desired financial goals.
Global versus specific market
I think that trying to attract traffic to your online profile or to your website is
going to be your greatest challenge. Remember that there are ways to narrow
it geographically even if you are nowhere near that place physically. For
example, think about having your website or profile translated if you are trying
to sell yourself to a specific country or region. For example, if you want to
teach to Chinese students, it will be difficult to attract students if your
website or profile is in English only. You will also need to think about why
students want to learn English. Is it to attend university in an English speaking
country; is it to get a promotion at work; is it to speak at a conference? There
are many reason why students want to learn English. Depending on the region,
there may be a higher concentration of students with the same motivation.
Remember to grade your language appropriately. Again, do some research and
focus your efforts, working online opens a much larger possible market, and
without focus you may soon lose your appeal.

Video introduction
If you are anything like me, making a video about yourself not only seems
intimidating but is also really tedious. And I can confirm for me it was,
however it was also extremely important. Remember that online students will
be experiencing all of your teachings through video. It’s a great way to
showcase your personality, as well as things that are really important to
students like accent, speaking speed, and style. Your video should obviously
focus on what you have to offer as a teacher, but you can also add some
pictures of your family or hobbies. Personalizing yourself makes you much
more approachable, it humanizes you in a digital world.

If you are curious about introduction videos, look for some on YouTube. You
will be surprised at the availability of these for not only teaching but other
online services. Watch some; look for ideas; and take note of what you liked
and didn’t like. Plan to make a video that lasts about 30 seconds, it doesn’t
sound like much but it is probably all potential students will have patience for,
and remember your target audience here. Making a video bilingual or having
some child-like themes is important if you want to attract those students.

I keep all of my videos private - another choice you will need to make. I send
my potential students the video once they have reached out. I also did not
spend a lot of money on production, so it is not my best promotional piece.
However, I do plan on improving it in the near future, I have had so many
students comment on how they liked my introduction video. Getting
comfortable with video is also just part of this career, and once you have more
time and experience with video, you can make fun mini-lessons or homework
activities.
Freebies!
Earlier in this article, I blabbed on about how you shouldn’t undercut your
value or keep your prices too low. So, it may seem like a contradiction now
that I am telling you to offer something for free. But again, this has been one
of my most successful tools. Many people have never tried online education,
so they really don’t know what to expect. Having a free 20- or 30-minute
session with a student will definitely give them an idea about what to expect,
and just how fun online learning can be. I also found that it was an excellent
way to build rapport with a potential student. Not everyone who does a free
trial class will sign up for a course or on-going lessons, but it definitely helps
to convert potential students to clients. Other advantages are that you can
assess the student’s level, and learn more about their motivation to learn. All
aspects of teaching that will help you keep your student engaged in your
lessons. And trial lessons are just one type of freebie, you can be creative as
you want to lure more students your way.

The take-home message

We are teachers, not marketing professionals. And there are big online
schools that have marketing departments who work to attract corporate
clients and attract students on a much larger scale.  You can not compete;
however, you can dot it! With some work up front, you can build a portfolio and
a reputation online. I would love to hear ideas from you, so share your ideas
and we can all be more successful together!

Mary Catharine Breadner

Mary Catherine is an EFL freelance teacher, currently living and working in

Portugal. She works with students of all ages, in both the in-person and online
classroom. In her free time, she loves to travel and spend time with her family.
Not over the hill at 70 - The
benefits the older teacher can
bring to the language class
23rd September 2019

By Peter Stone

Are teachers over the hill once they pass the dreaded three score and ten
mark?  Should they pack up and head for the academic equivalent of
elephants' graveyard to muse on past endeavours and lament the evaporation
of those energies and passions that he or she once possessed when
attempting to indelibly install the complexities of phrasal verbs and third
conditionals, not to mention the unspeakable paradoxes and contradictions of
Anglo-Saxon pronunciation, into students' cerebral zones? By no means, says
this writer who recently reached 79. He, for one, is still going strong and
there's little indication - as yet - of any decline in his enthusiasm or
motivation.

What, then, are the advantages and incentives of pressing on at this advanced
age? What can one offer in the art of teaching the language of Chaucer,
Shakespeare, Milton and Ken Follett that's different from, or better than, the
way one imparted such knowledge in one's burgeoning twenties, ebullient
thirties, mature forties and subsequent decades?   

For a start, the experience of life gained at this age provides a teacher with a
deeper well of knowledge to fall back on and a fuller understanding of
students' characters, needs and real capabilities. He or she will also have
acquired more patience, gained a better ability to judge the right pace with
which to deliver the lesson, be more equipped to cope with the different
personalities and attitudes one encounters in every class, and have a clearer
insight into overall needs and expectations.

Needless to say, an in-depth knowledge of one's subject, gleaned from

decades of toil and interaction, is a prime advantage, And while dynamism and
energy are no longer what they were, they could well be replaced by an aura
of "gravitas" and quiet authority that will - or at least ought to - gain the
teacher more kudos in the form of respect and attention.

But before we go any further let's take a realistic look at a couple of less
encouraging factors:
First, very young beginners rarely respond effectively to a teacher who at best
serves as a grandparent image. Their attention span is low and boredom is the
enemy, so the instructor, not unlike an animateur  in a circus, needs to
entertain as much as impart knowledge.  It's therefore usually younger and
more energetic instructors who are able to achieve the level of hyper-action
and imagination that this kind of highly specialized teaching requires.

Secondly, when confronted by more mature youngsters (teenagers in

particular) the elderly teacher may have problems with the above mentioned
contentious issue of gravitas versus dynamism. Suppose you have one or two
students who don't respect your senior citizen status and want you to enliven
the class by delivering your lesson more quickly, projecting more voluably and
so on. Here there's a dual need to gain their respect and yet let them know
who's boss.  A delicate balancing act. Getting angry or losing one's temper
will obviously not help at all. Nor will doing nothing and ignoring them.

So how, in the latter situation, can the venerable - if not always venerated -
teacher establish his or her authority effectively in such circumstances and
get the rest of the class on his side? Well, he or she can draw the contentious
students out by asking them to justify their attitude and point of view. Then, if
the antagonism continues, politely but firmly put them in their place by
pointing out that the rest of the class are anxious to get on with the lesson
without unnecessary and gratuitous interruptions by the likes of him. The
result of this quiet forcefulness would most probably be that the other
students will back you up.

Assuming that such drawbacks will be minimal, we can now look at some
more positive aspects of teaching in one's seventies. That fund of experience
gained from years of imparting knowledge should enable the instructor to
adjust fairly seamlessly to most situations and requirements. For example, the
slower student who holds up the class needs to be treated just like the others.
The mistake of slowing things down yourself and trying to ensure that student
has grasped every nuance of the points you're making is now a policy of the
past when you were anxious to please everyone and ensure that no-one got
left behind. You can extend a helping hand to a certain degree but the flow of
the class in general must, as you now realize, remain unhindered.

What ultimately matters of course is results, and as an experienced elder

teacher you're ideally equipped to see that the students pass their exams.
Having taught a wide variety of such learners over the years in preparation
for key exams such as IELTS and BULATS, you'll have the expertise and
familiarity with your subject to be able to acquaint your students with the
labyrinth of complexities they need to master to be able to achieve these
qualifications as well as actually getting them through the tests and proving
that their time with you has been put to good use.

On a further practical level, having also lived in the "real world" during your
long life and done, at some time or other, a spell of work other than teaching
(possibly even occupying some sort of managerial position), you're likely to be
better equipped to impart business learning classes, either in company, at a
school or privately. Lessons dealing with presentations, interviews, writing
CVs, and suchlike could well be based on personal experience as well as
following the accepted format and norms for such topics.

Giving private lessons - of both Business or General English - is another

possible course of action, either at the student's place or your own. After your
decades of teaching you could well have built up a solid list of past contacts,
and instructing them now on a one-to-one basis  or in small groups would be a
practical and flexible way of continuing your studies together, either on a
formal or an informal basis. The latter could simply take the form of
spontaneous, unplanned conversation exchanges where you cover everything
from current events in the news to opinions on various personal points of
views and beliefs.

The increasing possibilities in, and demand for, online teaching is another

distinct possibility for seventy-something teachers to follow up. Its
advantages are that no travelling is needed and you can operate effectively
and economically from your own home or base. If it is done purely on a written
basis, correcting essays or specific exercises, the age issue no longer even
matters as you are essentially an "invisible" teacher. You could even remain
anonymous if you chose. If you're using Skype for face to face conversational
exchanges then your age would be evident, of course, but your experience and
interchange with the student should outweigh any possible objections and
drawbacks here.

If you have saved up a small nest egg, and are additionally bolstered by a
pension, you could consider opening up a small school or academy of your
own, where others do the teaching and you administrate and supervise the
whole thing. Careful planning is needed for this, though. Many have fallen by
the wayside economically by rushing to open up such an enterprise without
thinking through the real practicalities and possibilities beforehand, so it's
wise to totally research the area, premises, likely availability of students,
local competition, etc, well in advance before you take that definite step. Do
your homework like any good student and it could turn out well.

Alternatively, you could look into the possibilities of lecturing and thus

presenting formally to a receptive audience all the knowledge you have
gleaned over the years. Universities, schools, cultural institutes are good
places to check out and, if your offer to lecture in one of them is accepted,
you could devise a course where you deal with different themes and
methodologies in a series of carefully planned talks. You stand more chance
of being given the opportunity to do this if you have a recognized qualification
such as a TEFL or TESOL Diploma backed up by a university degree, but if you
haven't got all - or even any - of these yet still know your stuff and, as a
reasonably competent public speaker, know how to present your material
lucidly and interestingly, there's no reason you shouldn't be successful here,

Writing and publishing articles (like this one, for example) in educational

journals and periodicals as well as for academic institutes and organizations
is another feasible option for spreading your scholarly know how to the
student world at large.

An ambitious extension of this epistolary outlet would be to write a book on

teaching in general or from a specific angle, according to type of students,
levels, tactics and methodological approaches, True the academic market is
flooded with admirable tomes that cover everything from in depth grammar
studies including  the inevitable phrasal verbs and colloquialisms to analyses
of such diverse subjects as The Natural Approach, The Silent Way, et al. But if
you feel your long-acquired in depth knowledge is good enough, and you're a
reasonably dab hand at putting words together, either of these avenues
(articles or book) is certainly worth a try, as is every positive step in life.

Or, on a final offbeat "teaching with a difference" note, you could write about

your possible recent experiences as, say, a veteran retiree in an unusual
location (such as occupying a Voluntary Services position in an isolated
Ethiopian village where the written word is unknown and you need to exert
some form of "crowd control" before actually calming your students down
enough to engage in any valid vocal participation in your lessons). That should
mark you down as an individualist as well as a proven long-term teacher and
serve as a further feather in your venerable cap.

Peter Stone
Peter Stone has been teaching English, both in England and Spain, for
decades. He has a TEFL Cert and TESOL Diploma and has also written ten
travel books. Currently he resides in a hill town in Alicante province 30 kms
from the sea.

Rethinking ELT's Environmental

Impact
22nd October 2019

By Martin Cooke

Introduction

Globalisation has resulted in many good things. To list just a few examples, it
has eradicated diseases that used to be endemic, with most of the world’s
human population enjoying rising standards of living and longer life
expectancy than any generation before. Globalisation has also resulted in
wonderful technological developments, giving us instant access to vast
amounts of information. We can communicate in real time with people on the
other side of the world, and can travel around it faster and more comfortably
than our ancestors could ever have imagined.    

The spread of English and English language teaching (ELT) has gone hand in
hand with these processes, and like globalisation, the ability to teach, learn
and use English has brought huge benefits to many. With English long
established as a compulsory subject in schools all over the world, and the
undisputed language of international trade and commerce, millions have
become proficient in the English language, gaining access to jobs, university
placements, business prospects and other opportunities that they would never
otherwise have had. The ability to use English is now so widespread that,
according to the British Council (2006), it is considered ‘a global norm [and] a
basic skill’, something that everyone – not just the privileged – should be able
to do. Meanwhile, huge numbers of teachers have benefitted from the
seemingly exponential growth in demand for English, often travelling
thousands of kilometres to locations with cultures and customs unlike
anything seen “back home”.

Some might hope that the spread of English will continue into the future,
becoming a true lingua franca  for humanity as a whole, enabling us to share
ideas and communicate with even greater ease than we do now. While this
might still be a possibility, others argue that the spread of English - and the
proliferation of English teachers - cause more harm than good in the longer
term. The potentially negative effect on other cultures has been previously
explored in detail by, among others, Adrian Holliday and Robert Philipson, who
criticize phenomena such as linguistic imperialism  and native
speakerism.  Those arguments remain relevant in their own right, but, as will
be argued below, might now need to be viewed in the light of a potentially
wider, more problematic issue that is only becoming more intractable over
time.

The global climate crisis

Humanity as a whole, according to Al Gore’s 2016 TED talk, now pumps “over
90 million tons of heat-trapping pollution into the atmosphere every twenty-
four hours”. According to Jeremy Lent’s 2018 book The Patterning
Instinct,  we burn 2.7 million gallons of gasoline every minute, and the carbon
we burn is equivalent to more than 400 times all the plant matter that grows
in the world in a year. The natural processes that lead to the creation of oil
would take fourteen thousand years to replace the amount we consume i n a
single day (italics added).

All of this is causing terrible damage to the earth’s ecosystems, its wildlife,
and the environment upon which we all depend. We are in a crisis situation,
and a key aspect of the message coming from those who seek to prevent
climate catastrophe is that while we can all take individual steps to reduce
our respective ‘carbon footprints’, such actions are unlikely to be enough on
their own. If we are to curb emissions and reduce the rate of global heating,
collective action is urgent.

Gore, Lent, Naomi Klein, George Monbiot, Greta Thunberg, Greenpeace,

the Extinction Rebellion movement and the global scientific community are
now telling us that we – ‘we’ meaning human civilization as a whole - must act
now to save the planet from a catastrophe that will cost many millions of
human lives, perhaps billions. Only by acting as a whole can we truly rethink
and reshape the processes of global trade, economics and globalisation,
reforming the parts that can be used for the good of humanity and the planet,
while ridding ourselves of the harmful elements.

If we are to heed the message of the environmentalists and reform

globalisation, we must also reconsider phenomena that have been central to
it, including the English language and, especially, ELT.

Considering ELT’s impact on the environment

In the past couple of years, a number of articles have been published that
explore and criticize ELT’s ‘carbon footprint’, and most are full of great ideas.
To name just a few examples, Christopher Graham’s blog post asks those of
us in ELT to consider what we teach, how we develop, how we network and
support each other,  and the people we teach,  and has good suggestions for
projects and further action. Another article by Alex Standish (TeachWire)
discusses how teachers can offer reassurance to students who are concerned
about climate change. Owain Llewellyn’s ELT Sustainable site contains
several useful articles and lesson plan ideas, while the recently
established ELT Footprint  Facebook group now has over 1800 members and
is updated on a daily basis. Those who wish to explore environmental issues
further can even try out the Open University’s course on the environmental
impact of learning and teaching.

All of the above resources are definitely recommended. However, it’s arguable
that a significant factor is still being overlooked by many of these authors and
articles, and unless this is properly addressed, the overall environmental
impact of ELT is unlikely to decrease.

In order to properly think about the environmental impact of ELT, it is

necessary to consider a question which might, at first, seem only loosely
related to environmentalism in ELT but may enable us to appreciate the real
impact it has on the planet’s ecosystems, as well as allowing us to properly
frame the ‘green ELT’ message for those who perhaps have yet to appreciate
it: is ELT an industry or a profession?

The Industry / Profession Dichotomy, and Why it Matters

Keith Copley, writing for the September 2019 issue of English Teaching
Professional, states that, while ELT has elements of
both industry  and profession,  the industry  side is far more prominent.  As
an example, Copley describes how the main motivation for taking the CELTA
qualification comes from a desire to live and work overseas: “it is significant
that even Cambridge don’t claim that the primary motivation [for taking the
CELTA] is an attraction to teaching per se,  or even an aptitude for
languages.” Copley goes on to portray ELT as something many people –
particularly ‘NESTs’ - see as merely short-term, linked more to ‘TEFL
adventurism’ and the so-called ‘gig economy’ than the mainstream teaching
profession. To extend Copley’s argument further, a ‘backpacker teacher’ in,
say, Thailand or China who intends to teach for a couple of years before
returning to their home country is probably part of the industry, while a
Director of Studies who has twenty years of experience, a Master’s degree,
and who speaks at three or four conferences per year can safely be described
as a professional.

Although many ELT professionals do have a lot of influence, and are using this
to press for a greater awareness of green issues, they are arguably
outnumbered by teachers who tend not to see ELT as a long-term career and
who are therefore unlikely to think of themselves as professionals. They
probably won’t subscribe to ELT journals, they are unlikely to attend ELT
professional conferences, and therefore may be less likely to ‘get the green
message’.

As an example, while Christopher Graham’s blog post is definitely

recommended reading, there’s an underlying problem that he perhaps doesn’t
fully address. When Graham states that “CPD (continuous professional
development) is a priority for most of us”, the ‘us’ he is addressing are ELT
professionals – the few – not the many. Graham also mentions conferences,
and while the ‘need’ for writers and academics to fly regularly to international
conferences deserves to be questioned, those who work in short-term TEFL
jobs are unlikely to have chances to go to them, even if they want to.

Christopher Graham is undoubtedly an ELT professional,  and as far as ELT

professionals are concerned, his argument remains a good one; any efforts
ELT professionals do make to reduce their carbon footprints should be
applauded. However, when cast against the greater ELT picture, such
messages can only go so far. ELT professionals are the minority within a much
wider ELT industry (or, if you prefer, ELT community), and their blogposts and
articles might reach an audience of just a few thousand, most of whom will
already agree with what they read. To truly make ELT ‘green’, it might be
better to stop preaching to the converted and develop a more direct message
that will cause those who consider ELT as an industry – employers,
publishers, owners, investors, and (most) teachers – to consider the damage
they are causing, and to take action.

If ELT is more an industry than a profession, then we perhaps (a) ought to

treat it like one, and (b) might benefit from looking at what other industries
are doing to protect the environment.

Which Industry can ELT be compared with?

Overall, much of ELT and TEFL bears a closer resemblance to the

international travel and tourism industry than to professions such as
university academia or the civil service, especially when - as Copley tells us -
it is presented as an opportunity for (mostly) young native speakers to travel
and experience other countries and cultures. Various well-known course
providers and TEFL agencies advertise teaching English as ‘the key to
unlocking your teaching abroad dreams’, or ‘the perfect way to travel the
world, enjoy a fantastic adventure, and inspire the next generation’, while ‘the
greatest benefit [of a TEFL certificate] is gaining the opportunity to travel’.

It might therefore be pertinent to consider arguments such as those made by

Elizabeth Becker, author of Overbooked  (2012),  which looks at the social
and environmental impact of global mass tourism. Becker’s text is critical of
the environmental degradation and damage caused by mass tourism, and she
describes in detail how destinations such as Venice, Italy and Angkor Wat in
Cambodia have been negatively impacted by having to deal with tens of
thousands of visitors on a daily basis. However, as Becker tells us, there is
some hope. Costa Rica is described as one example of how tourism can be
managed in a way that does not despoil the landscape or the oceans, and the
growing trend toward ecotourism and responsible tourism, though not
without its own problems, is depicted as a potential way forward.

A number of countries have introduced, or are introducing, restrictions on

tourism, and the World Tourism Organization (now the UNWTO) has outlined
the following principles of responsible tourism:

Responsible tourism is tourism which:

-       minimizes negative social, economic and environmental impacts

-       generates greater economic benefits for local people and enhances

the well-being of host communities

-       improves working conditions and access to the industry

-       involves local people in decisions that affect their lives and life
chances

-       makes positive contributions to the conservation of natural and

cultural heritage embracing diversity

-       provides more enjoyable experiences for tourists through more

meaningful connections with local people, and a greater understanding       
of local cultural, social and environmental issues

-       provides access for physically challenged people

-       is culturally sensitive, encourages respect between tourists and

hosts, and builds local pride and confidence
(Cape Town Declaration, 2002, accessed via sustainabletourism.net)

At least some of the above principles could be adapted for a ‘responsible ELT’
code of practice, although it also has to be said that ELT’s similarities to – and
close links with – the more negative side of mass travel and tourism also need
to be questioned. The tendency for many to work in TEFL for just one or two
years leads to a greater number of international flights being taken than would
be the case if those ‘teachers’ considered teaching English to be a long-term
career choice. That trend also causes many short-term TEFL teachers to
never bother trying to properly understand local customs and culture, or to
learn the language(s) their students speak. Those teachers, considering
themselves temporary visitors, remain within their ‘expat bubbles’ and,
through habits such as having new clothes, electronics and books shipped in
from their home countries rather than buying locally, often end up creating an
even bigger carbon footprint than they would if they really got to know their
surroundings.

Travel is and always has been closely linked to ELT, and the ELT industry
could never have reached its present form without the availability of cheap
international flights. This has meant, for example, that the ELT industry
members in Taiwan (in contravention of EU law) might advertise TEFL jobs for
‘native speakers only’, restricting employment to citizens from Australia (over
4000km away), the USA and Canada (over 9500km), the United Kingdom (over
9500km), South Africa (over 11,000 km) and a handful of other faraway
locations whose citizens are deemed to have a suitable command of the
English language. It’s hard to calculate how much pollution is caused by all
those flights, but if we think of a plane that burns 12000 litres of fuel for
1000km, it would need to use up almost 50000 litres of fuel for a single flight
from Darwin, Australia – perhaps the closest place from which ‘native
speakers’ can be sourced – to Taipei.

Even if the TEFL recruit from Darwin is just one of 200 people on the flight, he
or she is responsible for almost 250 litres’ worth of emissions. According to
Christie van Tol of the University of Toronto’s TEFL Online program, over
100,000 English teaching positions open every year. Not all of them will be
filled by speakers recruited from other countries, but a significant number will.
When we think of all those ‘newbies’ being recruited into language teaching,
most of whom come from locations over 10,000 kilometres from the places
where they will be working, and who will require at least one return flight per
year, that’s a lot  of emissions. If half of those new TEFL jobs go to new
NESTs recruited from their home countries, even if they all came from Darwin,
that would be… 12,500,000 litres’ worth of emissions. That’s about five
Olympic-sized swimming pools, just for the outbound flights.
Admittedly, this is a somewhat crude calculation but the point, I hope, is
clear: environmental responsibility in ELT is tied in with the trends toward
native speakerism and the portrayal of ELT as an ‘adventure’ for young
westerners – the very same things that Adrian Holliday and Robert Phillipson
have been criticizing for decades. Those who make excuses for the hiring of
unqualified ‘native speakers’ ahead of so-called ‘NNESTs’ often say that it’s
‘what the market wants’, but as the travel industry – and some other
industries- have discovered, what the market ‘wants’ is often not what’s best
for the world. As Christopher Graham does mention in his article, a switch of
focus toward localization might help to reduce ELT’s carbon footprint by
encouraging employers to hire locally where possible, and if international
recruitment was deemed necessary, to look at qualifications and experience –
evidence that the job candidate is a professional - rather than nationality.
After all, if your own country already has many decent, well-qualified,
dedicated teachers, why fly someone else in from the other side of the world?

At the same time, if you are (or want to be) a decent, well-qualified, dedicated
teacher, why should you have to fly to the other side of the world to prove it?

Why going online may be ELT’s best option

Over the past fifteen years or so, teaching English online has exploded in
popularity among both learners and teachers. This option allows teachers to
provide English language lessons without having to travel thousands of
kilometres from their home countries – you might not even have to leave your
own home. Learners do not have to travel either, and may find online learning
more convenient than the alternative. However, it is a section of ELT that
remains largely unregulated and is one where the ‘industry’ side of things is
far more dominant than the ‘professional’ side. Discrimination against non
native speakers – and even among native speakers – remains common, while
salaries are often low, with online teachers often employed on a ‘freelance’ or
‘zero hours’ basis, rather than being offered a formal contract with
employment rights. Not every online ELT employer is unscrupulous or
dishonest – some are excellent, and of course many teachers go truly
freelance and set up their own online schools.

If the existing negative portrayal of (much of) online ELT were to change, it
might become part of the solution to the climate crisis. This may in fact be the
best option, and it is therefore worth encouraging, or perhaps pressurizing, the
big stakeholders in the ELT industry to shake online ELT up a little bit, shifting
it away from its current unregulated ‘wild west’ state to one which would
attract, train, develop and sustain ELT professionals. ELT then could, like
globalisation, continue, but virtually.

From a green perspective, a greater focus on online teaching would be a huge

plus. While it’s true that online teaching does have a carbon footprint of its
own - see climatecare.org for a helpful infographic – there’s an advantage in
the fact that a teacher living and working in Manchester can teach students in
just about any location worldwide without having to leave their own home
-  no long-haul flights necessary. Online classes do not have to be one-to-one,
as software and hardware now enable multiple connections, nor do they have
to be ‘live’, as various platforms allow teachers to record lessons (or entire
courses) for learners to watch later. And online ELT isn’t just about teaching –
entire conferences can be (and are) conducted via the internet. Similarly
training courses including entire Master’s degrees and core components of
both the Cambridge Delta and Trinity DipTESOL; staff meetings; interviews;
and tests and assessments have gone ‘virtual’. Meanwhile, one publisher
recently announced that its entire coursebook range would become solely
digital within the next few years, and others are expected to follow suit.  

Online teaching isn’t for everyone - some teachers will always prefer teaching
‘face-to-face’, and some learners will always prefer learning that way. Others
will be happy to try a mix of the two. It’s extremely unlikely that the physical
classroom will ever be entirely replaced by the virtual one, nor should we
want it to be. Nevertheless, when we consider the global climate crisis, there
simply is no justification for hiring new teachers from ‘native speaking’
countries when local teachers are almost certainly available, and if they are
not, the next best option has to be going online rather than importing teachers
from faraway countries at a terrible cost to the environment.  

In summary, to minimize ELT’s carbon footprint, it may be better to promote

online teaching, learning, training, development and assessment, and to
promote them as part of a real career in its own right, rather than something
anyone can do to supplement their income, usually on a short-term basis. If
this were to be done, a greater number of future ELT professionals would look
at it as a way of embarking on their chosen career without having to leave
their home countries, and some of those ‘Olympic swimming pools’ of oil
would remain exactly where they belong - under the ground.

Useful links:

Online teaching jobs

Carbon calculator

The 44 people changing the way we travel

ELT Footprint blog

Open University: The environmental impact of learning and teaching course

Martin Cooke

Martin Cooke lives and works in Kaohsiung, southern Taiwan, where he

teaches on an intensive Business skills and foreign language programme for
Taiwanese university graduates. He has been teaching EFL for almost a
decade. His interests include ESP, Business English, teacher development,
action research, creativity in language learning and cultural awareness.

Transitioning from the in-person

to the online classroom
6th August 2019

By Mary Catharine Breadner

Working from home, flexible hours, customize your own classroom – becoming
an online English teacher is so appealing, and there are lots of opportunities
to get started. In this article, I will go through some of the most important
changes and considerations I had to make when moving from the in-person to
the online classroom. I believe that the rapport with students and sharing in
students’ success is very similar, teaching online can be a very rewarding
experience.

School or freelancer

The first thing to consider is are you going to freelance or are you going to
seek teaching at an online school. Working as a freelancer will give you the
ultimate in flexibility, ability to create your own schedule and freedom to
create your own lessons. Like me, if you have spent time working in a very
structured environment, the opportunity to use your creativity and apply some
new techniques is appealing. However, remember that planning, timetabling,
and ensuring students are getting a cohesive, comprehensive course is quite
difficult and without the proper experience and research it could be
overwhelming. As a freelancer you will only be paid for your face-to-face time,
all the preparation and research are going to be on your shoulders.

Working for an online school can be quite similar to a brick and mortar school.
There is generally a curriculum development department or head, and they
will at minimum give you timetable with expectations for content. There are
also schools that will provide you with absolutely everything, included all
lessons predesigned. Your sole responsibility will be to deliver the content
and prepare yourself with any background research. It is really important to
ask during your interview, what the expectations are for you around planning
and delivering content. And depending on your experience and comfort level
you may be looking for something different. There are many options for online
schools, so read reviews, check out what both students and teachers are
saying, this will give you a good starting point before you start the application
process.

The application process and onboarding at online schools can seem long and
cumbersome, but these mock and observed teaching experiences are an
opportunity for you to learn about the expectations, the teaching platform, and
the curriculum. I find that having access to an observation session really
helped me grow as an online teacher. This feedback will be really important
as you start online for the first time.

Teaching platform

The teaching platform is one of the most important parts of your virtual
classroom, and in order to increase student participation, you will need to
think about how you can leverage the teaching platform and the materials you
use.

Some platforms include functions for rewards, which can allow you to give
extra encouragement during the lesson. Younger learners often really enjoy
the extra praise, if your platform doesn’t have a reward system, you will need
to think about physical rewards you will show students on camera. This can
include surprise questions, stars that you hang in the background, or other
creative games. There are many suggestions online for rewards, but from my
experience, this is a really important tool for young learners online.

Other platform features are share screen options, this is essential if you
prepare slides or handouts for learners. If nothing else, this is the most basic
function you will require. I also recommend looking for a platform that has a
chatbox, this is a great way to type in new vocabulary, offer correction, and
even do some writing practice with your students. I also find a ‘freeze screen
or pause sharing’ helpful, this will allow you to flip through your materials, or
look at your lesson plan quickly during a class without the student seeing. It is
also really beneficial to have a touch screen that you can write or highlight on
for the students. Especially with lower-level learners, the ability to draw their
attention to text is really helpful.

Chances are you will have to go with whatever platform your school uses, if
you are on your own, I encourage you to look up some options. I personally
use Skype because it is very easy, and most of my students already have
experience using it. However, if you are willing to pay for a platform there are
many options out there. Take your time, and read reviews, choosing a platform
will have a big impact on your classroom environment and lesson planning.

Lesson Planning

Virtual schools often have their own curriculum, courses, and lessons
planned. As a teacher, you will be responsible for reviewing, and preparing
yourself to deliver the materials. I would like to throw out a word of caution,
although lessons are prepared you will still need to think and plan how you are
going to teach the lesson. Following someone else’s lesson plan isn’t always
as straightforward as you may think, and if you haven’t taught a class online
before, eliciting and concept checking can be different in the virtual
environment. You will need to consider if props, puppets, TPR, or realia might
be needed. I use my whiteboard during most lessons.

If you are planning your own lessons, you will be at an advantage when
delivering, because you most certainly have a better sense of the overall
lesson objectives. Music and videos are still very useful in the online
classroom, you will just have to consider different things like screen sharing,
download speeds of your student(s), among others.

One-on-one teaching is often what is pictured online, but you may also be
teaching larger groups. So, you will need to consider how to keep everyone
engaged. It may also be possible that you are connected to several students
who are all in separate locations, or that you are being broadcast to a larger
group of students. Building in some ways to deal with your connection
situation and the interactions students will have, will help you in classroom
management.

Kids online – parents online

There are many opportunities to work with kids online, and if you enjoy
working with children you will love the online environment. You will be able to
use costumes, puppets, and so many other props to engage children. You can
also decorate your classroom for kids, I like to put up decorations and other
fun backgrounds to keep kids engaged. Rewards will also be an important part
of your teaching, I use lots of simple rewards systems, my students get used
to the ones I use and then I can introduce them quickly during all my lessons.
Unlike my in-person classroom, I use lots of TPR and hand gestures to convey
meaning. In the online classroom, acting and eliciting using gestures seems to
come more naturally and doesn’t seem so silly!

With children, you are also going to interact with parents. And like many
teachers already know, parents have high expectations about what their
children are learning. As a freelancer, I often have interactions with parents
over email, they want feedback and also want to ensure that their children are
progressing. With very young learners, parents will often be sitting with them
or at least in the same room while their child is online. You will need to think
about how to get a student re-focused or engaged if things go off track. Once
a child is accustomed to the classroom, most of these issues will fade with
time. Be prepared that things might not always go as planned.

Feedback – immediate and consistent – for you and the student

One aspect of online teaching that I absolutely love, is the feedback cycle.
You will be giving your student feedback after each lesson. This is rewarding
for students, and also helps you address issues that are short-term or long-
term. Unlike the in-person classroom, there are clear and focused
opportunities to engage with students one-on-one after each lesson.
Remember, if you are working for a school, talk to them about their feedback
system, and ask whether or not you will be compensated for this time.
Lengthy feedback expectations could become a burden, but quick immediate
feedback is a great way to keep on track with your students’ overall learning
progression.

While I enjoy giving feedback, you must also be aware that many online
schools give the opportunity for students and/or their parents to also provide
immediate lesson feedback. When you are first starting out, one or two low
reviews can really impact your overall average. Remember that this feedback
often includes some written comments, take it seriously and try to constantly
improve your teaching. I found this difficult at the start. However, over time,
this feedback will help you to make your lessons more effective and
interactive.

Final thoughts
There is still so much more to talk about in the online teaching world, these
are just a few things you will need to consider when you decide to make the
transition. I have heard people say that online education will be the future and
that we need to adapt to evolving technology. And although I couldn’t agree
more that we need to adapt, whether it be bringing technology into the brick
and mortar classroom or using technology for a virtual one, the principles are
the same.  As EFL teachers we can provide, facilitate, and support successful
learning in many environments.

> Latest Online Teaching Jobs

Mary Catharine Breadner

Mary Catherine is an EFL freelance teacher, currently living and working in

Portugal. She works with students of all ages, in both the in-person and online
classroom. In her free time, she loves to travel and spend time with her family.

The Surge to Online Teaching

29th July 2019

By Jock Howson

There is a mini-crisis looming in the world of English Language teaching.

Most companies which play in this area are still operating on the traditional
business model. They have very expensive training centres filled with very
expensive teaching staff, delivering very expensively designed and created
training courses – always run on a very expensive computer network and
displayed on different sizes and shapes of displays, some small and basic,
some large and interactive, but all pretty expensive.

As you will have surmised from the previous paragraph, the traditional face-to-
face English Language Training Business model is very cost intensive – which
explains, in part at least, why these companies charge such large sums for
their English Language Training Courses, and are so intensely focused on
maintaining their revenue stream.  

The reasons behind this behaviour are clear. These are high throughput, high
student-turnover organisations with very high monthly costs, operating within
very tight margins in a very competitive market. The pressure is always on,
and the first optional-extra costs which are thrown onto the  ‘maybe-
someday ’ pile are customer care and service quality assurance.

So the market is ripe for change, purely because of the threat posed to the
existing high-cost model by the current migration trend to online training.

The Students

Surprisingly perhaps, the idea of remote learning has in fact been around for
almost 70 years. Given Australia’s unique population distribution profile,
where 95% of the population live within a few miles of the coast and everyone
else lives in the middle of nowhere, it is not surprising that they came up with
a way of educating those children who lived many miles from the nearest
school.

The first School of the Air was started in Alice Springs in 1951, based on

providing direct one-to-many teaching using HF radio communication with
children on remote farms and cattle stations. The service is still in place
today all over central Australia, still using radio where that is the only
available way of talking to the students. Broadband provision is mostly non-
existent in these remote areas, and satellite based internet systems run
expensive.

Today, 98% plus of any population outside the jungles and deserts of Africa
and South America will have a smart phone more-or-less cemented to their
hand. They look to their phone to provide them with everything: information,
social networking, money, entertainment, and even communication.

For them, the additional move to building education into their daily mobile
schedule is a natural and un-contentious next-step, especially for younger
students who have already seen the beginnings of this in school. (For many
years schools fought against phones – attempting to lock them away in broom
cupboards to try to get the kids to listen to the teacher. Today most schools
recognise the futility of this kind of regimen, and build the mobile phone into
their lesson planning and lesson management.)

So, for many students the idea of moving to an online teaching system seems
natural; the logical next step. However life is never quite that simple. Almost
all these students remember having an actual teacher in the class for their
lessons at school and college. It felt natural, it seemed to be effective, and
there seems to be an extra level of added-value and added-comfort which
stems from the ability to go up and have a quiet word in the teacher’s ear, or
have them come up and have a quiet word in yours.

There still seems to be a strong underlying suspicion that perhaps online-only

teaching is not as effective and not as valuable as real-time classroom
teaching. On the other hand, if it is much cheaper, much more convenient and
much more flexible than classroom based teaching, as online learning
certainly promises to be, then perhaps that more than offsets the
effectiveness question.

One other point to consider with regard to the student side of this equation
though, is the whole question of social interaction. Most classroom-based
language schools focus very strongly on building a friendly, caring-sharing
attitude in their training centres, with lots of small low-cost ideas and events
encouraged to build the idea of teamwork and confraternity.

The original idea behind this was to encourage the students to build up
relationships within their classes, which would give them additional reason for
wanting to keep coming back to the school, and might encourage them to sign
up for further tuition. This is still true of course, but an important additional
element has now been added.

Many younger students tend to live more and more as online only creatures,
with little in the way of real-world interaction. The idea behind the social side
of Language Schools is currently aimed at providing these people with a
communal space where they can use and practice their English in the real
world, not simply online – and they are encouraged to believe that using
English in the real world, talking to real people face-to-face, is better for their
English, though it is rarely made clear why this might be true. This is one of
the ways that classroom based EFL centres are attempting to turn back the
rising internet tide.

The Schools
The very large language training companies with which we are all familiar,
have only quite recently realised that the internet represents an existential
threat to their operations. However the problem they face is quite simple and
should have been obvious to them all along.

We are all now living in the Convenience Age. Everything – EVERYTHING! – is

available to us through a few quick taps and swipes on our phone – and yet,
for some reason, if we want to learn English we are expected to actually
physically go to an office somewhere and watch and listen to a teacher play
with their technology, as opposed to using our own technology and doing most
of this stuff over WeChat, or Skype, or Zoom or Facebook.

For some people the idea of actually having a teacher in front of them and a
group of classmates around them to work on communication with, is a high
value proposition; but for many more people this set up is an embarrassing
inconvenience which they would much rather do without, being quite content
to simply log-in, participate at the level they feel comfortable with, and then
log-out and get on with the rest of their life – virtual or otherwise.

The big language companies are finding it very hard to cope with these
pressures. Small new online English language companies are popping up every
day, with a very low cost-base and a highly flexible approach – deliver what
the customer asks for, at a very low price, and in the comfort of their own
phone.

Most of the big boys have tried or are trying to roll-out their own internet
based solution, based on their name, market position and reputation. The two
problems they face though is that they have to try to do this without
cannibalising their existing user-base, and their need to avoid shifting most
new customers to the new lower-cost online model. They still need to fill their
classrooms and pay their rent.

The Final Nail

Real-time on-line video communication has been around for nearly forty years,
but only recently have network capacity and video transport technologies
been sufficiently well aligned to allow for at least reasonable on-screen
performance with the likes of FaceTime, Skype, Zoom and WeChat – but
bandwidth has always been the Achilles Heel of this kind of application:
resulting in poor frame rates, poor synchronisation and link-loss.

All of this system friability will disappear in the next 18 months with the
widespread introduction of 5G Technology – after which time the ability of any
training organisation to deliver very high quality one-to-one or one-to-many
video training links will have become, to all intents and purposes, free.

In my view, the introduction of 5G technology will be the death knell of the

large scale in-class Language Training schools we have become accustomed
to. Between now and the end of 2020 I think we will see large scale closures
or at least re-purposing of most of the high-street Language Training premises
which currently dot the high streets of cities from Belfast to Beijing, via
Berlin, Beirut and Belo Horizonte.

I am sure some of the big names in language training will survive this lurch to
the web, though in very different form, but the real problem they will face is
that this is just the beginning.

 Immediately on the tail of 5G, we’ll see the introduction of learning-machine

based AI teaching-systems. These will be able to ask students questions,
work out their language learning requirements just by analysing the words
they use to formulate their answers, and then deliver individually tailored
course material specifically  designed to sort out the student’s grammar,
vocabulary, sentence structures and accent, all at the same time. Human
teachers will still be required - to coach, remind, advise and encourage, but
not to compete with the AI’s level of language capability.

> Latest Online Teaching Jobs

Jock Howson

Jock has spent most of his life wandering around the world, and is currently
living in China again – this time in Shenzhen. A senior executive in various IT
companies for several years, Jock specialises in teaching Business English.