Tips For How To Develop As A Teacher
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Maybe you’ve done your TEFL course and now you have some real teaching experience under your belt. You’re feeling confident in the classroom and you know your way around a coursebook. Lesson planning doesn’t take nearly as long as it used to and you even have a few activities up your sleeve for those emergency situations.
So what now? Your school offers monthly CPD sessions but you don’t find them very stimulating, and you have a nagging feeling that you should be doing more. You can feel yourself starting to lose interest in your job and you know you need to find some way to challenge yourself – you just don’t know where to start.
If this sounds like you, then you’ve come to the right place! Here’s how you can take charge of your own development so you don’t find yourself stagnating in the classroom.
Read
There are loads of amazing books available that you can read to update your TEFL knowledge or brush up on any areas you don’t usually focus on. The How To…Series by Pearson is a great place to start. You can choose the general How To Teach English or one of the many others: How To Teach Pronunciation, How To Teach Vocabulary or How To Teach English With Technology, to name a few. Visit the websites of the usual suspects in the ELT publishing world and check out their catalogues to see what ELT titles they have to offer.
Of course, reading doesn’t always have to mean books. Follow some big names in the blogosphere and you will be updated regularly with new research, innovative ideas and up-to-date opinions.
A few of our favourites: EFL magazine, Demand High ELT, English Language Teaching Global Blog, British Council
Or subscribe to a few ELT magazines and journals. ET Professional, IATEFL Voices, Modern English Teacher and EFL Magazine are just a few you should take a look at. If you’re so inclined you could even submit an article to be published!
Do a course
No need to take time off work to attend a course; you can simply do one online. Coursera and FutureLearn offer free courses, while Cambridge English Teacher offers loads of courses for a small fee. Most courses will send you a Certificate of Attendance, which looks really good on your CV.
Attend a conference
If you can, attending a conference is a great way to network, meet like-minded people and be exposed to the latest thoughts and ideas in TEFL. If you don’t have the funds or the time to attend a live conference, a webinar is similar to a conference but it’s online, so you “attend” the conference whenever you want.
Continuing your professional development is something that needs to be taken seriously if you are considering a career in TEFL. Thankfully, there are many ways you can further your studies without working 24/7 and without breaking the bank. Even if you only do one or two of these ideas, your teaching will improve, and your students will thank you.
Accreditation & Quality Assurance
The TEFL Academy was the world’s first TEFL course provider to receive official recognition from government regulated awarding bodies in both the USA and UK. This means when you graduate you’ll hold a globally recognised Level 3 (120hr) Certificate or Level 5 (168hr) Diploma, meaning you can find work anywhere and apply for jobs immediately.