Hi all, thanks for dropping by. To make things easier, I've decided to merge some of my blogs, which, including this one, can now be found at ELT World. I've been getting off my backsides and writing recently, so come over to the new URL and leave lots of lovely comments.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Monday, August 18, 2008
Classic Articles: Secrets of those that do the TEFL Hiring
In celebration of the upcoming release of the fifth edition of Horizons Journal, I've decided to revisit some of the classic articles from the first four issues. In this article, we look at what you need to ask at your TEFL interview:
In March, Mishmumkin raised an issue of great significance to those of us who are looking for that dream TEFL job or are considering starting out in the profession: 'If I've done my research correctly I should know a great deal about my potential employer before the interview. I'm curious what those who do the hiring wish their candidates asked about.'
So, what are recruiters expecting from their prospective employees at the interview? The forum members shared their wealth of experience in offering the following words of great wisdom. Here's what those in the position to hire feel you should be asking your future employer at that interview:
Ask what you NEED to know
First and foremost, there is a consensus that you really need to ask what's important to you as the employee: don't assume that the person interviewing you knows what your priorities are. MELEE notes that, 'mostly I'm just listening to see what they ask me. That will tell me what's important to them (the students, the curriculum, resources, housing, benefits, vacation time, etc.). I do the interviews individually, but then report back to a panel - that conversation always includes letting the others know what questions were asked by the candidate.' When applying for a job it's easy to forget that, while it's a one of event for you as the potential employee, the person doing the hiring is having the same interaction many, many times and, as noted earlier, is probably under time constraints. Therefore they are likely to try to get what they need from the encounter, leaving you to ask the questions you personally need answering. Justin Trullinger exemplifies the kind of things that he, from experience, feels teachers should ask at the interview:
'I do the hiring at the organisation where I work. It's not that I have a list of questions I want you to ask, because I don't know what's important to you but I feel very strongly that you SHOULD ask about whatever is. Some of the worst problems I've had with teachers have had to do with things that were important to them that they didn't find out about beforehand, or didn't ask for more details.'
Some examples:
1 Clothing:
Teachers placed in elementary schools through us wear uniforms. They are told about this before hiring, and asked if they are okay with it. Depending on the school, these uniforms vary - some are very smart suit looking things, but some, especially at lower income schools, are sweatsuits with school logos. One teacher, very appearance conscious, was so horrified by wearing a sweatsuit that she was unable to continue, and we had to negotiate special permission for her to wear her own clothes. This made all the parents think she was the principal. It was a mess. Personally, I don't care what I wear, and would love to have a uniform, any uniform that meant I wouldn't have to shop for clothes, or try to figure out what color tie goes with things...but to her, it was an issue. She should have asked.
2 Costs of living:
Some things are very cheap in Ecuador. Some are more expensive. Computers are first world prices or higher. Having read online that the cost of living in Ecuador is low (in terms of rent and food, it is) one teacher decided rather than bringing a computer, to buy one here. But here, lap tops are high end luxury without much selection. He should have asked.
3 Housing:
We don't provide housing - but many of our teachers share apartments with each other - which is clearly stated in our pre-interview literature. This is because Ecuadorian apartments are mostly large family or multifamily units, and it would be hard to afford one on your own. A teacher who doesn't like to share simply assumed that he could find his own, and anticipated finding an apartment for the same cost as a room in a shared unit. Not a chance. Then he complains that it's hard to make ends meet...should have asked.
4 Teaching conditions:
Our teachers are expected to use text books, but not to spend the whole course using only textbooks. They also have to be creative and come up with their own supplementary activities and materials. Payment for this is included in their hourly rate - they are not paid for extra hours for doing it. This is standard enough that I didn't make an issue of it, though again, it says in the package that "teaching hours are paid for at $X per hour, and that this rate includes preparation..." Again, if this is a problem, ask, let's talk beforehand. Likewise, if you have any financial obligations outside of the country, like student loan payments, it would be good to ask about how feasible that is...
To that list I'd certainly want to add medical insurance and, if you're thinking about staying in a country for an extended period of time, you might also want to look into their policies regarding work permits and social security contributions. Those of you who're new to teaching may find it hard to believe but some of us end up staying for good. It would be a shame to find out several years down the line that you've been living illegally and that you're presence in a country is no longer welcome, or that what could have become a reasonable state pension to supplement your retirement doesn't exist as your employers never registered you. Ask!
Post-interview questions
Of course, sometimes as the interviewee, you're going to feel overwhelmed by the situation. A natural consequence of this is forgetting to ask the questions that you really need answering, as Emma notes, 'I've found in interviews that the interviewer has told me so much information about the school and teaching methods that I really can't think of anything when asked if I have questions. To ask about obvious stuff like salary when I haven't been offered a job seems presumptuous.' This issue of asking about salary is something that I'll return to later. Emma also asked the following question on the forum:
'How do you feel about teachers coming back and asking questions before accepting the post?'
MELEE replied thus, reiterating the need to be time conscious, 'I think it's great. I'd rather teachers ask only 2 or 3 of the most important questions in the interview, but that's because we interview over the phone and I'm under pressure to try to keep the calls around 30 minutes. I welcome additional questions by email, no matter how many. The sooner the better because really I'm using those questions to decide whether or not I'm going to make you an offer.' Something I've always done at the end of an interview is ask the interviewer if I can make additional contact after our meeting, primarily because I experience the kind of information overload that Emma mentions. As MELEE quite clearly states, this is beneficial to both parties.
Time (not) to talk money
Now onto the issue that's almost always at the bottom line, salary. Gordon shares his thoughts on the matter:
'Prospective applicants should not ask about salary until they are offered the job. On the other hand, applicants should have a pretty good idea of the salary at this point anyways. I won't apply for a job unless I have a decent idea of the salary range, in many cases it would be a waste of everyone's time. I hate it when jobs don't give the salary in the ad or at least the salary range.' It's not impossible these days to get a fairly good idea of what you can expect to earn in a particular country or even at a certain school. Asking questions at the ELT World Forums is one good way to learn such information. Sherri adds, 'I don't see why the salary should be such a big secret. I always tell the applicants what they can expect to make. I usually tell them over the phone before we schedule the interview. There is a pay scale so it is easy to figure out. All teachers have a copy of the pay scale once hired. If it looks like the interview is going well, I tell them how often they will be paid and when they can expect their first pay check. This is especially important for people who are relocating for a job.' I also chipped in with a recommendation which has always seen me right in the past:
'I think it's appropriate for the interviewee to raise the issue, such as, 'I'm sure once you've made your decision about hiring me, we can talk in more detail about the salary and benefits package you offer.' This lets the interviewer know that while this isn't your only motivation for wanting the job, it is something that they expect to be informed about in detail at some point.'
Gordon summarises the issue perfectly when he states, 'I think one doesn't want to appear as though money is the most important factor in the job decision, whereas we all know that it is.' I would make it clear that you will want to have a clear idea about the kind of money you'll be earning without making that the sole purpose for you having turned up for the interview.
How can you prepare for the interview?
What can you do before the interview? Gordon again offers advice:
'Before an interview, I write a list of things (housing, resources, etc) that I want answered before deciding to take a job. Then, during the interview I take copious notes, and if the interview hasn't answered my questions, I ask them at the question time. Although, just thinking about it now, I haven't had a face to face interview for years now, so its easy to have my little list and notebook. Not sure how that would go down in a face to face interview.'
While Gordon may not have tried this in a face to face interview, this is a tactic that I myself have used and find that it has been received well. If you've taken the time to sit down and make a note of what you need to know from this potential employer, it gives the impression that you're serious about wanting the job.
Another thing that makes a good impression is showing that you've given some thought about how you'll fit in to the school. Sherri exemplifies, 'I must admit, I like it when people ask about the students. I like it when they ask about the work atmosphere, but how the teachers work together, if they share and support each other. I like it if they show an interest in our program and show that they at least looked at our website.' For the interview I had for my present job, I printed off the school's entire website, annotated the points that interested me and highlighted other information I wanted to ask about. While there was no way for me to get through more than one or two points that I'd noted, it gave the impression that I'd really thought about why I wanted to work here, and was told as much later.
Don't waste their time
Let's now briefly assume you've been offered a job. Having noted earlier that recruiters appreciate you asking questions that will help you decide if you're going to take the position, think about whether or not you're realistically thinking of taking the position before making secondary contact. MELEE explains: 'If I make the offer, then you hit me with questions that lead me to believe that this is not the best position for you, then you've wasted my time because I need to give you adequate time before I offer it to someone else rather than you.' Think, at some point it could be you who misses out on an interview because someone was wasting the recruiter's time mulling over an offer they didn't intend to take.
One thing you also really need to do is prioritise what you need to ask. The interviewer will want to make a decision about you just as much as you want to decide if you want the job. One sure way to put off the person deciding whether or not to hire you will be asking questions to which you could easily find the answers elsewhere. Think about this: what would you rather know about, the number of hours you could expect to work in an average week or the colour of the tiles in the bathroom of the apartment you'll be sharing? Prioritise what you need to learn about the school. Yaramaz explains this issue, referring to a recent incident in her efforts to recruit teachers:
'We just recently recruiting for next term and have had an interesting time poring over applications. One woman included a jpeg list of over 100 questions for us to answer-- not even in word or PDF format! How can we even begin to answer 147 questions on a jpeg??? And most were really pointless questions that could be googled or asked in the interview, like "Do you have a photocopier?' and 'what is the climate of your city?' Aaaaagh!'
Aaaaaagh indeed. Imagine how you would feel if you received such a list of questions at a time when you've got to interview numerous people. How much priority would you give to someone who asked questions to which they could so easily find the answers themselves? I'll conclude by returning to the advice of Justin Trullinger: 'It isn't a question of what you should ask - but ask everything that YOU need to know. I may not know what's important to you, but it's important that you ask about what you need to know. Do not assume! Whatever you need to know in order to make an adequate decision, you'll need to ask.'
Use and distribution of this article is permitted subject to no changes being made to the content and appropriate hyperlinks/URL references in place.
In March, Mishmumkin raised an issue of great significance to those of us who are looking for that dream TEFL job or are considering starting out in the profession: 'If I've done my research correctly I should know a great deal about my potential employer before the interview. I'm curious what those who do the hiring wish their candidates asked about.'
So, what are recruiters expecting from their prospective employees at the interview? The forum members shared their wealth of experience in offering the following words of great wisdom. Here's what those in the position to hire feel you should be asking your future employer at that interview:
Ask what you NEED to know
First and foremost, there is a consensus that you really need to ask what's important to you as the employee: don't assume that the person interviewing you knows what your priorities are. MELEE notes that, 'mostly I'm just listening to see what they ask me. That will tell me what's important to them (the students, the curriculum, resources, housing, benefits, vacation time, etc.). I do the interviews individually, but then report back to a panel - that conversation always includes letting the others know what questions were asked by the candidate.' When applying for a job it's easy to forget that, while it's a one of event for you as the potential employee, the person doing the hiring is having the same interaction many, many times and, as noted earlier, is probably under time constraints. Therefore they are likely to try to get what they need from the encounter, leaving you to ask the questions you personally need answering. Justin Trullinger exemplifies the kind of things that he, from experience, feels teachers should ask at the interview:
'I do the hiring at the organisation where I work. It's not that I have a list of questions I want you to ask, because I don't know what's important to you but I feel very strongly that you SHOULD ask about whatever is. Some of the worst problems I've had with teachers have had to do with things that were important to them that they didn't find out about beforehand, or didn't ask for more details.'
Some examples:
1 Clothing:
Teachers placed in elementary schools through us wear uniforms. They are told about this before hiring, and asked if they are okay with it. Depending on the school, these uniforms vary - some are very smart suit looking things, but some, especially at lower income schools, are sweatsuits with school logos. One teacher, very appearance conscious, was so horrified by wearing a sweatsuit that she was unable to continue, and we had to negotiate special permission for her to wear her own clothes. This made all the parents think she was the principal. It was a mess. Personally, I don't care what I wear, and would love to have a uniform, any uniform that meant I wouldn't have to shop for clothes, or try to figure out what color tie goes with things...but to her, it was an issue. She should have asked.
2 Costs of living:
Some things are very cheap in Ecuador. Some are more expensive. Computers are first world prices or higher. Having read online that the cost of living in Ecuador is low (in terms of rent and food, it is) one teacher decided rather than bringing a computer, to buy one here. But here, lap tops are high end luxury without much selection. He should have asked.
3 Housing:
We don't provide housing - but many of our teachers share apartments with each other - which is clearly stated in our pre-interview literature. This is because Ecuadorian apartments are mostly large family or multifamily units, and it would be hard to afford one on your own. A teacher who doesn't like to share simply assumed that he could find his own, and anticipated finding an apartment for the same cost as a room in a shared unit. Not a chance. Then he complains that it's hard to make ends meet...should have asked.
4 Teaching conditions:
Our teachers are expected to use text books, but not to spend the whole course using only textbooks. They also have to be creative and come up with their own supplementary activities and materials. Payment for this is included in their hourly rate - they are not paid for extra hours for doing it. This is standard enough that I didn't make an issue of it, though again, it says in the package that "teaching hours are paid for at $X per hour, and that this rate includes preparation..." Again, if this is a problem, ask, let's talk beforehand. Likewise, if you have any financial obligations outside of the country, like student loan payments, it would be good to ask about how feasible that is...
To that list I'd certainly want to add medical insurance and, if you're thinking about staying in a country for an extended period of time, you might also want to look into their policies regarding work permits and social security contributions. Those of you who're new to teaching may find it hard to believe but some of us end up staying for good. It would be a shame to find out several years down the line that you've been living illegally and that you're presence in a country is no longer welcome, or that what could have become a reasonable state pension to supplement your retirement doesn't exist as your employers never registered you. Ask!
Post-interview questions
Of course, sometimes as the interviewee, you're going to feel overwhelmed by the situation. A natural consequence of this is forgetting to ask the questions that you really need answering, as Emma notes, 'I've found in interviews that the interviewer has told me so much information about the school and teaching methods that I really can't think of anything when asked if I have questions. To ask about obvious stuff like salary when I haven't been offered a job seems presumptuous.' This issue of asking about salary is something that I'll return to later. Emma also asked the following question on the forum:
'How do you feel about teachers coming back and asking questions before accepting the post?'
MELEE replied thus, reiterating the need to be time conscious, 'I think it's great. I'd rather teachers ask only 2 or 3 of the most important questions in the interview, but that's because we interview over the phone and I'm under pressure to try to keep the calls around 30 minutes. I welcome additional questions by email, no matter how many. The sooner the better because really I'm using those questions to decide whether or not I'm going to make you an offer.' Something I've always done at the end of an interview is ask the interviewer if I can make additional contact after our meeting, primarily because I experience the kind of information overload that Emma mentions. As MELEE quite clearly states, this is beneficial to both parties.
Time (not) to talk money
Now onto the issue that's almost always at the bottom line, salary. Gordon shares his thoughts on the matter:
'Prospective applicants should not ask about salary until they are offered the job. On the other hand, applicants should have a pretty good idea of the salary at this point anyways. I won't apply for a job unless I have a decent idea of the salary range, in many cases it would be a waste of everyone's time. I hate it when jobs don't give the salary in the ad or at least the salary range.' It's not impossible these days to get a fairly good idea of what you can expect to earn in a particular country or even at a certain school. Asking questions at the ELT World Forums is one good way to learn such information. Sherri adds, 'I don't see why the salary should be such a big secret. I always tell the applicants what they can expect to make. I usually tell them over the phone before we schedule the interview. There is a pay scale so it is easy to figure out. All teachers have a copy of the pay scale once hired. If it looks like the interview is going well, I tell them how often they will be paid and when they can expect their first pay check. This is especially important for people who are relocating for a job.' I also chipped in with a recommendation which has always seen me right in the past:
'I think it's appropriate for the interviewee to raise the issue, such as, 'I'm sure once you've made your decision about hiring me, we can talk in more detail about the salary and benefits package you offer.' This lets the interviewer know that while this isn't your only motivation for wanting the job, it is something that they expect to be informed about in detail at some point.'
Gordon summarises the issue perfectly when he states, 'I think one doesn't want to appear as though money is the most important factor in the job decision, whereas we all know that it is.' I would make it clear that you will want to have a clear idea about the kind of money you'll be earning without making that the sole purpose for you having turned up for the interview.
How can you prepare for the interview?
What can you do before the interview? Gordon again offers advice:
'Before an interview, I write a list of things (housing, resources, etc) that I want answered before deciding to take a job. Then, during the interview I take copious notes, and if the interview hasn't answered my questions, I ask them at the question time. Although, just thinking about it now, I haven't had a face to face interview for years now, so its easy to have my little list and notebook. Not sure how that would go down in a face to face interview.'
While Gordon may not have tried this in a face to face interview, this is a tactic that I myself have used and find that it has been received well. If you've taken the time to sit down and make a note of what you need to know from this potential employer, it gives the impression that you're serious about wanting the job.
Another thing that makes a good impression is showing that you've given some thought about how you'll fit in to the school. Sherri exemplifies, 'I must admit, I like it when people ask about the students. I like it when they ask about the work atmosphere, but how the teachers work together, if they share and support each other. I like it if they show an interest in our program and show that they at least looked at our website.' For the interview I had for my present job, I printed off the school's entire website, annotated the points that interested me and highlighted other information I wanted to ask about. While there was no way for me to get through more than one or two points that I'd noted, it gave the impression that I'd really thought about why I wanted to work here, and was told as much later.
Don't waste their time
Let's now briefly assume you've been offered a job. Having noted earlier that recruiters appreciate you asking questions that will help you decide if you're going to take the position, think about whether or not you're realistically thinking of taking the position before making secondary contact. MELEE explains: 'If I make the offer, then you hit me with questions that lead me to believe that this is not the best position for you, then you've wasted my time because I need to give you adequate time before I offer it to someone else rather than you.' Think, at some point it could be you who misses out on an interview because someone was wasting the recruiter's time mulling over an offer they didn't intend to take.
One thing you also really need to do is prioritise what you need to ask. The interviewer will want to make a decision about you just as much as you want to decide if you want the job. One sure way to put off the person deciding whether or not to hire you will be asking questions to which you could easily find the answers elsewhere. Think about this: what would you rather know about, the number of hours you could expect to work in an average week or the colour of the tiles in the bathroom of the apartment you'll be sharing? Prioritise what you need to learn about the school. Yaramaz explains this issue, referring to a recent incident in her efforts to recruit teachers:
'We just recently recruiting for next term and have had an interesting time poring over applications. One woman included a jpeg list of over 100 questions for us to answer-- not even in word or PDF format! How can we even begin to answer 147 questions on a jpeg??? And most were really pointless questions that could be googled or asked in the interview, like "Do you have a photocopier?' and 'what is the climate of your city?' Aaaaagh!'
Aaaaaagh indeed. Imagine how you would feel if you received such a list of questions at a time when you've got to interview numerous people. How much priority would you give to someone who asked questions to which they could so easily find the answers themselves? I'll conclude by returning to the advice of Justin Trullinger: 'It isn't a question of what you should ask - but ask everything that YOU need to know. I may not know what's important to you, but it's important that you ask about what you need to know. Do not assume! Whatever you need to know in order to make an adequate decision, you'll need to ask.'
Use and distribution of this article is permitted subject to no changes being made to the content and appropriate hyperlinks/URL references in place.
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Why you shouldn't Drive in Russia
Any TEFLers lucky enough to be enjoying the high life in Russia should nevertheless think twice before driving in the country if this clip of a junction in St. Petersburg is anything to go by!
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
TEFL Headlines from around Europe
Just in case you're short of something to do today, take a look at this lot. Is it really possible that all these people around the world are having to deal with our language? It just doesn't seem right, does it?
United Kingdom: The Struggle to Cope When Children Do Not Speak Any English
Surprising as it may seem, schools are struggling to cope with an influx of students from abroad, with many teachers facing classes in which a third of pupils do not speak English as their first language, teachers’ representatives told the Times Online. The number of pupils who did not have English as their mother tongue had risen by 66,000 in a year, the conference of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers was told.
Read the full story…
Switzerland: English seen as "most useful" foreign language
Not just British tourists, also a majority of, er, Swiss reckon that English is the most useful foreign language in the country, although it is not Switzerland's "lingua franca" as commonly believed.
Read the full story…
United Kingdom: Not Enough Cash to Teach English
Whoooaaaa… you misread, the headline doesn’t in fact read not enough cash to teachers of English. Headteachers have said the £2-million spent on teaching English to immigrant children in North Lincolnshire is inadequate, according to the ever influential This is Scunthorpe website. Schools say they have less to spend, even though the number of students whose first language is not English has risen.
Read the full story…
Estonia fears English too dominant in its schools
Education authorities in Estonia Thursday warned that the hands-down dominance of English in its schools is depriving the Baltic state of the language specialists it will need in the future.
Read the full story…
Turkey: English Time Celebrates Its 10th Year
Scourge of English teachers throughout Istanbul, the English Time language school celebrated its 10th anniversary recently with a reception held at Istanbul's Divan Kuruçesme. Speaking at the reception English Time founder Fethi Şimşek stated that when they established English Time 10 years ago their concern was to raise the quality level of English education in Turkey (no, really, that’s what he said). He said they have been achieving this aim without making any concessions since 1998.
Read the full story…
United Kingdom: £10m Bill to Teach Migrants English
Town halls in Greater Manchester are spending more than £10m a year teaching immigrants to speak English, the Manchester Evening News declares. The Department for Schools says a growing amount of taxpayers' money is being spent on teaching English as a second language. Your point?
Read the full story …
Scotland: International Rescue for City School Pupils
Language specialists (and not the Thunderbirds) are helping non-native speakers improve English as different cultures get along: excited chatter fills the room as the pupils work on their science project. What isn't immediately obvious is how many youngsters discussing a recent visit to a butterfly farm are not fluent in English. They are all reading the same books, but alongside some sits a specialist teacher – armed with flashcards picturing insects and their name in English – ready to prompt when necessary.
Read the full story …
United Kingdom: The Primary School Where Every Child Learns to Speak 40 Languages
Welcome to Newbury Park Primary School in Redbridge, north-east London, where its 850 pupils will have learnt phrases in 40 languages by the time they transfer to secondary school, notes the Independent. The school has adopted a policy of teaching each language spoken by the 40 ethnic groups among its pupils.
Read the full story …
Iceland: Bilingualism: Why Not?
Last week it was reported that the fabulously named Bifröst University in west Iceland would become the first university in the country to offer a Bachelor’s degree in business taught exclusively in English. While there is already a range of courses offered in English at several of Iceland’s universities, Bifröst says that by offering the degree in English, it is responding to the needs of students planning to work in the international arena.
Read the full story …
Russia: Language Learning Popular as Ever
In a statement that may well bemuse anyone who’s ever taught there, the St. Petersburg Times reports that the thirst for learning English and other foreign languages continues as Russians travel more and seek international business partners.
Read the full story …
Stick poking remains a national pastime in Russia
Belgium: Language director defends EU's costly translations
A high official in the European Commission's translation branch has said that despite discussions and fears in recent years about mushrooming costs for translations and interpretations in the EU, the principle of granting each citizen the right to communicate with Brussels in their own language should not be altered, no matter the number of member states in the future. Mmmm… there be money in that there Brussels.
Read the full story …
Ukraine: All in English
When foreigners visited Kyiv some ten years ago, language was the main problem in adapting to the local environment. The situation is now somewhat different, proclaims the Kyiv Post. Although not everyone can freely chat with you in English, the majority of citizens can understand you and will try to help you in any way possible. Apparently.
Read the full story …
Thursday, March 20, 2008
TEFL in the mid Volga Region
Larry Paradine offers the following information on the mid Volga region over on the Russia and Ukraine forum:
I've lived and worked in Russia for most of the last ten years but, although I've spent short periods of time in the capital and the western Urals, my stamping ground is the riverine area from Nizhny Novgorod (the city of Gorky, after whose suspicious death, Stalin named it in 1935 and notorious as Andrei Zakharov's place of exile in the Brezhnev era) to Samara (known in communist times as Kuibishchev after a local alcoholic who led the local bolsheviks in 1917-18, and which has the distinction of being the only big city in Russia to elect a mayor who was opposed by the whole political establishment including "Putin's Party" in 2006), taking in the cities of Cheboksary (my wife's hometown and my adoptive радной город), Novocheboksarsk (now a satellite town with it's own distinctive character, but soon to be merged with Cheboksary if our Chuvash President Fyodorov gets the "yes" vote he wanted in the referendum that he craftily tacked on to the ballot in Sunday's Federal presidential elections), Kazan (where the recently erected great Mosque dominates the visitor's view of the city's Kremlin, almost eclipsing the churches that Ivan Grozny and his successors built on the ruins of the razed mosques of the Kazan Khanate), Ulyanovsk-Simbirsk (the archietypal compromise in the flurry of town naming referendums in the 1990s, combining Lenin's real surname with the tsarist era name, and one of the most unpleasant cities I've had the misfortune to be mugged in), and, of course, Togliatti (named after the long -time Italian communist leader who achieved distinction by surviving Stalin's decimation of European communist parties and being photographed among the grieving, or subtly dissembling, nomenklatura at Stalin's funeral wearing a broad smile, and whose compromise with capitalism presented the city named after him with a giant automobile factory churning out second rate copies of the Fiat car).
Learn more about ELT in Russia and Ukraine.
I've lived and worked in Russia for most of the last ten years but, although I've spent short periods of time in the capital and the western Urals, my stamping ground is the riverine area from Nizhny Novgorod (the city of Gorky, after whose suspicious death, Stalin named it in 1935 and notorious as Andrei Zakharov's place of exile in the Brezhnev era) to Samara (known in communist times as Kuibishchev after a local alcoholic who led the local bolsheviks in 1917-18, and which has the distinction of being the only big city in Russia to elect a mayor who was opposed by the whole political establishment including "Putin's Party" in 2006), taking in the cities of Cheboksary (my wife's hometown and my adoptive радной город), Novocheboksarsk (now a satellite town with it's own distinctive character, but soon to be merged with Cheboksary if our Chuvash President Fyodorov gets the "yes" vote he wanted in the referendum that he craftily tacked on to the ballot in Sunday's Federal presidential elections), Kazan (where the recently erected great Mosque dominates the visitor's view of the city's Kremlin, almost eclipsing the churches that Ivan Grozny and his successors built on the ruins of the razed mosques of the Kazan Khanate), Ulyanovsk-Simbirsk (the archietypal compromise in the flurry of town naming referendums in the 1990s, combining Lenin's real surname with the tsarist era name, and one of the most unpleasant cities I've had the misfortune to be mugged in), and, of course, Togliatti (named after the long -time Italian communist leader who achieved distinction by surviving Stalin's decimation of European communist parties and being photographed among the grieving, or subtly dissembling, nomenklatura at Stalin's funeral wearing a broad smile, and whose compromise with capitalism presented the city named after him with a giant automobile factory churning out second rate copies of the Fiat car).
Learn more about ELT in Russia and Ukraine.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Teaching without Borders: the Interview
Last month I highlighted the excellent Teaching without Borders blog: from the people who run the Teacher Reflections, Global Connections blog, explaining what a great idea I thought it was to reflect on the different teaching experiences of the different countries of the contributors. I’m delighted that Jennifer Uhler and Jeff Mattison have taken the time and considerable effort to talk to me about what they want to achieve from their blog.
1) How did you come up with the idea for your site?
Jenn: As teachers who enjoy our jobs but also encounter problems, we thought it would be a positive experience to share these reflections with a wider audience. I think we also wanted to encourage ourselves to reflect critically on our own teaching and being held accountable to a peer audience really helps me to do something I ordinarily don't take time to do in a formal way.
Jeff: After the TESOL conference in Seattle last year, I thought about how I could start some casual research as I began a new teaching experience in California public schools. While teaching in Japan, I'd kept a daily journal reflecting on my experience in the classroom. Jenn and I have also kept personal blogs, Wanderings and Brave New Word. I figured that we could combine the practice of reflective teaching with the technology of blogging. The last element, collaboration, came from my communications with Jenn, Hisako, and Tomoko since leaving graduate school. We'd kept in touch, mentioning issues that had come up with our teaching. So we decided to weld these three things into a new form of journaling: the collaborative on-line reflective journal. The result has been a synergy of TEFL topics discussed and applied to various contexts.
We've posted on popular topics such as classroom management and American culture, to the obscure mentioning of learned helplessness and how to tell secrets.
2) What are the major differences you notice in your teaching contexts?
Jenn: The most obvious differences are not the cultural ones you might expect. Rather, I think the biggest differences are in our student audiences and institutions. I sometimes feel like, in my case, teaching English to professors in a post-Soviet context, could not be more different than battling the challenges of teaching ESL in a public California school. On the other hand, perhaps because of these different locations, I think we are able to objectively respond to each other's posts with fresh ideas and new insights. I benefit from Jeff's questions and often find myself finding a way to link the same issue to my own classroom teaching.
Jeff: We knew from the start that our different teaching contexts would be one of the most interesting features of the blog. With Jenn as a "native" speaker teaching EFL, Hisako and Tomoko as "non-native" speakers teaching EFL and myself as a "native" speaker teaching ESL, we each have a different interface of teacher and student identities. I've also noticed that these different contexts have given fresh perspectives in comments. Jenn likes to call my teaching environment, a public school comprised mostly of first-generation Hispanic-Americans, as the "teaching in the trenches on the front lines". There are some days where I'd love to be in the "ivory tower" of higher education, but I know there are challenges where ever one teaches. I think because we're all interested in commenting and encouraging each other, the seeming incongruity of our different contexts doesn't matter. It’s about communicating for professional growth.
3) What are your various backgrounds in teaching?
Jenn: I have taught overseas and in the U.S. for about the last ten years. My start was a bit surreptitious as a TEFL volunteer in the Peace Corps in a small village where I taught the whole town. Since then, I have taught > in an elementary school in Mexico, college and graduate programs in California, teacher training programs in Montana, Austria, and Estonia, university in Romania, and my current position as an English Language Fellow in Estonia. Jeff and I have in common a curious spirit and enthusiasm for teaching, but we did our MATESOL degrees together about three years ago at the Monterey Institute of International Studies .
Jeff: I started teaching watersports at Camp Leelanau during my college years. I also was a Peace Corps volunteer in Benin and Jamaica, but I taught environmental education in these settings. It was my experience in Jamaica, with its colorful creole language, that interested me in linguistics and language teaching. Since attending the Monterey Institute, I've taught English at Concordia Language Villages in northern Minnesota, a private Christian boys' junior high school in Japan, adult school ESL in urban Long Beach, and now at the middle school level in rural Salinas.
4) What are your other favorite teaching sites?
Jenn: I teach mostly academic skills. My hands-down favorite sites are the Purdue OWL site and (just for fun) an Etymology site (etymonline.com).
Jeff: For materials, I have borrowed so much from Boggles World (now Lanternfish). Because classroom management is one of my biggest themes this year, I've spent a lot of time with Harry Wong's articles on teachers.net. For random introductions to other ESL websites and blogs, I follow the ESLoop.
5) What are the main challenges facing TEFL teachers today?
Jenn: We fight so much for legitimacy as a profession. You can see it in professional venues, publications, materials, and conferences. We push ourselves really hard to define and redefine methods; to question our place as language teachers and cultural propagators; and to show that we have meaning to larger and more powerful aspects of our institutions. We really care about our students and think what we do is important, but language centers and language teaching are often marginalized -- through low salaries, inequities in hiring practice, location and budgets. And yet, we find ourselves not only teaching overloads, but also writing manuals, translating, producing materials, meeting with students, attending conferences on our own dime, requalifying ourselves, often without the extra compensation or incentives that other professionals might demand. The biggest challenges are hard to balance: How do we fight for recognition and prove ourselves without pushing the margins of our professional lives too far?
Jeff: Jenn really has her finger on the pulse of many professional issues for TEFL teachers. In the USA, I would add that ESL teachers are advocates for their students' rights as immigrants. Festooned with a myth of monolingualism, Americans think that assimilation is the "method" for acquiring English the fastest. Large immigrant population states such as California, Arizona, and Massachusetts have passed laws restricting how English can be taught . TESL teachers here are challenged with informing mainstream teachers, politicians, and everyday citizens of the complexity in language learning.
6) What are your most positive teaching experiences?
Jenn: This is a hard question to answer because I find it hard to compare different experiences. One highlight that sticks out is my teaching at the University of Montana two summers ago with Korean English teachers. It was positive because the students were so curious and self-motivated and the staff was pleasant to collaborate with (not to mention the gorgeous environs in Missoula!)
Jeff: Teaching at Kwansei Gakuin Junior High School in Nishinomiya, Japan has been my most positive teaching experience. I taught with such supportive colleagues and respectful students, it was a great way to launch my TEFL career.
7) What are your future plans for your blog/website?
Jenn: We are planning a presentation at the IATEFL conference in Exeter this April in which we comb through our blog to datamine patterns in our responses and entries. I think we both agree that it has been a good experience, and we hope to continue blogging (until we run out of words!). It would be nice to gather more community or to find other writers to comment and post in the future.
Jeff: We also are trying to "build the conversation" by expanding our audience and exposure on the blogosphere. Writing a thoughtful, helpful blog entry just for two or three people to read is like writing a novel just for the editor. Blogs are meant to be shared, and achieving that broad sharing requires a different skill set than teaching or writing. So Jenn and I are learning how to reach out to others. Thanks to you David, we're taking a step in that direction!
Subscribe to David's English Teaching World by Email
This interview will also appear in the forthcoming issue of the journal.
1) How did you come up with the idea for your site?
Jenn: As teachers who enjoy our jobs but also encounter problems, we thought it would be a positive experience to share these reflections with a wider audience. I think we also wanted to encourage ourselves to reflect critically on our own teaching and being held accountable to a peer audience really helps me to do something I ordinarily don't take time to do in a formal way.
Jeff: After the TESOL conference in Seattle last year, I thought about how I could start some casual research as I began a new teaching experience in California public schools. While teaching in Japan, I'd kept a daily journal reflecting on my experience in the classroom. Jenn and I have also kept personal blogs, Wanderings and Brave New Word. I figured that we could combine the practice of reflective teaching with the technology of blogging. The last element, collaboration, came from my communications with Jenn, Hisako, and Tomoko since leaving graduate school. We'd kept in touch, mentioning issues that had come up with our teaching. So we decided to weld these three things into a new form of journaling: the collaborative on-line reflective journal. The result has been a synergy of TEFL topics discussed and applied to various contexts.
We've posted on popular topics such as classroom management and American culture
2) What are the major differences you notice in your teaching contexts?
Jenn: The most obvious differences are not the cultural ones you might expect. Rather, I think the biggest differences are in our student audiences and institutions. I sometimes feel like, in my case, teaching English to professors in a post-Soviet context, could not be more different than battling the challenges of teaching ESL in a public California school. On the other hand, perhaps because of these different locations, I think we are able to objectively respond to each other's posts with fresh ideas and new insights. I benefit from Jeff's questions and often find myself finding a way to link the same issue to my own classroom teaching.
Jeff: We knew from the start that our different teaching contexts would be one of the most interesting features of the blog. With Jenn as a "native" speaker teaching EFL, Hisako and Tomoko as "non-native" speakers teaching EFL and myself as a "native" speaker teaching ESL, we each have a different interface of teacher and student identities. I've also noticed that these different contexts have given fresh perspectives in comments. Jenn likes to call my teaching environment, a public school comprised mostly of first-generation Hispanic-Americans, as the "teaching in the trenches on the front lines". There are some days where I'd love to be in the "ivory tower" of higher education, but I know there are challenges where ever one teaches. I think because we're all interested in commenting and encouraging each other, the seeming incongruity of our different contexts doesn't matter. It’s about communicating for professional growth.
3) What are your various backgrounds in teaching?
Jenn: I have taught overseas and in the U.S. for about the last ten years. My start was a bit surreptitious as a TEFL volunteer in the Peace Corps in a small village where I taught the whole town. Since then, I have taught > in an elementary school in Mexico, college and graduate programs in California, teacher training programs in Montana, Austria, and Estonia, university in Romania, and my current position as an English Language Fellow in Estonia. Jeff and I have in common a curious spirit and enthusiasm for teaching, but we did our MATESOL degrees together about three years ago at the
Jeff: I started teaching watersports at Camp Leelanau during my college years. I also was a Peace Corps volunteer in Benin and Jamaica, but I taught environmental education in these settings. It was my experience in Jamaica, with its colorful creole language, that interested me in linguistics and language teaching. Since attending the Monterey Institute, I've taught English at
4) What are your other favorite teaching sites?
Jenn: I teach mostly academic skills. My hands-down favorite sites are the Purdue OWL site and (just for fun) an Etymology site (etymonline.com).
Jeff: For materials, I have borrowed so much from
5) What are the main challenges facing TEFL teachers today?
Jenn: We fight so much for legitimacy as a profession. You can see it in professional venues, publications, materials, and conferences. We push ourselves really hard to define and redefine methods; to question our place as language teachers and cultural propagators; and to show that we have meaning to larger and more powerful aspects of our institutions. We really care about our students and think what we do is important, but language centers and language teaching are often marginalized -- through low salaries, inequities in hiring practice, location and budgets. And yet, we find ourselves not only teaching overloads, but also writing manuals, translating, producing materials, meeting with students, attending conferences on our own dime, requalifying ourselves, often without the extra compensation or incentives that other professionals might demand. The biggest challenges are hard to balance: How do we fight for recognition and prove ourselves without pushing the margins of our professional lives too far?
Jeff: Jenn really has her finger on the pulse of many professional issues for TEFL teachers. In the USA, I would add that ESL teachers are advocates for their students' rights as immigrants. Festooned with a myth of monolingualism, Americans think that assimilation is the "method" for acquiring English the fastest. Large immigrant population states such as California, Arizona, and Massachusetts have passed laws restricting
6) What are your most positive teaching experiences?
Jenn: This is a hard question to answer because I find it hard to compare different experiences. One highlight that sticks out is my teaching at the University of Montana two summers ago with Korean English teachers. It was positive because the students were so curious and self-motivated and the staff was pleasant to collaborate with (not to mention the gorgeous environs in Missoula!)
Jeff: Teaching at
7) What are your future plans for your blog/website?
Jenn: We are planning a presentation at the IATEFL conference in Exeter this April in which we comb through our blog to datamine patterns in our responses and entries. I think we both agree that it has been a good experience, and we hope to continue blogging (until we run out of words!). It would be nice to gather more community or to find other writers to comment and post in the future.
Jeff: We also are trying to "build the conversation" by expanding our audience and exposure on the blogosphere. Writing a thoughtful, helpful blog entry just for two or three people to read is like writing a novel just for the editor. Blogs are meant to be shared, and achieving that broad sharing requires a different skill set than teaching or writing. So Jenn and I are learning how to reach out to others. Thanks to you David, we're taking a step in that direction!
Subscribe to David's English Teaching World by Email
This interview will also appear in the forthcoming issue of the journal.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Teacher Reflections, Global Connections
I've recently received some very nice feedback on David’s English Teaching World from the people who run the Teacher Reflections, Global Connections blog and wanted to do more than just reciprocate because their blog is excellent.
The blog is the work of three language teachers in Japan, Estonia, and the USA, reflecting on their classrooms through this 'interactive online journal'. I really like the innovative idea of constantly contrasting the experiences of teaching in these three very different loactions.
Recent posts have covered the following topics:
The drudgery of giving feedback
In search of collegiality
Who’s got my back?
I really enjoy the contrasting writing styles as much as the evident differences in teaching locations of the authors. A highly recommended blog even for those not interested teaching in one of these locations.
The blog is the work of three language teachers in Japan, Estonia, and the USA, reflecting on their classrooms through this 'interactive online journal'. I really like the innovative idea of constantly contrasting the experiences of teaching in these three very different loactions.
Recent posts have covered the following topics:
The drudgery of giving feedback
In search of collegiality
Who’s got my back?
I really enjoy the contrasting writing styles as much as the evident differences in teaching locations of the authors. A highly recommended blog even for those not interested teaching in one of these locations.
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