By Mayra Yaranga Hernández
As a new year starts, many English
teachers begin to make decisions regarding their careers. This is the best time
to analyse their strengths and weaknesses. They evaluate the labour market and
may start looking for new jobs. Which aspects of their careers, as seen on
their CVs, should they improve in order to stand out from the crowd?
Some teachers take pride in their
years of experience and consider them to be their best asset. Granted, seasoned
teachers know the profession, which helps them justify their classroom
decisions. However, if this experience is not linked to progress, it may not be
so attractive to potential employers, since it may mean that these teachers
were not able to step out of their comfort zone and try out new dares: teaching
more challenging courses, preparing students for international exams, changing
schools or adopting new methodologies, doing research, etc. Having said that,
there should always be one or two areas in which English teachers should feel
most confident and demonstrate more expertise.
On the other hand, postgraduate
courses (Diplomas and Masters’ Degrees) are nowadays much more attractive and more
readily available than in the past; this is why quite a few teachers choose to
take this option as part of their professional development. This seems to be a
good idea: postgraduate courses usually provide theoretical foundations to many
of the things that happen in class, as well as foundational research
methodology for those more academically inclined. However, in practice,
postgraduate study may not have an impact on the quality of language teaching
and learning overall as some courses are probably too abstract or do not cater
for their audience’s everyday needs.
We could argue that English teachers
may find that strengthening their language proficiency is probably more useful
in the long run, as this is the core of their daily work as well as an important
asset when seeking further challenges in their ELT careers. Teachers are
usually advised to be at least one level above their students in terms of
proficiency. This is especially true these days, since many Peruvian schools
have decided to start teaching the language from early years and more parents also
decide to enrol their children in private language schools after school classes.
This results in an interesting challenge: by the time pupils arrive at
secondary school, their standard is very close to B1 or B2, which means that
teachers would need to operate at a good B2 or C1 in order to deal with
language issues more confidently and without “losing face.” Naturally, spending
in language training and qualifications requires time and money to invest,
which not all teachers have, although maybe they could compensate for this by
being constantly exposed to the language outside work.
All in all, the three aspects are
important for English teachers, and should be upgraded as much as possible
throughout their careers; but, if they want to make themselves more attractive
in our current career market, they should think very carefully about which of
the three points they need to hone the most. Arguably though, improving their
own language proficiency could yield the best long-term results.
Now,
it’s YOUR turn:
Is it enough to focus on one aspect only?
Is there one that you consider more important than the others?
Biodata
Mayra Yaranga (1985) Doctor in Education (UNIFÉ); Master’s Degree in Media, Culture and Identity from Roehampton University (London) revalidated by PUCP, a Bachelor’s Degree in Education - UPCH and the Professional Title of Licenciada - IPNM. Currently she is Cambridge Oral Examiner and Member of the Research Area for Universidad del Pacífico Language Centre. She is also ESP coordinator and Pre-University Centre Director at UNIFÉ.