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to the Newsletter Page2001: A Quest for Teacher Development
24th TESOL-SPAIN National Convention
When searching for a theme for this year’s convention, everywhere we turned it seemed the teaching profession was experiencing challenges; children being taught English at a very young age, secondary school teachers struggling with mixed ability classes, academies and their teachers stretched as they fight for survival in a competitive market place, and jobs threatened if not lost as some universities move to cut costs by wholesale investment in multi-media learning. At the same time, our students and clients are living in a demanding and rapidly moving global world. It seemed that change and challenge was all around.
Language teachers are no strangers to change. How many different approaches and methodologies have we experienced over the last 40 or so years? As a profession, we now move steadily forward and embrace change when it enhances our effectiveness. Years ago, there was a concern that we had a tendency to throw the baby out with the bathwater as a new idea emerged. We’ve grown up a lot since those days; we are now mature enough to take on board the findings of second language acquisition research, and are eclectic in our teaching approaches and methodologies. We’ve also incorporated sophisticated descriptions of language and have demonstrated our professional versatility as we encapsulated the newer theories on ways of learning and learner needs emerging from observation and research.
And yet, as we strive to develop further, we wake up every day to hear the advertising industry telling potential clients that they can learn a language in ten months, or even on the beach, or if they sign up for a course they’ll receive a free video! There seems to be a tendency for language teaching to be marketed as a ‘service industry’, where language learning success is evaluated in terms of market-driven criteria and lip-service is paid to learner needs, the learners themselves being the intended audience of media campaigns heralding a magical speed and ease of learning. Covert messages are sent out to those who draw up budgets, but who themselves are not involved in the language teaching profession. It seems there are always cheaper and faster ways of achieving goals, albeit that the goals are seldom clearly defined in terms of tangible learning objectives and rarely embody what we, professionals, would call teaching.
If we are to be equipped to defend and develop our profession in today’s world, vigilance is the key. We need to be continually alert, on guard for the latest gimmick and yet at the same time open to new suggestions which come from our technologically-driven and rapidly changing world. We are not Luddites but we do need to be able to weigh up pros and cons and be prepared and able to argue cogently for the principles of our profession. Yet we can only really be effective with sustained teacher development, which in turn empowers us to conceptualise the justifications for change within a principled professional framework.
It is this need for sustained teacher development which lies at the heart of TESOL-SPAIN and our national convention in Seville. The convention provides opportunities for everyone involved in ELT to face change and challenge within the profession, and the opportunity for us all to gain some more practical know-how: What is it to be a professional? How can I be more effective as a teacher trainer? Is there common ground between Second Language Acquisition theory and computer-based language learning approaches? How can I improve my classroom management techniques? What can I do with my class on Monday morning? Who shares my concerns in teaching? What are the latest materials on the market? For answers to these questions and others, come along to the TESOL-SPAIN 24th National Convention in Seville.