Job Discussion Forums

[Ellis]

Much like any field of endeavor, ESL can eventually induce a certain amount of wear and tear on a teacher's power of concentration, enthusiasm, and delivery. However, some believe this can, to a small extent, be attributed to one's age. Nonetheless, the major problem, from what I have observed, is merely a normal process of erosion which practically all humans experience with both time and repetition. When I was teaching (only) grammar day after day, I began to recognize unmistakable signs of wear and tear on my attitude, not to mention that of the students. Of course, practically all ESL students positively abominate the subject of grammar. Ergo, if it indeed affects them in such an adverse manner, then why not the instructors as well? After all, we are not gods. Then again, there is no rationale to this view when considering a teacher's commitment to fostering the highest educational standards of his/her students. But REALLY, how many of us are willing to own up to the fact that we, the stalwart conveyers of knowledge, DO arrive at the stage where we resent the seemingly endless repetition of our sworn academic task. On the other hand, accepting that repetition is, indeed, a paramount necessity of the learning process, I have noticed while reading the complaint sections of sources such as eslcafe, that some instructors located in places such as China and Korea mention their deep depression -- even thoughts of suicide. In turn, most of the readers have suggested counseling, mental therapy, suppressants, long-distance running ... even a serious return to God. Still, others have placed the blame on a desperate desire to return to Mommy. Notwithstanding, I empathize with these desperately unhappy folks, yet begin to wonder whether their unenviable plight is really a combination of (a)boredom via workload repetition, and (b)residing in a land where fluent enough English-speakers are rarely found to help make the wounds of loneliness more tolerable. Can the gig really get to the point of abetting psychologically destructive thinking? Who is REALLY to say? But, as for yours truly, after 13+ years of experiencing both the good, bad, and ugly aspects of ESL, my dear wife has learned to carefully hide all weapons before I return home from work! VIVA ESL!

[nolefan]

I believe that the technical term for this would be: BURNOUT....

We all reach a point where we've had enough and we just can't be bothered to enjoy or be 100% involved with what we're doing. You're just going through the motions hoping nobody will notice and that it will be over soon.

The jury is still out on "Burnout" but it is safe to assume that a foreign environment ,with all the stress it can produce, is an incubation heaven for this condition. It is not limited to ESL.

Maybe it is time to step back from your routine for a few days and do something different.

[rosie1973]

I had a psychotherapist once who was probably in her mid 50's or early 60's and she was on her 4th career. That's right. FOUR. She had immersed herself for YEARS into 4 different fields and basically sucked them dry till she was bored. Now just recently finished the schooling to be a psychotherapist and was loving every minute of it. I found that inspiring.

I guess what I'm saying is that it's never too late to change your situation if you're not happy. I don't think we should have to force ourselves to love what we do. Sometimes over time we just queeze out all the good juices from our professions and al we have left is a dry and empty shell. Perhaps you might want to think about teaching something ELSE. Or doing something else all together.

[Sheep-Goats]

All caps in the title, bold in the body. You must be burnt out.

But I agree. Teaching English can get really old really fast. Maybe you should try a new country or a new field of work for a while, unless your family's keeping you in place or such.

[moonraven]

I firmly believe that if you aren't living your life with passion, you aren't living. I have walked out of "good" jobs because I no longer felt passionate about what I was doing. I don't plan on waiting until my next reincarnation to do what I want to do--why should you?

[Roger]

An insightful and balanced post.
In general, any job is repetitive, some more, some less so. Imagine a truck driver - some associate it with romantic notions of "seeing other parts of the country/world...", yet it comes with many downsides, including the fact that it basically is a job that requires you to do exactly the same thing day in and day out, albeit with different destinations every day.
There is a hugely mitigating factor in teaching - long holidays, though many of my peers commit the error of seeking extra work during their precious recess periods. I do it when I don't have a clear future ahead of me, but when I get a new contract shoved my way before the end of my old term I opt for travelling. Returning, I am refreshed.
Is China a particularly frustrating TEFL scene?
On one hand: definitely yes! It is so precisely because you aren't often doing a truly productive kind of job. NOr an intellectually rewarding one. Generating discussions or speeches isn't very interesting for me - with students who aren't up to scratch.
I would much rather do GRAMMAR and assorted things because they are far more badly needed than speaking English classes.

[struelle]

I'm doing a sort of informal teacher training job currently - we call it TPA (teacher prep assistance). More or less assist teachers in the prep room with lesson planning, handle student issues, work the library and materials, fix photocopiers, order food, work with the Directors and Managers, and provide general motivation. That on top of teaching and it's pretty stressful. But the overall feedback has been very good.

What I've noticed though is that although my teaching hours are sky-high and the weather is brutally hot, I feel much more energized than last April or so at my old school. At that place there were virtually no teacher resources and assistance. Just me, maybe a colleague, and Chinese management who say, "Teach English to 700 students"

I'm convinced that lack of resources is a huge burnout factor, more than repetition. After all, if there's nobody to assist you in the job, you teach the same way all the time because you don't know any other way to do it.

During my CELTA course, the more memorable quote was this: "Teaching is not like putting a bolt on a car. Once you know how to put the bolt on, that's it. But there's always something to improve and update when you're teaching."

Even if you teach the same lesson multiple times, you can always do something differently each time. This year I taught an adult pre-intermediate class over 7 times in a row, but not one lesson was the same. Thanks to good feedback from my TT, I could improve and update each lesson plan.

If you're stuck with a Chinese manager who doesn't have a clue about teacher training, that's not an effective resource. So you're on your own. You can still innovate, but you lose the motivation to improve and get stuck in a rut.

Even grammar, with all its boredom, can still be taught creatively - but there needs to be resources to help the teacher do it.

Steve

[dmb]

[moonraven]

For me, grammar is neither fascinating nor boring, but it determines the way cultures view the world and interract with it.

[Hondo 2.0]

I was told by an experienced teacher that you should try something new every five years: a different school, age, or subject. If you can't change your surroundings, you might be able to find an interesting class to take.