Job Discussion Forums

[struelle]

In a conversation with an older teacher I met at a cafe in in South China, this very intelligent and 'in the know' person talked about the many types of English teachers who pursue this kind of work. In particular, he sorted out two different strands of teachers from the mix: Young, career-oriented serious teachers who are beginning in EFL work and older retired people or couples who have finished careers in the West who rent out the house to travel and teach for a few years.

It's almost inevitable that these two types of teachers will cross paths in the TEFL profession.

Last semester I worked alongside with an experienced high school teacher from the States who was on sabattical. Both of us shared the same office and taught conversational English to high school students in China. During the CELTA course last year, I met a number of near-retired folks who were seeking training. Also, from that course, a young friend of mine now works in Shanghai side-by-side with three older teachers.

It's great to see teachers from such different backgrounds and ages do the same line of work. But there are also potential conflicts that, I feel, need to be addressed in order to strengthen cooperation.

What are some possible conflicts between these different teachers and how might they be resolved?

Speaking from experience, I've always had a tough time with older teachers who 'cruise' on the job and don't see the professionalism involved in EFL. From their point of view, teaching English is hardly rocket science after previous careers and savings to show for it. It's a nice way to travel and see the world before retiring. I understand this, yet I wonder if I'm wasting my time and/or taking this career too seriously.

Then again, I've worked with older folks with plenty of energy and enthusiasm to learn learn skills and they do a fine job in the class. I suppose that it comes down to effort, regardless of age and background.

Steve

[Kurochan]

I don't think you could really separate the problem groups by age. I'd say the problem with older teachers comes if they aren't flexible enough. Like, "I had an expectation that Chinese students would be like X and even though they aren't I'll still teach like they are," or "In my day, we taught like this, and that's how I'm gonna teach, G-dmn it!" I think one advantage of older teachers is that they can bring strenghths they gained in their profession -- like now they man teaching public speaking at my school is a former lawyer, so he put a lot of emphasis on argumentation, whereas coming from an academic background I taught it differently.

Of course, the flipside of your argument is that there can be problems with young teachers who just want to travel and party, rather than teach. But, just like with the older teachers, it's a problem of attitude rather than age.

I think it's good to have a mix of young and old -- the two groups can learn from each other (that is, assuming the people involved are willing to learn!).

[ls650]

[Will.]

more often the divide is;
Teaching V taking time off and doing this for a bit.

[Dr.J]

I couldn't say that older teachers necessarily 'cruise', but there is something of a generation gap, as in any profession.

People I have met who have been teachers (any subject) before doing TEFL are generally good English teachers. They know how to plan, handle a class etc.

Those who have done other jobs tend to teach in a way that reflects their old way of dealing with people, just as someone made a comment about a lawyer, I knew a guy who owned his own company before becoming a teacher and he was THE BOSS in the classroom - sometimes good, sometimes bad. It's hard to generalise as people come from so many different backgrounds, so conflicts will be as varied as with a younger teacher.

Whether you are wasting your time is up to you; the fact that it's relatively easy to get a TEFL job doesn't mean that it's not worth doing. It's easy to be a volunteer worker, after all. In any case it's worth giving older teachers the benefit of the doubt; you can learn as much from a bad teacher as from a good one.

[ntropy]

I agree. The ones on cruise control are generally younger. Which is doubly bad since they haven't built up skills to cruise on yet.

[arioch36]

Ditto, I find the younger ones more often tend to be on cruise control. The worst I ever knew of was a youngman who just got his Masters and wnated to spend no time on such dull tasks as lesson preperation. Just went to his class and talked about whatever he wanted fo two hours. Got so bad, the school only gave him six hours to teach the second semester. A method to his madness?

[struelle]