Job Discussion Forums

[ktodba]

I started teaching over 10 years ago and came across Dave's a similar length of time ago. When I first came on I tried to give advice as I saw it and expected everyone to be looking out for ways to help their students the most.

Naive I know.

Most of the people I worked with in the beginning have left, including me in some ways as I now work in secondary education in the UK teaching some business and some EAL as it is known. Some of the names I see remain the same and some change rapidly here on Dave's but what happens to the personal agendas?
I don't regret spending time teaching EFL as I learned a lot but some posts seem to be into beating the poster up for some reason or ,regrettably, more often beating other posters up (obviously metaphorically speaking).

I came into teaching to help others; I'd like to believe I'm not alone.

So, honestly, why do you teach - is to get money? to help? to meet girls / boys, to travel....etc? please enlighten me

and

why do you post?

Why do so many of us feel this (teaching) is important?

I make no pretense of knowing the answers and would genuinely welcome feedback.

Please keep all abuse personal

[Glenski]

For me, it is a generally easy job, whether in conversation school, high school, private lessons, or university. Each has its own bureaucracy to contend with, though. People deal with each one in their own ways.

I am also in this for money, as I have a family to support. This is not just a short-term stint for me.

Why do I post? To offer others the benefit of my experience and the information I've amassed over the past 10 years.

[ktodba]

A good answer and thank you

[Guy Courchesne]

I teach because I enjoy it, despite not having planned it to be a career. Mexico still offers adventure and fun, which is good because I'm not sure I'd like the same career back home in Canada.

I post here to help folks just starting out, to keep abreast of what's happening in the field in other parts of the world, and to network.

[ktodba]

If I may: some follow up questions - What makes teaching enjoyable enough to keep it as a career? And do you find it more rewarding reading the newbie forum?

Genuinely curious as I used to read Dave's a lot but only have certain times free to read [b]eveything [/b]now. I tend to chose this forum rather than the newbie forum due to cynicism or am I being paorchial?

[SocratesSon2]

Why do I teach? Because I enjoy it of course.

As for asking if it is to make money. Am I supposed to work for free. Teaching is a job like any other, and while seemingly more noble then some it's still work, and I don't know anyone who goes into teaching not to get paid.

[SocratesSon2]

Why do I teach? Because I enjoy it of course.

As for asking if it is to make money. Am I supposed to work for free? Teaching is a job like any other, and while seemingly more noble then some it's still work, and I don't know anyone who goes into teaching not to get paid.

[william wallace]

nil

[fluffyhamster]

Soc, I don't think Ktodba was suggesting that anyone work for free, but rather asking why people choose to make a living from teaching, as opposed to other jobs (professions?); the implication then might be, do people feel that they are making enough (or indeed, that they can make more than decent amounts)? The standard answer then seems to usually be 'Sure, provided you get further qualifications that raise you above the pack and the generally frozen or falling i.e. hardly rising ELT wages in many countries'.

That is, it's obviously a job but I doubt if anybody really does it for the money (assuming they get a fairly decent wage in relation to their qualifications and/or experience).

I guess that most people continue in this field because it is an interesting, intellectually stimulating and potentially rewarding area (the language(s), linguistics etc), or at least should be for those who keep their minds if not their bodies and souls out of whatever rut might appear to be there from time to time; then of course there is the lure of travel, exotic and beautiful places and people which can compensate for the delay or even eventual loss of the 2.3 kids and mortgage back home.

I'm not sure that I'd agree that it is an easy job. Sure, it can get easier, but only in proportion to the thought and preparation that one continues to put in. I think I'd be kidding myself if I ever thought it really was (had somehow become) easier despite me not finishing even half the little research and materials development projects that I always have on and off the back burner (and which I believe will each help to make my job that little bit easier, or rather "thankful" vs "thankless", once they're completed and ready to use, test out, refine, maybe even scrap etc).

So personally I come here to help people (including myself) keep their passion for learning as well as teaching alive, by posting my own ideas and questions or responding to others; that being said, I think online forums have their limits (though not as many as some formal learning environments!), and sometimes it is better to just switch off the PC and curl up with some quality appealing books in order to "fill one's cup".

One thing that I do wonder is how much we help people other than fellow teachers LOL. I think it takes decades of reflection on ourselves as individuals, each with our own interests and strengths, to be in any position where one will be truly able to help students from the moment one meets and begins teaching them; ELT is ultimately about understanding ourselves through an examination of our own language in relation to the wider community's/-ies, and extending "both" to meet somebody (another learner, but this time a non-native rather than a native) who is also coming to various realizations about not just language but all that it expresses and affects (which is pretty much everything).

[jpvanderwerf2001]

I teach, predominantly, for three reasons:
1) I truly enjoy the interaction with students (both academic and personal);
2) The job is relatively stress-free (although dealing with the respective bureaucracies of the countries in which I've taught has often been a headache);
3) In seven years, I have rarely felt that teaching as a job has gotten stale. There's always something new to learn and new ways to teach. These are challenging aspects of the job for me. I suspect that most teachers who get "bored" or "burned out" do not take it upon themselves to take those challenges.

I post because I enjoy reading other teachers' insights, and occasionally feel the need to share my experiences.

[Vo Rogue]

I teach because it's an ideal way to both work and travel. It's more rewarding than some jobs I've had, but less rewarding than others. Having falling into the job accidentally, I discovered it probably suits my personality as well - you know, helping others, patient, good at explaining, etc. I don't think I'd teach in my own country however.

As for why I post, well you can see from my post count I don't post very often. A combination of laziness, and the view that there are usually others better qualified than me to give advice.

The OP had another question, about the importance of teaching. To be frank, I don't consider teaching a foreign language to be that important. I never feel that I'm making a big difference to people's lives or shaping young people's minds. This is because there's only so much I can do to help a student learn a language, and that's not much - the real onus is on the student him/herself. Also a lot of my students are studying English only because someone has told them to - the government, their parents, their employer. If making a difference was an important consideration in selecting a career, then I'd probably choose another line of work.

[denise]

I like teaching because it requires/allows me to think. And it keeps me active. I'm much happier darting up and down a classroom interacting with people than I am sitting on my butt staring at a computer. Or answering phones, which I did in my pre-teaching days.

Why do I post? Well, I started out seeking advice and I just kinda stuck around after that.

d

[ktodba]

Just a couple of things - of course I'm not suggesting we do this for free. Yes we should get paid and no, nobody thinks they are being paid enough but I know that given my degree and experience in and out of EFL I could earn more in a non teaching job, in my case in business, than I ever could in it. I choose to do this because I find the non-monetary benefits of the job outweigh the net benefits I found in my industry work. Ultimately I do this because I enjoy it but the reasons why I enjoy it are diverse.

[GambateBingBangBOOM]

[ktodba]

Actually I'm talking about English as an Additional language since it is often the 3rd or 4th language of our kids. I've worked in the 'walking tape recorder sector' and understand what you mean but for me being a walking taperecorder / aka ken barbie's better looking sibling equates to doing the job purely for the money as the job satisfaction is nil.

On the subject of EFL vs ESL vs EAl etc. Sorry but the bottom line remains the same - helping someone for whom English is not their first language to communicate in English in the situations that are relevant to them is pretty much the mission staement for any genuine teacher.