Job Discussion Forums

[nomad soul]

The topic of video-taped teaching demos recently came up. Although clips showing one teaching in a real classroom setting are an invaluable self-assessment tool for any teacher, it especially might be of interest to newbies ready to take the plunge into the TEFL job market and are seeking ways to promote their newfound teaching abilities.

But what's your general take on video clips as an effective teaching demonstration tool for employment purposes? If you've regularly submitted your video or its Internet link in response to a job ad, were you hired or did you at least hook the employer's interest because of the clip? If so, what aspect of the video do believe impressed the hiring manager? And if you're an employer or hiring manager, do you feel demo videos are an important factor in hiring a newbie (or seasoned) teacher or just a waste of your time?

[spiral78]

I've been on the hiring end, and our little committee felt that videos were a waste of time. We watched a couple, but basically for us, a video might cause us to REJECT an application, but never to ACCEPT one.
Our reasoning was that because the thing is staged by definition, it may well not be a fair view. Further, a video is usually only a slice of a lesson - in our view, it's impossible to judge a lesson without seeing the whole thing. One led to definite rejection as the teacher came across solidly as a lecturer, which is unsuited for our teaching context.

CAVEAT: I was hiring in places where it's customary to interview in person, not by distance - I expect that if a school is hiring sight-unseen, a video might be far more helpful. For us it was preliminary to inviting (or not) a candidate for a proper interview.

[nomad soul]

Appearing staged is certainly a negative. And then, who's to say that the students aren't real to begin with but are friends of the teacher, recruited to help out. I can also see where (real) students might come across as nervous, self-conscious, distracted, or reticent to speak up because they're very much aware they're being taped.

[spiral78]

I've recorded classes (always with the permission of my students) but I'd hesitate to ask anyone to do it for my personal benefit, such as for my CV, honestly. Though I would ask if it were something I really needed, I suppose.

[nomad soul]

On the other hand, a friend of mine, who is generally reserved during interviews, was recently hired for a TEFL position in Taiwan. Despite presenting herself as what she considered "lackluster" during her skype interview, she really impressed the hiring committee with her teaching demo tape because she's a dynamo as a teacher�a whole different person once she gets into the classroom. This reflects in her references and accomplishments and she has the right academic qualifications, but ironically, the committee's feedback was that her taped demo won them over. BTW, they requested short-listed applicants provide video clips of themselves teaching but didn't give them any criteria in terms of what should have been included in the clip.

[naturegirl321]

I did one for the job I'm at now. I was teaching kids, so had to do a demo lesson at my kitchen table to my dog , ok the dog wasn't in the video. BUt it was basically me teaching, then explaining what I would do. Similar to what you'd do if you'd do a demo lesson to a panel at an interview. Or at least what my uni does when they hire people.