TEACHING ENGLISH

TO YOUNG LEARNERS
 Professional Development
Teaching is the learning profession. As teacher, we naturally develop over time as we gain
experience, especially if we enjoy teaching. As an English teacher, you may find that your role
changes over time: You may be asked to coordinate testing or professional development for
your program or a number of schools; you may even decide to pursue a graduate degree and
become a university English Teacher educator. Each of these roles offers an opportunity for
gradual, continuous professional development and for participation in new professional
development activities.
Think about it: What have you learned about teaching young learners? What
challenges do you think you will face?

WHAT I HAVE LEARNED POSSIBLE CHALLENGES

   

   

   

   
Why Professional
Development is
important?
 Professional Development
Teaching is lifelong learning. If you have never taught young learners, then you will be
learning a great deal during your first years about how to plan, manage, teach and assess young
learners. Some you will learn from experience. Some you may learn by talking with or
observing more experienced colleagues.
The field of Teaching English to young learners is constantly changing and growing, and you
will want to find appropriate ways to keep current. Being an effective English teacher requires
the knowledge, skills and sensitivities of a teacher of children and of a teacher of language,
and the ability to balance these effectively in teaching.
 Approaches to Professional
Development

When thinking about some possible people and activities that could help you develop as a
teacher, they likely could be grouped under one of the following three approaches to
professional development:

• Theory – to – practice approach

• Coaching or mentoring approach
• Reflective approach
In what do you think it
consists these
approaches?
1. Theory-to-practice Approach
Is one in which teachers learn from experts by reading about their theories or listening to them
speak at major conferences or in online webinars or podcasts, and then apply what they have
learned in their teaching.
This is likely the major way that you learned in a teacher education program.
Participating in workshops or seminars, or engaging in online discussion groups where experts
and colleagues engage in discussion are activities to improve your abilities
 2. Coaching or Mentoring Approach
Is one in which less experienced teachers (or those with less experience in a particular skill or
activity, such as using technology resources) learn from those with more experience and then
apply that to their own teaching. Sometimes this involves collaborative coaching or even team
teaching
3. Reflective Approach
Is one in which teachers critically analyze or research, reflect upon, and adapt their own
practice.
Critical reflection is an important component of any approach to professional learning,
including the approaches that consider teaching as a science or an art. Taking a graduate
course, participating in an online discussion board, or being part of a study circle at your
school or with colleagues from a number of schools all require critical analysis and reflection
about what one has read or discussed.
Technology has made it possible to engage in many more professional development activities
and to network with other EYL teachers around the world.
 Effective Professional Development
If you have been teaching for some time, you probably have been involved in professional
development activities that are organized by your program or school.
In fact, creating a professional development action plan with your own short-term and long-
term objectives and some of the ways you plan to achieve these objectives is an excellent idea.

In general, effective professional development:

• Takes place over time; it does not consist of isolated, unrelated workshops
• Emphasizes concrete activities, not abstract theory
• Involves teachers in the planning
• Provides teachers with opportunities to share their knowledge and experiences
• Focuses on the classroom and student learning
Professional Development Activities
One way of thinking about opportunities for professional development is through the five
categories identified by Foord, which he describes as concentric circles, with You at the center
and You and your profession on the outside:

• You: reading alone or reflecting upon your own classes

• You and your students: getting feedback or new ideas from students
• You and your colleagues: learning or getting support from other teachers through
mentoring, peer observation, or team teaching
• You and your school: carrying out projects and interacting with administrators
• You and your profession: participating in professional associations of learning communities
and writing for publication.
Which are some of the
ways you can develop
yourself as a teacher?
Professional Development Activities
• Engaging in reflective teaching and practice – including keeping a teaching journal,
participating in a reflective teaching group, or developing a teaching portfolio
• Coaching and mentoring – including team teaching
• Observing classes – including collaborative peer observation and self-observation
• Engaging in teacher research – including action and collaborative action research
• Participating in continued formal and informal learning – including participating in
workshops, podcasts, seminars, webinars, online discussion lists, graduate classes, and
learning communities
• Participating in professional associations and conferences
• Networking through social media and blogs
• Learning from your students
• Developing instructional materials and curricula
• Writing for publication
 Engaging in Reflective Teaching or Practice
Reflection help us to learn from our experiences, to become more conscious of what we do and
why we are doing it, and to analyze the results through systematic collection and analysis of
information.

Three main types of reflective practice:

• Reflection-in-action: Thinking about what we are doing while we are doing it, in the
classroom
• Reflection-on-action: Thinking about the class after it is over
• Reflection-for-action: Using what we have learned from our reflections to plan for future
classes
Keeping a teaching diary or journal
As you complete a class, you may want to make some notes about what went well or what you
might want to change next time. You could do this on your lesson plan, but you may also want
to engage in a bit more analysis and reflection. Keeping a teaching diary or journal encourages
active reflection and provides a place where you can record these reflections. It will also allow
you to go back through a year and see what progress you have made.

One way of organizing the information is to develop a set of questions to answer, such as:

• What is one thing about the class that pleased me? Why?
• What is one thing that did not go well? Why?
• What might I do differently next time to address the problem?
You might also want to make a list of aspects of teaching and learning to consider, such as:

• Planning the lesson

• Beginning the lesson
• Giving directions
• Making yourself understood in English
• Managing the class
• Encouraging participation by all learners
• Providing feedback
• Helping learners to develop listening, speaking, reading, or writing skills
• Introducing and practicing vocabulary
• Reducing teacher talk and increasing student talk
• Other goals that you have
 Coaching and Mentoring

You may want to see if you can find a more experienced teacher who can help you get
oriented. This teacher may also be someone you can turn to when you have questions or are
facing challenges in your teaching. You will also want to meet with this teacher to discuss what
you have observed and any concerns you might have.

As you become more experienced, you will want to offer to help other new teacher. You will
find that in doing so, you will also learn a great deal about your own views of teaching and
learning.
 Coaching and Mentoring

Team Teaching:

You may also want to engage in co-teaching as a means of both mentoring others and receiving
mentoring. This can be especially productive when each of you has something special to share
and to learn. You could collaborate with another EYL teacher. Focus your attention on the SS
who are having difficulty in your English class – those who are shy, who seem bored, who
present classroom management problems.
 Observing Classes

As you observe other teachers’ classes, see how they introduce new topics, recycle vocabulary
or grammar, engage in formative assessment, motivate shy students to participate, manage
different grouping patterns, deal with disruptive students, or almost anything about which you
have questions.

You may want to talk with the teacher before observing the class, to understand the teacher’s
objectives as well as decisions concerning activities, types of grouping, or other factor in the
lesson plan.
 Observing Classes

Collaborative peer observation:

Paired observations with other teacher in the school. Noting how they respond to different
activities that may be conducted in their first language. You can note the difficulties SS are
having with content classes. The teacher can also see your class to get extra help.

Self-observation:
You can record yourself, then analyze and reflect upon how you used the time, how your
lesson progressed, whether your interacted with all the children, or how much time you spent
talking and how much time you had the children engaged in talking or writing.
Engaging in Teacher Research

As you teach, you will naturally begin reflecting on your classes and learners and think about
things you might want to consider adding or changing. Try a new activity or a new way to
informally assess your learners and see the results. Teacher research can range from this
informal look at and adaptation of your own teaching to more formal action research.
You will become a more reflective teacher, evaluating your teaching and seeking ways of
improving it and growing professionally
Engaging in Teacher Research

Action research : Focuses on understanding the causes of a problem or asking a question to

answer then, as the name implies, taking action to address the problem or to answer the
question.

1. Identify Let’s imagine that you talk too much in the classes
2. Gather information how would you change this. What would you do?
3. Plan
4. Act
5. Evaluate and Reflect
6. Act again
Participating in Continued Formal and Informal learning
There are too many ways to continue to learn as a teacher. It is possible to participate in local,
regional, national or international workshops and seminars, some of which are available as
podcasts or webinars. With technology it is possible to take online graduate courses or even get
advanced degree fully online or in hybrid programs with some online and some face-to-face
courses.
 Networking through Social media Such as Facebook and Blogs

TEYL FACEBOOK GROUP: Has approximately 1300 members and growing. It was
created in 2005. The creators post announcements and photos about conference
presentation they do and Professional Developments events they participate in
 Learning From your Students.

All teacher have bad days in which whatever we try with our students doesn’t seem to
work. We can follow that class with one in which we begin asking students to rank a
series of activities from those they like best to those they like least. Or you can talk with
a small group of student while others are engaged in other activities about things they
like or don’t like about learning English or the ways that they best learn.

Which other things can you develop to know how your ss are learning in an effective
way?
Conclusion

You are a member of what may be the most demanding profession of all. We oftean hear
how difficult it is to be a doctor, a lawyer, or an engineer. But teachers need to make
hundred of decisions during the day, as they decide on what need to be reviewed, what
needs to be repeated, what kinds of feedback to provide, how to encourage a SS who is
having a difficulty, how to prevent another SS from talking too much class time.

You can learn so much from others. From listening or reading to experts, talking to or
observing other teachers.
Take advantage of the opportunities to become a teacher leader, as you will continue to
learn and grow and remain an active member of teaching profession.
 Discussion Questions:

1. If you were to select one professional development activity from this lesson, what
it would be? Why do you think it would be helpful to you?
2. What are some challenges you face in participating in professional development?
3. If you have observed an experienced EYL teacher, what did you learn from the
observation, if you don’t which things would you like to see.
 Follow up:

1. Think in ways you can assess your Students