All about the profession of an English teacher

Teacher is one of the most interesting, but also the most difficult professions. This is especially true for languages, because the student needs not only to explain everything correctly and teach the basics of speech, but also to instill a love for the subject so that he can move on independently if desired. In this article we will talk about such a specialty as an English teacher, its features, positive and negative points.

Foreign language training - it is a multifaceted and difficult process, in which the teacher plays a crucial role.

In addition, it is important for the teacher have psychological skills to communicate with people, and especially with children: need to find an approach to them, including complex and hyperactive guys, convince them that they need this knowledge.

In teaching English one of the main aspects is knowledge of UK culture, its customs, traditions, holidays. This story needs to be conveyed to the students, because awareness of the culture of the language being studied will help them quickly find a common language with a native speaker, if one has to communicate in adulthood.

English teachers can work in the following places:

• kindergartens and schools;
• technical schools, lyceums, higher educational institutions;
• large companies in need of employee training in specific vocabulary;
• tutoring centers.

Most acutely lack of staff is felt in schools. Can say that it’s not easy for teachers because of the heavy workload.

Their responsibilities are:

• drawing up lesson plans and their implementation;
• filling out academic and electronic journals;
• constant communication with parents of students;
• application of innovative technologies: the most effective are those lessons where video shows, listening to dialogs, and drafting are taken as a rule;
• filling out various documents, maintaining a portfolio;
• collecting the material base, which includes textbooks, video and photo materials, prints, magazines (if the teacher has his own office);
• checking notebooks, homework, conducting tests and tests;
• assistance in organizing extracurricular activities, for example, accompanying students to an exhibition, nature, to a museum;
• if the children are small, the statement of various thematic matinees and scenes with them is added to the list of duties.

Separately, it must be said and about work in large companies, where teachers are hired to train employees. Usually, this is not a general course, but a narrow specificity: business, technology, computer programs, etc. It is important for the teacher to develop his own effective curriculum, and this is a rather difficult task.

There are no ideal professions that every aspect would like, there are advantages and disadvantages everywhere. Consider what kind of teacher they are in the English language.

Pros:

• daily communication with a large number of people, so the teacher never feels alone;
• joy and a sense of pride in oneself with the visible results of their work, the desire of students to attend lessons and learn knowledge;
• constant creative development, visiting theaters, exhibitions, museums;
• respect for the profession, because many understand how difficult it is;
• long vacation, which is two or more months, the ability to quickly earn time off;
• paid leave, sick leave, social protection;
• a large number of vacancies in various institutions.

Minuses:

• unstable schedule: after work, you often have to stay to check notebooks, fill out magazines, participate in the parent meeting;
• the need to keep a lot of documents, make plans, but if the teacher has a big load, such documentation will take a lot of effort;
• responsibility for students: during the lesson, the teacher should not leave the children alone, you need to monitor them and take breaks;
• participation in events that may be unpleasant for teachers: rallies, elections, cleaning the territory;
• salary, which far from always corresponds to the efforts made by the teacher;
• the possibility of a long and morally difficult conflict between the teacher and the student, as well as between the teacher and the parent;
• very quick emotional burnout, because the teacher gives a lot of energy in order to educate children in a quality manner.

To work as a teacher and see the result of your efforts, it is necessary to have a number of qualities important for this specialty: both personal and professional.

A true professional always attracts the attention of others.

The professional qualities of an English teacher are expressed in the following.

• Knowledge of your subject from A to Z, as well as the desire to constantly increase the level.Every year, specialists develop hundreds of new methods, and the teacher must have an idea about them, embed in your curriculum.
• The presence of higher specialized education. This is one of the main points, without which they will not be hired for work in school, and even more so in a higher educational institution. In addition, the teacher must have knowledge in the field of communication psychology and pedagogy.
• The ability to develop their own methods and put them into practice. No less important is the knowledge of how to properly use the achievements of other specialists. The priority should be the textbooks of foreign publishers, in which the presentation of the material is more accessible and laid out "on the shelves."
• The ability to plan. An English lesson is significantly different from a lesson, for example, mathematics, where for 45 minutes you can solve monotonous examples. There are many variations: games, songs, immersion in the real world, watching a movie, working in pairs and groups. That is why it’s important for the teacher to plan the lesson so that everything fits in his time, what you need to work with students.
• Knowledge of how to maintain discipline. Without discipline in school, learning will not go far. Feeling weak in the teacher, students will stop respecting him, will allow themselves liberties during the lesson. This cannot be allowed, so every teacher should be able to quickly encourage children to discipline.

The professional qualities listed above are required to have absolutely every English teacher. But no less important are personal characteristics that shape the attitude of students to the teacher.

• The ability to self-development. This does not concern teaching methods, but the horizons of the teacher as a whole. It’s important for the teacher to read a lot, communicate with different people travel and gain new knowledge that is sure to be useful in the profession.
• Friendliness. No student will like a grim teacher in a bad mood. Children do not appreciate such teachers.
• Understanding and patience. The teacher should be aware that his students are just starting to learn a new subject, and therefore there will be mistakes, reluctance to learn, disappointment in their own abilities. It’s important for the teacher not to let the children lose heart, understand their experiences, correctly motivate. Even if you see that the child is lying or intentionally wants to lose his temper, you should not break down and succumb to emotions.
• Enthusiasm and creativity. Pupils who see a teacher who loves their subject cannot but become interested in them. Indifferent teacher in a monotonous tone giving information inIt will cause boredom and a desire to leave the lesson as soon as possible. So it will be with teachers, deprived of imagination. Even if there is no book at hand or all the material has been completed, you can arrange a fun game, play a scene, ask the children to draw and present something.

Additional qualities that English teachers need are:

• hard work;
• justice;
• responsibility;
• stress resistance;
• sense of humor and optimism;
• love for children.

As already mentioned, in order to get the position of an English teacher, you must graduate from a university.

The best institutions are:

• Moscow State University;
• Moscow Pedagogical University;
• Crimean Federal University named after Vernadsky;
• South Ural State University;
• St. Petersburg Polytechnic University of Peter the Great;
• Russian State University for the Humanities.

You can also improve your skills and undergo retraining. For example, this is easy to do at Moscow State Pedagogical University. This will require a diploma of higher pedagogical education, and knowledge of English on the Middle level. Training takes maximum six months.

Unfortunately, teachers working in schools get pretty little especially if they are just starting a career. The average wage is from 12 to 15 thousand rubles. However, with the growth of experience and professionalism wages are also increasing.

If we talk about higher education institutions, then here payment starts from 20 thousand rubles and rises annually. Most paid in private schools and tutoring centersbut it all depends on their level. Typically, the salary is 60-100 thousand rubles. It is important to remember that the higher the level of the institution and remuneration the harder it will work.

To successfully develop your career, a teacher needs constant improvement. This is a webinar viewer, attend seminars and of conferencesreading methodical literature, as well as blogs of other teachers, communication with native speakers. Most of all this can be obtained in a school with in-depth study of foreign languages.

Such schools strive to ensure that teachers become more professional every day, and therefore often send them to different events, after visiting which you can get certificate.

You can also attach documents proving that you have completed certain courses, for example, "Communicative teaching methodology."

Working in a regular school, the teacher will be over the years improvegetting categories until it reaches the highest.

Further developments are not expected here. Those who work in higher education institutions also constantly improve their qualifications. Here it is possible to write dissertations, which could be the starting point in getting the post of head of the department or even dean.

You can develop your career by recruiting students, especially if the load is small. Private teaching is well paid, in addition, you can gather students in groups or work on Skype. If you have the ability to do business, you can even open own courses or school in teaching English.