Reflective Online Teaching: ELT Professional Competencies for Student Teachers

ELT Professional Competencies for Student Teachers

5 tips to be better in your teaching practicum and practice

As a student teacher lacking the experience of being in front of a class and working with students, the need to develop one’s professional competence is a must. The teaching practicum is a way to start building one’s professional competencies and confront one’s teaching beliefs with one’s own teaching particulars and environment. To help oneself create some sort of competence awareness, student teachers are here provided with five tips to help themselves grow professionally.

u Self-/Peer Assessment » Ask yourself –at the end of the class-, what went right and/or what went wrong? This sort of question can help you reflect and self-criticize yourself as an educator. All teachers need to review their teaching beliefs to be able to make changes or adjustments in their teaching. By “evaluating your tactics” [BBC’s TeachingEnglish 2003], this practice may lead you to “teaching perfection” and to a “highly constructive” teaching reflective stage. And if possible, ask a student teaching partner (or another teacher in school) to lend you his/her ears and eyes to help you spot areas that need extra polishing. Their help can be of great use in one’s teaching competence development.

v Classroom Atmosphere » In an in-service training session at CCCN with Dr. Neil J. Anderson (2004), author of Active Reading Skills for Reading, over here in San José (Costa Rica), he insisted on the importance of “creating a classroom culture.” This culture or atmosphere allows us to ensure discipline in class and respect among class members. As the head member, the teacher can control pair and group work efficiently and time class activities to maximize student learning. This comfortable atmosphere will make teachers and students avoid confrontations that will disrupt the balance of the class culture.

w Students’ Attitudes towards English Learning » If a “class culture” is successfully created, shifting students’ attitudes towards the target language seems to be a feasible task. Keep in mind that not all the students in class are really interested in learning English; English could just be another subject to pass. Nevertheless, making pupils aware of the importance of English in the working world can be a great way to motivate them to go the extra mile needed to succeed in their “future, potential” professional lives.

x Professionalism » Projecting oneself as an education professional is also a must as part of one’s teaching career. Several things need to be taken care of so one does no lose face in front of students (and their parents), school officials, an one’s teaching colleagues. Among those things, always be punctual for class. As the TeachingEnglish editor (2003) states it, “Be prompt and punctual because promptness and punctuality lead to systematic work.” Students need to learn the value of “promptness” and “punctuality,” so please set the example for them by being on time for class and giving back graded assignments, quizzes, tests, and the like.

Show your professionalism by always using rubrics to grade students and their performance or work. This will save you “extra” headaches when students complain or school officials ask you to justify a given grade. And show your professional style by following the school dress code all of the time. Do get to explore how else you can improve your professional image.

y Language Practice » “Involve your students in authentic communication actions, which encourage a continuous flow of speech” (TE Editor 2003). Creating and having students take part of meaningful and memorable exercises guarantees learning. Be creative and replicate the real world in class so students understand why English learning is necessary. Scaffolding student performance can yield even better results in terms of class production and the accomplishment of language learning outcomes. All these elements also contribute to a greater language practice in class within a comfortable atmosphere and class culture.

To sum up, developing ELT Professional Competencies is a real need for amateur and for consolidated teaching professionals. Discovering one’s beliefs and how to adapt them to new teaching environments and particulars is part of the development of those competencies to become a better-shaped professional. But bear in mind that teaching goes beyond the class, so try to create your PLN [Professional Learning Network] to always be updated and to become a desirable teacher to be hired anywhere you apply for a teaching position.

ETo fully develop and comprehend this teaching issue, it’s advisable to research and expand these areas:

1	Professional competences
2	Self-Assessment in teaching
3	Peer assessment for teaching improvement
4	The class culture
5	My professional image as an ELT teacher