KARA STOLEY

Having been a language learner myself for many years, I thought I knew what the typical language teacher looked like. They stood in front of the class teaching grammar and vocabulary. Student spent a decent portion of class taking notes and conjugating verbs. Then, towards the end of a lesson, there would be some sort of speaking or listening practice. With the exception of one particular high school Spanish teacher, that is how my language courses tended to be structured. The focus was much more grammar intensive, with speaking and listening being secondary to reading and writing. To this day, I can read and write a decent bit of Spanish, but my speaking and listening skills are not great. In other words, my abilities are a direct result of the way I was taught the language.

I assumed going into the TESOL Diploma Program that learning to teach ESL would be similar. I would brush up on my English grammar and learn some language presentation techniques. While both of those assumptions proved true, it was not to the extent that I originally thought. Throughout this program, I have revisited some of my high school Spanish classes and realized my teacher had absolutely been using some of the concepts I was learning in her classroom. I just had not realized it at the time. This program really taught me to go back and look at how my teachers presented language to me when I was the language learner. It was an eye-opening experience for me to begin to really see and understand the strategy behind some of my most memorable Spanish lessons.

I entered this program with zero teaching experience. Initially, I did not think I had a teaching philosophy. But I realize now that was not necessarily true. My experience as a learner gave me a base upon which to build my teaching philosophy. One of the concepts addressed in several of the program courses is the idea of remembering versus knowing. As a student, I had very little trouble remembering facts. I could memorize with the best of them and, while that made it relatively easy for me to pass tests, I often did not really know the material. I could regurgitate the key players and definitions, but I could not put those facts to any real use. Understanding the difference was a key turning point in my experience learning to teach.

Building upon the previous idea, I really tried to internalize three more key concepts gleaned from the program as the basis of my teaching philosophy. First is the idea that teachers do not cause learning, they facilitate it.  As instructors, we do our best to create an environment in which learning can take place, but we cannot make the students learn. Next is the simple fact that there is no perfect lesson. Some lessons may work better than others, but that does not mean they have no room for improvement or will work exactly as planned with every class. Sometimes a technique that worked with a class one day will not work the next, something I have experienced first hand in this program. Last is the idea that teachers are learners and learners are teachers. I have learned constantly throughout this program. I have learned from my instructors, from my classmates, and from my students. Being placed in the teacher role does not mean that you have nothing left to learn. It means the exact opposite.

Combining all of these concepts, I have truly begun to find my teacher voice and formulate my teaching philosophy. As a student, I learned best in classes where I felt my teacher valued me as a person. The thing I have tried hardest to do is foster a safe learning environment. That means building a rapport with students, showing them that I value their thoughts and consider their feelings. I want, more than anything, for my students to feel like they can practice English without judgment in my class. I want the to be bold when they make mistakes and to grow from them. If they sit silently by in class, afraid to misspeak, I will not be able to help them learn. Fostering a safe learning environment encourages students to try things out and experiment with the language, which is vital in learning a language.

Continuing in the same vein, I have come to love and rely on pair work. Breaking classes up into pairs maximizes the opportunities for students to speak, while lowering the stakes. Students are not as self-conscious when speaking one-on-one as they often are when speaking in front of the whole class. As such, I like to break things down into pairs to allow for all students to speak, especially before asking students to speak in front of the whole class. Giving the students the extra practice gives them the confidence needed to speak to the entire group. It also prevents them from feeling like they have been put on the spot, a feeling that is always uncomfortable.

This program has shown me that there are many ways to approach a subject. All of my classmates have their own teaching voices and their own philosophies. While I often find I would have approached a lesson differently, that does not make their version of the lesson any less valid. I may skew towards creative activities while others may focus more on textbook activities and worksheets. Both are equally useful, assuming they meet the goals we set for our lessons as teachers. As teachers, we can only learn more from observing those who do things differently from us. I am very grateful to my classmates for helping me find my teacher voice and I hope to continue learning from others as I continue teaching English in the future.