Teaching English can really be intimidating especially when you are a second language user. Finding yourself in a private school where you are likely to teach people from different cultural backgrounds, learning styles and different expectations could be really challenging if you are always doubting your teaching materials and the methodology that underlies it. Another factor could be your self-confidence as a teacher. I witnessed the abandonment of some teachers because of the lack of competence or frustration from their learners. The fear that grips you when one of your learners teases you with the speech of an American or British native speaker, knowing that you will not understand anything. I have always been afraid of being in this situation. Therefore, I constantly worked on my English to reach what some researchers call ‘The native based standard’. It required a lot of commitments and dedications but in the process, you realize something more important: The need to meet your learning goals.

Room for improvements
The idea of reflecting on my teaching practices will certainly help me in making the right choice concerning what to teach, how to do it, for how long , with what methods and how to effectively assess my students. But on top of everything, it will increase my self-confidence because of the critical viewpoint I will be receiving from my learners and the peer observation process. And I think that a confident teacher can only create self-confident learners with great academic performances and achievements.

Teaching experience and philosophy
I started teaching in 2016 and I realized how challenging it was to meet the learners’ expectations. My main concern was how to teach a group of people with so many differences. Some wanted me to have the American accent, others the British accent, few people were of mixed feelings while some just wanted to understand what I was uttering. We have been taught so many methodological approaches that I found myself lost during the teaching process. I had to try each of the methods to better understand how it works and the impact it could have on my learners. From my experience, I discovered which one suits the different English levels I was working with (Beginners, pre-intermediates , Intermediates) but having no one to monitor my teaching made it difficult to trust my beliefs and my choices. Yet, my learners did not know anything about these thoughts, these questioning. They found me confident enough and trusted my teaching practices but internally, I knew I needed help to take up my own challenges as a teacher. Of course, as a teacher, I daily learnt from my mistakes. No one can predict how a class will go. Some unexpected situations made me realize the need for a continued professional development. The Diploma TESOL is therefore welcomed.

My expectations
I truly believe that by the end of this academic year, I will be able to :
– Better my teaching practices and make it reflect the UK standard
– Be able to become confident especially when I work with the intermediates and advanced learners
– Become an eclectic teacher (who can adapt and modify his techniques regarding teaching affordance and learners’ expectations)
– Help my learners to go beyond the ideal native speaker and own their accent
– Look at myself through the reflective blog and analyze my strengths and my weaknesses
– Design an effective curriculum for the school I work at for the beginners, intermediate and the advanced learners.