Am I ready to be a teacher trainer?

Submitted by Tessa Woodward on 7 October, 2009 - 1200

!"#erienced teachers sometimes as$ themse%&es the 'uestion, (Am I ready to be a

teacher trainer?(

They may as$ in res#onse to a re'uest )rom a boss to run a wor$sho#, in res#onse to

seein* a +ob ad&ertisement, or in res#onse to their own desire to $ee# de&e%o#in* and

mo&in* on in their #ro)essiona% )ie%d

!ach indi&idua% needs to answer the 'uestion )or themse%&es, o) course ut in this

artic%e, I.%% #ro&ide a )ew areas you mi*ht %i$e to thin$ about when turnin* the

'uestion o&er in your mind These are

1 What do you need in order to be any $ind o) teacher?

2 /o you need anythin* more in order to train, educate or mentor other

teachers?

ow can I +ud*e i) I.m ready to be a teacher trainer?

What do you need in order to be any $ind o) teacher?

It seems to me that in any $ind o) teachin*, whether you teach a modern )orei*n

%an*ua*e to someone who doesn.t s#ea$ it, or teach tennis or #hysics, you need the

)o%%owin*

• hysica% and menta% stamina

• 3ood mana*ement s$i%%s

• The ca#acity to en*a*e #artici#ants, re%ate to them both one to one and in

*rou#s, and )ind out what they $now

• A *ood understandin* o) the content you teach and an abi%ity to trans)orm it

into 4a5 c%ear, succinct messa*es and 4b5 #ractice &ia tas$s and materia%s

• 3ood c%assroom s$i%%s 6 )or e"am#%e, the abi%ity to ho%d attention, 'uestion,

wait, %isten we%%, ma$e *ood 'ua%ity inter&entions, e"#%ain, demonstrate,

ne*otiate %earnin* that is meanin*)u% and re%e&ant )or #artici#ants, monitor

*rou#wor$ and synthesie e&eryone.s o))erin*s

• The abi%ity to *et on with co%%ea*ues and those abo&e, to the side and be%ow

you in your conte"t

In addition, it.s *ood i) a teacher can $ee# u# to date on re%e&ant %iterature, theory and

 #ractice8 ha&e thou*hts on their own ro%e as a chan*e a*ent8 and $ee# de&e%o#in*

I.m sure you.%% thin$ o) other im#ortant areas that I.&e %e)t out but it a%ready reads as a

 #retty %on* %ist O) course, i) you are a teacher o) teachers, a%% the abo&e sti%% a##%y

ut %et.s %oo$ at the ne"t 'uestion

/o you need anythin* more in order to train, educate or mentor )e%%ow teachers?

Wor$in* with adu%ts

I) you norma%%y teach chi%dren or teena*ers, then the )irst e"tra is to *et some #ractice

wor$in* with adu%ts Adu%ts may di))er )rom youn* #eo#%e in their re%a"ed #ace,

 

%on*er concentration s#ans, constructi&e sense o) humour, abi%ity and wi%%in*ness to

 brin* in their %on*er %i)e e"#erience, their moti&ation and their desire to $now why

you are as$in* them to do this or that tas$

3ettin* e"#erience

To be use)u% to other teachers, you rea%%y need to *et as much e"#erience as #ossib%e

with di))erent c%ass sies, %e&e%s, ty#es o) student, ty#es o) course, materia%s, teachin*

conte"ts, and so on

3ettin* meta.

It.s +ust not enou*h to be ab%e to teach any more :ou.%% now ha&e to ha&e a *ood

understandin* o) what you can do in a c%assroom, who with or to, when, how, and

why In other words, you.&e *ot to *et meta 6 that is, %oo$ o&er and behind a%% you do

)rom a #ro)essiona% &iew#oint so you can comment on it %ucid%y and #ro&ide shortcuts

)or others

;ore tas$s

<any teacher trainers=mentors=educators, no matter how di))erent their settin*s, )ind

they are a%% in&o%&ed with certain core tas$s such as he%#in* teachers with %esson

 #%annin*8 obser&in* teachers at wor$8 *i&in* )eedbac$ on obser&ed %essons8 and

su##ortin* teachers whi%e they #rocess new $now%ed*e and e"#erience, ma# the new

onto what they $new be)ore and draw their own conc%usions There are #ara%%e%s

 between some o) these teacher trainin* core tas$s and ordinary teachin* Thus, it

cou%d be said that *i&in* )eedbac$ on obser&ed teachin* is simi%ar to *i&in* a

%an*ua*e student )eedbac$ on an ora% #resentation done in c%ass Some s$i%%s 6 such as

usin* tact, #ro&idin* su##ort and *i&in* data-based commentary 6 can trans)er )rom

the %an*ua*e c%assroom to the teacher trainin* c%assroom >e&erthe%ess, the core tas$s

o) %an*ua*e teachin* are #retty distinct in some ways and so their content and #rocess,

their what and how, need to be %earned and #ractised

One other thin* that is distinct, in my &iew, is this y becomin* a wor$sho# %eader,

con)erence #resenter, obser&er o) teachers, or any $ind o) teacher trainer, you are

settin* yourse%) a %itt%e a#art 6 not +ust )rom your new adu%t students o) teachin*, but

a%so )rom your co%%ea*ues, the teachers who ha&e chosen not to become trainers This

wi%% ha&e im#%ications that de#end on the cu%ture and conte"t you wor$ in In some

cu%tures, it wi%% immediate%y *i&e you #ride, res#ect and su##ort In others, you wi%%

stand out %i$e a %i*htenin* rod on to# o) a bui%din* And i) there.s any static e%ectricity

around in the atmos#here, you.%% draw it 6 es#ecia%%y i) you are o) a *ender, a*e,

re%i*ion, race or other *rou# that is norma%%y either cons#icuous%y dominant or

o##ressed It.s time to %oo$ at the %ast 'uestion

ow can I +ud*e i) I.m ready to be a teacher trainer?

!&en someone who has +ust a %itt%e more $now%ed*e or e"#erience than another can be

he%#)u% to the other, )or a time So, e&en i) you.&e +ust been teachin* )or si" months,

you can sti%% be use)u% to the new%y 'ua%i)ied teacher who.s +ust arri&ed in your

sta))room We can, too, ta$e a &ery broad de)inition o) a teacher trainer and say that it

is anyone who he%#s a co%%ea*ue with an idea )or their ne"t %esson or who s#ends time

%istenin* to an u#set co%%ea*ue a)ter a bad c%ass*

 

In this way, i) we start natura%%y with co%%ea*ues, i) we start sma%%, then most o) us

actua%%y are teachers who are #art mentor, #art teacher trainer ein* a teacher trainer,

in my &iew, shou%dn.t mean %ea&in* the %an*ua*e c%assroom or i) you sto# %an*ua*e

teachin* )or months on end, how can you $ee# rea%istic and he%#)u% to those who are

about to be, or who sti%% are, in the thic$ o) it a%%? So to answer this )ina% 'uestion@ i)

you.re en+oyin* your %an*ua*e teachin*, and *ettin* better at a%% the tas$s noted under

'uestion 1, i) you.re bein* turned to )or he%# and su##ort by co%%ea*ues, as noted

under 'uestion , and i) you.re wi%%in* to wor$ on the tas$s under 'uestion 2, then

you.re #robab%y as ready as you.%% e&er be