Teachers do much more than standing at the front of a classroom talking. They have an important responsibility to the progress and education of the pupils they teach, and this means a lot of assessment and administrative work.
It can be very rewarding teaching both foreign and British students the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
The main responsibility of a teacher is to help your students understand English, speak it and be able to write and read it. Your duties will range from the preparation of course work, planning of classes and the marking of work handed in. On top of this you will also have to arrange any extra curricular activities and set targets for your pupils. You will of course spend a lot of time writing on blackboards and will also be responsible for the safety of pupils during your lessons.
Typical duties include:
Advising student on career issues.
Organising and delivering classroom lectures to students.
Evaluating a students' class work and assignments.
Preparing classroom and coursework materials, homework assignments, and handouts.
Recording and maintain accurate student attendance records and grades.
Developing English lesson plans in line with the National Curriculum.
Maintaining discipline in the classroom.
Creating a vibrant teaching atmosphere.
Personal qualities required
You must be a good communicator as you will be on many occasions communicating with parents and also other teaching staff.
Ability to work in stressful situations and under pressure.
Good listening skills.
Planning and organisational skills.
Teaching English overseas
Research has shown that in countries in the European Union English is the language most taught to students as a second language, it’s well ahead of French, German or Spanish. The advantages of teaching abroad are:
You wiill gain valuable experiences of foreign cultures.
Potentially earn more than you could in the UK.
Have something interesting to put on your CV when you come back to England.
TEFL Teaching English as a foreign language means exactly that. Your pupils will be foreigners of different nationalities whose mother language is not English. In the class there is more emphasis on dialogue, role-playing and language games.
You must be able to work with people from different cultural backgrounds.