This document outlines Richard Pinner's presentation on becoming a "real" teacher through developing efficacy, authenticity, and professional development. The presentation discusses how motivation, concentration, skill development and maintaining a balance between challenges and abilities can lead to a state of "flow" and intrinsic motivation. It also shares Richard's personal story and journey to becoming a teacher to establish the validity of the work that English as a Foreign Language teachers do. The presentation aims to show how real professional development occurs outside of just theory by focusing on authentic experiences.
EFL Teacher Journeys Kyoto 2014: Becoming a ‘real’ teacher: efficacy, authenticity and professional development
1. BECOMING A ‘REAL’ TEACHER:
EFFICACY, AUTHENTICITY AND
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Richard Pinner
rpinner@sophia.ac.jp
EFL Teachers’ Journeys
Conference
Kyoto 22nd June 2014
23. Summary
• You can download the slides and additional
resources at
www.uniliterate.com
• Please email me!
rpinner@sophia.ac.jp
• Please also checkout
www.cliljapan.org
Don’t forget to setup the video camera to record the sessions ?
45 mins
10.25 – 11.10
INQ Q&A
This is a teachers’ professional Narrative presentation
Aims are To establish the validity of what all EFL teachers do for a living.
Make you feel good about yourselves
Just in case any of you still wish you were lawyers or fire engine drivers
Should be relevant to others, although how you authenticate this story is really up to you.
EFL and Lit at Sophia and Student at CAL under Ema
Probably no one but need to ask. If there are some that’s ok I’ll not belittle the schools. Also beware people might not raise their hands.
Ask also about JET
Ask if there are any others – High School etc…
Snobbery of university perhaps? But why did I not see myself as a real teacher until quite recently
No matter where you work, Eikaiwa or University or High School as an ALT or whatever, you are a real teacher.
Eikaiwa has real students so you are a real teacher. But it’s kind of case by case…
My experience as Chibiko kids
I was basically a human crossword puzzle
Moved to London. Vowed I would not be teaching English again. Narrowly missed/escaped getting a job for a marketing company.
Got work at Kaplan International – an Eikaiwa basically. Social Program Coordinator, Study Centre Manager, then IT and eLearning. Kaplan dodgy pay stuff. Under the average salary for London and for a graduate my age. This annoyed me.
Tried to join a union but it had to be the General Workirs Union
Was I still just part of the service industry?
Was I just still part of the service industry?
And it was around here that the “real teacher or EFL teacher” story popped up
Couldn’t join teachers union because of length of training, didn’t have a PGCE. Actually had always thought of being a “real” teacher anyway
Started an MA in Applied Linguistics.
Found a new lease of life for what I do. Teaching English is most certainly not just the service industry, even if other people saw it like that.
Got a few pieces published but not peer reviewed.
When I started reading MA stuff it opened my eyes and made me see the value of what I do – became an EFL lifer
eLearning and computers took off for me
By this stage I started to see myself as a real teacher.
Basically EFL teachers were looked down on because of the length of training.
The more I worked in academia the more attractive I found it. I saw myself rise up with an MA under my belt
But then I was a small fish in a much bigger pond
Which brings me to the present.
What is this person’s motivation for paddling?
2 forces at work. Originally, this person had own reason to paddle, - intrinsic. Then, they saw the shark and an external force started acting on them – extrinsic.
This is a rather old fashioned and dichotic view of motivation – now it is viewed as a much more complex dynamic system, but this is still useful in its simplicity
Integrqtive and instrumental and ref better expl…
Relatedness = social aspect. Relate to other people, but also could be authentic – reflect real use
Efficacy.
Authenticity
Multiple selves.
For example, I fooled myself into believing a PhD would be easier than my MA.
I’m convinced of the importance of the job I do
Writing essays and publishing is hard, but I enjoy it, I find challenge
I experience flow when I am working in the academic and research areas, and I experience it when teaching.
I have been able to make them both one and the same thing, teaching and research
I have maintained my motivation and undertaken professional development because I have been able to firmly establish my own set of principles about what I do. I have valudated my work and I see the importance of it. Possibly take my work a bit too seriously! But this is all part of my authentic self as a teacher
Authenticity
Studying authenticity even though it’s a crazy subject and I have a book coming out in 2016 from Multilingual Matters