Humanising Language Teaching
Year 6; Issue 3; September 04

Does our work still give us a buzz?

David Wilson
York, UK

David Wilson looks at ways teachers can motivate themselves to develop professionally and enjoy their work.

Whether we've been teaching for two or twenty years, whether we teach adults who need English for their work, or young children taking their first steps in learning another language, whether we teach English, or in fact any subject or skill, there's one thing we all have in common: we need to be motivated to carry on.

Motivating people at work

Over the past few months, I've taught English to a number of Human Resources Managers from large international companies. Sooner or later our discussions have come round to the question of staff motivation. Invariably they tell me that one of the most difficult tasks they have is not recruiting new employees or even training them, but keeping experienced employees motivated. It's easy enough to start a career or job when you're brim-filled with enthusiasm and realise you've a lot to learn. What's really tough is when you've been doing the same work for years, and a great deal of the freshness has worn off.

My Human Resources managers also tell me that large companies invest considerable sums of money to help motivate people at work. The scenario for many of us is quite different. We generally work in organisations where financial resources are severely limited. And morale may be low because of relatively poor pay conditions and status.

The inner motivation of the professional

But does professional motivation depend totally, or even mainly, on externals? In recent years there's been a discovery that effective motivation comes from within, and I'd argue that this is where true professionalism lies. In his book Maximizing People Power in Schools: Motivating and Managing Teachers and Staff Larry Frase reports various recent research findings which concur that teachers choose the job to help young people learn, and accomplishing this goal is one of its most gratifying rewards. He goes on to say that the work-related factors that teachers value most are those that allow them to do the job successfully. In other words helping people to learn successfully is inherently motivating.

Success breeds success, so the saying goes. Daniel Goleman, author of the highly acclaimed book Emotional Intelligence believes the most motivated workers are those who think positively. While Goleman admits that some people are by nature optimists, "optimism and hope - like helplessness and despair - can be learned. Underlying both is an outlook psychologists call self-efficacy, the belief that one has mastery over the events of one's life and can meet challenges as they come up."

The way I see it, teachers are diverse human beings who are motivated in different ways. What we all have in common is the power to transform our external surroundings through inner motivational drive. There are, of course, different ways to foster such inner motivation, and help us to grow into confident independent professionals with a fully justified pride in what we do.

However, to maintain our motivation after initial enthusiasm has waned; now that's a real challenge! I'd argue that there's one essential requirement. We need, first and foremost, to be 'people persons' who enjoy learning continuously from others. We don't necessarily have to be extroverts, but we must enjoy the sustained company of other people, whether students or fellow professionals, and be refreshed by such contact.

English teachers as linguists

Another group of teachers who stand out from the crowd in the motivation stakes are the ones who are fascinated by other languages and cultures. ELT is an obvious career choice for them. But for all of us, knowledge of our students' language is clearly a great asset, as it helps us to recognise the difficulties they have in learning what for them is a foreign language. Most reputable ELT training courses include a component which gives teacher trainees the opportunity to learn at least a few words of another language. I'd go even further and maintain that language learning should be an absorbing and ongoing hobby for the motivated ELT practitioner. A lifetime's fascination with other languages undoubtedly leads to interest in the countries our students come from. Learners are quick to pick up on this, and it can greatly help the professional bonding essential to effective teaching and learning. A word of warning, though! Teachers need to exercise professional self-restraint to avoid the temptation of using the students to improve their own competence in their learners' mother tongue.

Increasing our motivation as professionals

There are a number of other avenues we may explore in order to foster and maintain inner motivation. An essential element of inner motivation is the practice of reflection on our own teaching and learning. Addressing her readers in A Course in Language Teaching Penny Ur writes, "You have within your own teaching routine the main tools for personal progress: your own experience and your reflection on it, interaction with other teachers in your institution."

Keeping up with fellow professionals beyond our own educational institution can be done by regular attendance at professional conferences. A well-known one is the International Association for Teachers of English as a Foreign Language (IATEFL), held annually in April at a different venue in the UK. For teachers who cannot make this annual event, regional branches of IATEFL the affiliated Special Interest Groups (SIGs) hold their own weekend or short two- or three-day conferences throughout the year. In the future, we can also expect on-line conferences to become increasingly the norm, reaching far greater audiences than has been possible hitherto.

But there are other ways to establish and maintain contact with fellow professionals, where people can share thoughts and ideas. On-line resources which link teachers internationally are already well-established, with newsgroups such as English Club.com or Web English Teacher featuring prominently.

There are also several good quality professional magazines and journals which keep ELT practitioners informed about personalities, events and teaching resources. Of these, English Teaching Professional (Etp) is well worth subscribing to. This magazine has recently increased its number of editions from three to six per year. Another attractive publication is the monthly English Language Gazette, which also provides useful reviews and regularly updated information on courses for teachers at all levels.

Not only do we need to provide our own inner motivation, we also owe it to ourselves to develop and increase this motivation. Continuous learning is the key here. In recent years the range of courses for in-service professionals has blossomed throughout the world. The need for lifelong learning allied to developments in new technology has produced numerous part-time courses by distance learning. More than ever before, we need to be discriminating, to shop around a bit, and find the course that suits our needs and learning style. It may be a distance DELTA, such as the one offered by International House, or we may feel it would be more of a challenge to do an MA.

Or we might just decide to attend one-day course on a particular ELT topic, something like a workshop run by ARELS (Association of Recognised English Language Schools). These are now not only held in or near London; there are regional branches too that organise regular workshops.

For teachers who like writing, a good way to go on learning new skills is to become a book or materials reviewer. Editors are usually only too happy to receive enquiries from teachers who'd like to do this. You usually get to receive a free copy of the book or materials, which is an attractive way of keeping abreast of developments in the field. Some will perhaps want to go on to trying their hand at writing material for publication, a superb way of maintaining an independent interest in what goes on among learners and teachers in classrooms, and one that can bring with it exciting possibilities for career development.

Enjoying work

In conclusion, I'd like to quote what Goleman says about the importance of positive motivation. In Emotional Intelligence he says, "And to the degree to which we are motivated by feelings of enthusiasm and pleasure in what we do - or even by an optimal degree of anxiety - they propel us to accomplishment." In other words, we 'gotta really wanna' and then we will.

References:

David Wilson works as a business English trainer in-company and at Partners in Training Ltd York where he is currently based. He has extensive experience of teaching general English and English for professional purposes in Denmark, Italy and the U.A.E. He has also worked as a teacher trainer in Italy.
© 2004 David Wilson