{"id":14108,"date":"2021-05-31T10:15:31","date_gmt":"2021-05-31T16:15:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bridge.edu\/tefl\/blog\/?p=14108"},"modified":"2021-05-31T10:15:31","modified_gmt":"2021-05-31T16:15:31","slug":"esl-philosophy-teaching-statement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bridge.edu\/tefl\/blog\/esl-philosophy-teaching-statement\/","title":{"rendered":"ESL Philosophy of Teaching Statement: What Is It & Why Does It Matter?"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

If you’re teaching English, you\u2019ll eventually come across an important question. Someone \u2014 a student, a colleague, an interviewer \u2014 will ask you, \u201cWhat\u2019s your ESL philosophy of teaching statement?\u201d\u00a0In order to best answer this common question, you\u2019ll need to formulate and reflect on an ESL teaching philosophy of your own. This article will help you discover and develop your personal ESL teaching philosophy and know how to talk about it with others.<\/p>\n

What is an ESL teaching philosophy statement?<\/h2>\n

An ESL teaching philosophy statement is a summary of why you teach ESL and how. It\u2019s basically that simple! The details you choose to include in your teaching statement are very important.<\/p>\n

Are you interested in communication above all? Are you happy to be flexible, or do you hope to bring discipline to your learners? Where do you think learning English should fit into a student\u2019s life? How important are test results to you? Do you strive for immersion by not using any translation in the classroom, or do you promote a bilingual environment? All of these questions can be answered succinctly if you formulate an ESL teaching philosophy statement.<\/p>\n

A statement will also help guide your teaching, keep you positive when a lesson goes wrong (because lessons will inevitably go wrong at times), and make you a more reflective teacher overall.<\/p>\n

Why is it important to have an ESL teaching philosophy statement?<\/h2>\n

We listed some of the reasons above, but there are lots of ways that having an ESL philosophy of teaching statement will benefit you. Let\u2019s drill down.<\/p>\n

It makes your teaching consistent<\/h3>\n

You need to have some consistency in your teaching. Language learning (and teaching) can be tough at times. If you’ve got a headache after a grueling grammar lesson or your learners lose it over the fifteenth exception to the rule, a statement of your teaching approach in ESL can remind you why you’re teaching and what you want your learners to get out of every lesson. It will help you to maintain consistent goals, discipline, and lesson-to-lesson continuity of character.<\/p>\n

Take a look at some popular ESL teaching methods that all teachers should know.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

\"Mohammed

Mohammed Hashiru, from Ghana, teaching in Turkey<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

It helps you become a reflective teacher<\/h3>\n

By formulating your own ESL philosophy, you\u2019ll be reflecting on how you want to teach and also the more important question of why you want to teach. If you want to become good at anything, structured self-reflection on a regular basis is crucial. Without a guiding philosophy, you will possibly be tempted to label lessons as simply \u201cgood\u201d or \u201cbad\u201d and move on, missing out on both the details and the big picture at the same time. Having a guiding philosophy for your teaching will make your self-reflection sessions more specific and goal-oriented.<\/p>\n

Check out these 10 powerful goals for English teachers.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

It provides context for what you’re doing<\/h3>\n

More people are now attempting to learn English than have ever tried to learn any language in history. But learning English does not exist in a historical vacuum; the context of imperialism and colonialism do play a role in English becoming the lingua franca it is today. Without an ESL philosophy, you may not reflect on how you came to teach English to those who want to learn it. You could stumble into problematic ways of thinking that are descended from the imperial and colonial history of English teaching. Being aware of your own motivations for teaching English can help you to react to the world more compassionately and with less bias.<\/p>\n

As a global language, English has many different dialects and accents. Here’s why teachers should incorporate them into the classroom!<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

It leads to self-understanding<\/h3>\n

You need to start defining yourself as a teacher even before you begin teaching. Understanding yourself as a teacher will help guide your career path and ensure that you’re always improving as an ESL instructor.<\/p>\n

Taking a TEFL course<\/a> like the graduate-level IDELTOnline\u2122<\/em>\u00a0TEFL\/TESOL certification program<\/a> will help you formulate and define your teaching, as it’ll give you an in-depth look at how to form a teaching philosophy, cover the principles of language acquisition, help you set learning objectives for your students, and more.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I always tell the trainees to do is take what they\u2019ve learned, including the research that they\u2019ve done, and translate it into how they would be in the classroom \u2014 and give a portrait of themselves as a teacher,\u201d says Katrina Schmidt, an instructor for Bridge\u2019s IDELTOnline\u2122<\/em> course<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What exactly is the IDELTOnline\u2122 TEFL\/TESOL course? Find out!<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

It establishes your credibility as a professional<\/h3>\n

Professionals are guided by their principles and make decisions based on them. If you don\u2019t have a strong center, you\u2019ll be easily pulled in directions that may eventually hurt your career prospects or lead to teaching burnout. Establishing a clear, personal teaching philosophy will help keep you on the right professional path.<\/p>\n

Check out 8 strategies to avoid burnout when teaching English online.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

You will be asked about it by employers<\/h3>\n

When you interview for an English teaching job, there’s a good chance that you\u2019ll be asked to explain your personal education philosophy. Being able to easily discuss your ESL philosophy of teaching statement is one of the main reasons you should put the effort in now to develop a clear statement.<\/p>\n

Find out how you should prepare for a TEFL\/TESOL interview.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

\"TEFL

Lorena (center), an ESL business owner, offers insight into TEFL interviews in this article<\/a>.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

What should be included in an ESL philosophy of teaching statement?<\/h2>\n

When you craft your ESL philosophy statement, you\u2019ll want to think about things from several perspectives. One of the best ways to accomplish this is to ask yourself open-ended questions, such as:<\/p>\n