Are you stifling your teachers’ creativity?

May 29, 2010

Educational program leaders and directors have a tough job managing programs. They need to oversee all aspects of program management including operations, human resources, curriculum, scheduling and budgets, just to mention a few things. Most program directors are overworked, underfunded and understaffed. They work like mad just to keep their head’s above water. If that sounds like you, then I have a question for you: In all this hustle and bustle what are you doing to keep your teachers motivated?

Like students, teachers have different gifts and talents. Do you give them opportunity to use those talents? Better yet, do you give them an opportunity to share their expertise with their peers?

Teachers need more than to just deliver content to students. This is especially true if that content is “canned”, that is to say, it’s very structured, rigid and inflexible. I once had a teaching job that I loathed because all the teachers had the same textbook and had to cover exactly the same content every week. We had a week-by-week outline of all the content we had to teach. Tests and assignments were developed by the two head teachers without input from others. All the assignments given in every class, by every teacher were the same. Every teacher had to give the same test on the same day.  Teachers were instructed on grading practices, so that grading would be “simpler and standardized”. Those in charge said it would increase quality.

It was true. It was all very standardized. And I’ll be honest, a monkey could have taught that class. There we were, a group of dynamic, engaged professionals, all of whom had bachelors or master’s degrees, churning out canned classes like robots. I stayed for a while and then resigned. Why? Because by being overly prescriptive about our teaching, the quality didn’t increase. It decreased.

One by one, the most engaged, dynamic and creative teachers all left. Those who stayed did so either because they liked the ease of not having to prepare much or because they were too afraid to look for work elsewhere. In any case, the result was the same. The teachers became disgruntled, disengaged and unhappy.

Now let’s consider another case. At a local college, my friend Val is an ESL teacher. While she has particular objectives in her teaching, she also had an idea about using Reading Circles in her work. She asked for the opportunity to run a reading circle with her fellow teachers at the college. Her superiors said, “Go for it!” The reading circle was a success and her project became hot talk among her peers. She moved on to do an applied research project about using reading circles for ESL and literacy. She was asked to do a presentation at the college about her work. People started talking. Val’s idea began to spread. She has gone on to present at conferences. There’s even a YouTube video about Val’s Reading Circles.

Val was given the opportunity by her superiors to use her creativity and not have it stifled. By being given the chance to explore and develop her ideas and talents, Val went about digging deeper into an area she has an interest in, develop professionally and become a leader in her own right in the area of reading circles for ESL literacy.

Giving teachers a chance to showcase and celebrate their professional expertise achieves 5 things (maybe more):

  • Offers them a chance to share their knowledge and passion with their peers.
  • Motivates them to become self-directed learners themselves as they have the chance to investigate what they’re interested in.
  • Provides recognition from others, both inside and outside your school.
  • Increases the teacher’s commitment to the profession.
  • Raises the profile of your school by highlighting the talented professionals who work with you.

What are you doing to encourage your teachers to use their creativity?

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Update – January 2018 – This blog has had over 1.8 million views thanks to readers like you. If you enjoyed this post, please “like” it or share it on social media. Thanks!

Sarah Elaine Eaton is a faculty member in the Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary, Canada.

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5 qualities of the perfect host family

May 25, 2010
Family pillow fight

The perfect host family knows how to have wholesome fun.

Finding super host families for home stay students is key for a successful home stay program. Here are the top things that the best host families do.

1. Act like a family. This may sound obvious, but you really want families who act like a family. They eat dinner together around a table (not in front of the television and not all at different times). They engage in conversation. They may not always agree, but they do listen to one another. They spend evenings and weekends together and understand the value of “family time”.

2. Know that safety and security come first. A good host family understands that it is their responsibility to keep the student they’re hosting safe and secure. This means that they set reasonable rules to help keep the student safe. This may include things like a curfew, checking in with a host parent during late excursions with friends and advice on safety in the local area such as avoiding certain areas of town. An ideal host family understands that having and following safety rules is a good thing.

3. Include the student in family life. The ideal host family thinks of their home stay student as part of the family. They include the student in dinner conversations, family outings and activities. The ideal host family never lets on that they’re being paid to host a student. Instead, they see their role as both giving and receiving. In addition to the fee they receive to billet the student, they also receive a tremendous opportunity to learn about another culture, as well as the chance to learn how to house international guests. In turn, they give their student the opportunity to experience life as part of their own family, offering a safe place to live, support, encouragement, opportunities to learn new things in the informal setting of the family unit.

4. Know when not to include the home stay student. This may sound counter-intuitive but one difference between a good host family and a great host family is that great host families know when not to include the home stay student. They understand that while they want to make the host student feel like part of the family, they also keep in mind they they are still a guest. All families have their ups and downs. Great host families don’t burden their home stay students with things like obligatory visits to the hospital to see a terminally ill grand parent. They also avoid having heated arguments in front of the home stay student. Ideal host families shield their home stay student from distressing experiences, understanding that the student is experiencing his or her own stress from culture shock, missing their own family back home and stress from school. While it is normal for family members to disagree from time to time, the best host families understand that “domestic drama” does not make for a pleasant home stay experience.

5. Know how to have good wholesome fun. Families who do activities together such as play board games, enjoy sports, go for walks and have family gatherings such as dinners and birthday parties are ideal. Together, these create long-lasting happy and warm memories. Your best home stay families strike a balance between work (including school work), responsibilities around the house and time to relax and have some fun together as as a family. These families understand that spending time together doing fun activities creates opportunities for sharing, laughter and positive bonding. And that in the end, happy memories are the best souvenir the student can take with them when they leave.

Related posts:

Sample Host Family Application http://wp.me/pNAh3-fv

How to Find the Perfect Host Family http://wp.me/pNAh3-61

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Update – January 2018 – This blog has had over 1.8 million views thanks to readers like you. If you enjoyed this post, please “like” it or share it on social media. Thanks!

Sarah Elaine Eaton is a faculty member in the Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary, Canada.

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Posted by Sarah Elaine Eaton, Ph.D.

Trends in language learning: What’s hot, what’s not

May 14, 2010

The world is changing quickly. Old ways of promoting language learning are not going to fly any more. Here’s what’s hot and what’s not, in language learning and education.

What’s out
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Vague, hollow promises that can’t be proven. Students see right through vague promises that language learning will get them better jobs. Today’s job market requires more than knowledge of another language. Vague promises are down. Unless you can prove it, don’t claim it.

Authoritative “I know best because I’m your teacher” attitudes. In today’s world where technology is moving at the speed of light, young people are very aware that they know more than the “over-30s”, as we are affectionately known. Old, traditional, hierarchical attitudes are definitely out.

Saying that learning languages is easy. Because it’s really hard work. Students can see right through claims that language learning is easy, or that if they play an audio program in their car or on their iPod they’ll achieve fluency. They know that achieving competence takes dedication, time and effort. Lying to students when deep down they know better, is out.

Complaining and grumbling about cutbacks and lack of funding. Students don’t care that their teachers have a big pile of corrections on their desk. Or that they’re overworked and underpaid. Or that language programs are the underdog of the institution. Really, they just don’t care. Complaining about it makes us, their mentors, look stuffy and jaded. Face it, folks, grumbling is down.

What’s in

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Clear, provable demonstrations of how learning a language can have a significant impact on our students. If vague promises from “authorities” are out, then irrefutable evidence from learners themselves is most definitely in. We’re not talking about general-knowledge building here. We’re talking about clear demonstrations of the impact language learning has on our students. Projects that challenge students to ask themselves how they themselves have grown and changed in positive ways are definitely in. Sharing the results of those projects in ways that demonstrate student learning through showcases, school days, and presentations to parents and community members are also up.

Using technology to demonstrate language learning and its impact. Take the projects mentioned above and show the results through technology and you’re very, very in. Demonstrations of work through portfolios, student-made videos, student blogs, Wikis, podcasts. All of it is in. We’re not talking about using technology for the sake of using technology. We’re talking about using technology to demonstrate students’ learning and show how they themselves reflect upon the impact language learning has had on them. And then sharing it with others through technology. Very, very in.

Proving the value of language learning through stories and speech. Public speaking and presentation skills are enjoying new levels of prestige in the Obama era. For the first time in years, there is a U.S. President who is wooing young people with his power to communicate verbally. Today, it’s cool to be articulate. Debate club is no longer for the nerds. Second language speech contests, debates, poetry readings, and story telling are hot, hot, hot.

Linking language learning to leadership and changing the world in amazingly positive ways. All around the world people are quietly learning other languages as a means not only to become self-empowered, but also to empower others.  They are choosing to learn another language in order to go to a country where they can make a difference, for however short a time. Housing projects. Clean water projects. Health-related projects. Projects that help children and families in the developing world. These are more common place today than they have ever been. Learning a language in order to reach out to others and make a difference in the world is “in”.

Showing funders the impact their investment has on our students, our communities and our world. If students are tired of hearing teachers grumble, funders – and that includes government or other funders – are definitely tired of it. Today savvy educators and program directors are saying, “We’re going to show you how your funding makes a difference.” Then you show them through all those provable demonstrations that were mentioned earlier. Then you say, “See the impact your contribution has made? Thank you.  Thank you for investing in our students and our future. Their future. Now let’s see what can accomplish with your continued support…” Seeing government and funders as partners and “investors in the future” is totally in.

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Post update (July 124, 2010) – This post led to a full-fledged research report on these topics. Check it out:

Global Trends in Language Learning in the 21st Century http://wp.me/pNAh3-8I

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Update – January 2018 – This blog has had over 1.8 million views thanks to readers like you. If you enjoyed this post, please “like” it or share it on social media. Thanks!

Sarah Elaine Eaton is a faculty member in the Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary, Canada.

4 Comments | education, languages, second languages, Uncategorized, youth | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Sarah Elaine Eaton, Ph.D.

Want to change the world? Learn a language (Part 1 of 2)

April 29, 2010

In the movie Dead Poet’s Society (1989), the fictional English teacher, Mr. Keating, played by Robin Williams, tells his class of adolescent boys, “No matter what anybody tells you, words and ideas can change the world.” It’s a notion that I’ve shared with my second language students on many occasions. I tell them that by learning a second language (or a third or a fourth or a fifth), they learn new ways of understanding not only themselves, but the world around us.

The challenges of learning another language are immense. There’s vocabulary to be acquired, grammar to master and verb conjugations to memorize. All of this information and more must be internalized, synthesized and then reproduced spontaneously as interactive speech. It’s an enormous feat. And it’s an enormous feat that millions have undertaken.

But to what end? We like to tell our students that their job prospects are better if they learn other languages. But are they really? I live in an affluent area of Canada, where young men (and women, though far fewer of them), can leave high school early and go north to work on oil rigs or in the towns that support the oil business. They can make cash, and lots of it, quickly. It’s hard work, under intense conditions. Yet thousands of them do it. Try telling them that if they learn a second language their job prospects are going to be better. They’ll scoff, turn around and drive away in a shiny new truck, that’s been fully paid for in cash.

So, the job prospect line doesn’t really fly very well where I live.

Travelling to other countries? There are plenty of tourist areas in the world where the locals have thrown themselves into learning the language of the tourists precisely to make them feel more welcome. People can travel to resorts all over the world and be served by locals who speak their language. In fact, I’ve heard people say, “Why should I learn their language when they’ll learn mine?”

So, the travelling argument seems a bit hollow, too.

What’s the real reason we believe so strongly that learning another language is important? It’s what that fictional character, Keating said, “because words and ideas can change the world.” When we commit ourselves to learning another language, we challenge ourselves to dig deep into ourselves to tap into our own power to communicate with others, to reach out, to connect.

When we take the plunge and test our communicative skills in another language, we reach inside and overcome our fears of making mistakes, fear of being rejected by others, fear of not being good enough, fear of not fitting in. We try anyway. We connect, however imperfectly, and that leads to wanting to understand more, learn more and discover more.

As we learn other languages we also learn about other cultures, other people, other faiths, other ways of living and being and looking at the world. We find our own sense of who we are profoundly enriched and deepened in ways we could not have otherwise imagined.

It’s hard to explain this to someone who doesn’t believe there’s any value in learning other languages. There are those who will never be convinced. Rather than trying to implore them with hollow arguments that are hard to back up, instead, we can offer concrete examples of individuals who changed the world by learning other languages. Here are some examples:

Albert Einstein. He was born in Switzerland and spoke German as his first language. (Anecdotally, I am told that he did not speak at all until he was five years old.) He learned English as a Second Language.

Nelson Mandela. His first language was Xhosa, an African dialect. He learned English as a Second Language.

Mohandas Gandhi. His first language was Gujarati. He went on to learn 10 additional languages.

Rigoberta Menchu. Her first language was Quechua, an indigenous language of her native Guatemala. As I understand it, she learned Spanish in order to give her acceptance speech for the Nobel Peace Prize which she was awarded in 1992.

Critics would argue that all of these public figures learned a language of the dominant population and would go on to discuss issues of power and oppression. My aim here is not to enter into such a discussion, but merely to point out that the work that these individuals did would not have been possible if they had not learned other languages.

That is a bold statement and I stand behind it. Let me repeat it: the work these influential people did would not have been possible if they had not learned other languages. Why? Because learning other languages gave them opportunities to engage in meaningful conversations, connect with others and do the work that they were so deeply passionate about a larger scale. They moved beyond the parochial into the global. They transcended personal, political, scientific and historical boundaries. With their words and ideas they changed the world.

When we learn other languages, we change who we are. We grow to understand and appreciate the world around us in new and meaningful ways. As we change, so the world changes. That’s the real reason we believe in the power of learning other languages. Because when we do, we learn to reach out to others, connect deeply and express our passion for life and our life’s work in profoundly transformative ways.

Related posts:

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Update – January 2018 – This blog has had over 1.8 million views thanks to readers like you. If you enjoyed this post, please “like” it or share it on social media. Thanks!

Sarah Elaine Eaton is a faculty member in the Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary, Canada.

2 Comments | education, languages, leadership, Multiculturalism, second languages, Uncategorized | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Sarah Elaine Eaton, Ph.D.

Specialized courses: Essential for a healthy marketing mix

April 28, 2010

In 1982, W.P. Kinsella wrote Shoeless Joe, a novel that was later turned into a major Hollywood movie starring Kevin Costner. The most famous line of the book is, “If you build it, he will come.” The basic premise of the book is that if you have an idea or a dream, go with it. The rest will take care of itself.

While this feel-good book, and the movie it was made into, may smack of naïveté on some level, the main principle is one that we can use in marketing our schools. If you build a specialized program, based on a sound curriculum that you can deliver well, the students will come.

Is there something that your school does better than any other in your area? Do you have a program to train foreign language teachers? Do you offer a specialized course in medical or veterinary terminology, for example? How about a course in business communications? If you have at least one course or program that differentiates you from other schools, you can focus on being the best there is for that specialty. You can still offer basic language training or other programs, but having a specialized niche will ensure you a unique market share, and add both revenue and students to your program. It can also add flair and a sense of uniqueness to your program. I’ve seen programs that offer English and sports or English and activities such as surfing, and they truly set themselves apart from the hundreds of other English programs in the world.

Specialized courses often referred to as “ESP” or “English for Specific Purposes”, in the English as a Second / Additional Language field. Together, generalized and specialized courses combine to form your marketing mix. Finding the right mix can boost your revenue significantly.

Specialized courses deserve special attention in your marketing plan. For example, if you offer a program for language teachers from foreign countries, you could easily research the contact information for language schools abroad and add that information to your database.  Then you have the tools to do a targeted direct mail campaign to those schools that would catch the attention of those teachers and school administrators.

Also consider that specialized courses likely require specialized curricula. You’ll want to ensure that whatever materials you are using fit your niche market really well.

Generally, it takes longer to see results for specialized programs. That is because it may take prospects longer to find out about your niche and respond to your marketing. I’ve seen more than one niche program fail because administrators gave up on it too early. One semester or session is not enough to test the market to determine if there is a demand for your specialized course. These types of program may require extra attention in their infancy, simply because their target market is very specific.

You may want to dedicate a certain amount of time (for example, one hour a week for an entire year) just to marketing this particular program. This may mean contacting associations, schools or other audiences with an interest in your niche to advise them of your program. For example, if you have a program to train teachers, then a direct mailing to teachers’ associations abroad may help you promote these courses. It may cost you time to build your mailing list, or it may cost you money to buy such a list. You won’t see a return on your investment until participants begin to enroll.

If you persist, within a couple of years, you can have a booming program.  The trick is to carve yourself a niche and be patient while the world discovers your uniqueness. If you build it… they will come.

This post is adapted from “Idea #5: Carve yourself a niche” in 101 Ways to Market Your Language Program.

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Update – January 2018 – This blog has had over 1.8 million views thanks to readers like you. If you enjoyed this post, please “like” it or share it on social media. Thanks!

Sarah Elaine Eaton is a faculty member in the Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary, Canada.

1 Comment | 101 Ways to Market Your Language Program, education, ESL, marketing, marketing mix, Uncategorized | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Sarah Elaine Eaton, Ph.D.

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