The skills and knowledge of ELT teachers and teacher trainers
The left-hand column lists some skills and knowledge that effective teachers employ in their work. The right-hand
column lists additional skills and knowledge required by effective teacher trainers.
Teachers
Teachers can be unconsciously competent (Dubin
1962). Often they are not called upon to explain the
principles behind their teaching practices. In some
cases this may lead to a lack of consistency between
their teaching and their stated principles or their
teaching and public theory.
Teachers need to know how children or adults learn
English, the principles of language learning, and they
apply this knowledge in their teaching.
Teachers need to know about methodological
approaches. They have to be able to clarify language
points and make use of a range of language exercises
and activities.
Teachers need to have a good, basic knowledge of
English language systems.
Teachers have skills of empathy and understanding to
support successful language learning. They may or
may not be consciously learned skills.
They use question techniques.
Teachers try to help learners acquire practical skills in
English. They do not usually attempt to try and change
learners’ deep-seated beliefs, though they may feel it
necessary to challenge learners’ beliefs or assumptions
about how languages are best learned.
Teachers can self-evaluate on the basis of visible or
measurable language learning results. A change in
target language competence is expected and, for
many learners, is achieved.
Teachers need to be able to organise and manage
their classroom. They have to be able to start, end and
time activities. They have to be able to make use of a
variety of interaction patterns. They have to give
instructions, monitor and give feedback.
1
Briony Beaven
The idea of comparing teacher and trainer skills and knowledge and some of the comparisons are from Lubelska, D. & Robbins, L. (1999). Moving from teaching
to training. IATEFL TT Special Interest Groups Newsletter, 1999 (3), 7-9.
Teacher trainers
Teacher trainers need to be consciously competent.
They need to be able to articulate their principles and
exemplify them in practice.
Teacher trainers have to know about the psychology of
adult professional learning and have to apply this
knowledge.
Trainers need an up-to-date knowledge of the
literature (public theory) and practical knowledge in
the form of teaching experience on which they have
reflected. They need to be able to link theory and
practice. They need to be able to use training activities
that introduce content suited to teachers and
processes that can be transferred to the English
language classroom.
Teacher trainers need to know a lot about English
language systems. They need to know about different
ways of classifying language. They need to know
about language acquisition theory.
Teacher trainers have to develop the skill of sociality,
the ability to listen carefully to teachers, to elicit their
views, to take account of their culture and work
situation. They need consciously learned facilitation
skills.
They make use of interaction techniques to help
teachers develop their thinking or knowledge about
teaching.
Teacher trainers aim to help teachers develop in such
a way that their principles and practice are consistent
and their practice effective. Trainers need to provide
the space and conditions for this to happen. Teacher
development may involve a rethinking of long-held
assumptions or beliefs. Trainers will have to be ready
to cope with teachers’ emotions in the face of this
rethinking.
Trainers need to know about change theory. They
know that it may take teachers a long time to
integrate aspects of their training into their classroom
practice. In some cases that won’t happen, but other
useful learning may have taken place. Teacher
learning will often not be measurable or visible.
Trainers have to be able to organise and manage the
training room. They are models of classroom
management. They must be able to deploy a very
wide range of classroom management techniques.
They must consciously make use of this wide range to
demonstrate possible options to teachers. They must
be able to explain the reasons for their classroom
management choices. They must know when it is
appropriate to draw teachers’ attention to the training
room processes.