Читать книгу Introduction to TESOL - Kate Reynolds - Страница 67

One of the easiest ways to develop professionally is to volunteer with a professional organization. It may seem counterintuitive that you will learn as you contribute your perspectives and understandings to the field, but it in fact works. In this vignette, notice how the writer started with minor, achievable volunteer roles that slowly develop into noteworthy and important opportunities.Kenan was a volunteer in IATEFL in member, international conference organizer, and coordinator capacities, particularly in research SIGs. Engagement helped Kenan hone and practice his acculturation into the field of teaching and teacher education as well as developing further intercultural communication skills. Learning opportunities also went beyond this since he was involved in many joint authorships for short articles, journal publications, and book editing, which offered not only instrumental benefits to create output, but also professional development by nurturing his educator and researcher identity. He also expanded his professional network in which he felt connected to the leading names in TESOL and engaged in discussions and projects in different capacities. He highlighted the enriching and empowering elements that he enjoyed during that time and the lingering effect of this affiliation on his ability to contribute to the micro- and macro-level developments in the field. He also initiated a number of voluntary online training courses for teachers and educators across the world within the community, which broadened his vision of language teaching and language teacher education. Being able to access the international contexts of teaching and learning in other geographies cultivated abilities, such as developing curriculum for teachers in underprivileged regions and mentoring teacher researchers. Development as a teacher, teacher educator, and researcher in such communities is a process that one can achieve not as a solitary engagement, but as social and ongoing investment in learning. He sees professional learning in these supportive communities as an identity-changing experience, which offers a powerful change and development.

Volunteering in professional organizations goes back for me to when I began advocating for the creation of a TESOL club in graduate school, where I helped to start a TESOL club. This club led members to work together to attend our first TESOL International Convention in Orlando in 1997. The following year we went to Seattle, where I began my job search, which led to where I am now (i.e., administering a large EFL program after years of teaching EFL).

Throughout my career, I have always looked back at that time as a good experience. It helped me when I applied to start the Riyadh Chapter of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Association of Language Teachers (KSAALT) TESOL in Saudi Arabia in 2009. This experience taught me about event management, recruiting members, and a long list of activities that are involved in volunteering to run a chapter for a teacher’s association. In addition to volunteering my time through professional development activities, I also volunteer my time as a reviewer of conference abstracts for several associations like TESOL International and the American Evaluation Association. All of these activities have helped me to develop and grow as a professional in the field of TESOL and higher education.

Another way that I have volunteered my time for TESOL is by becoming a TESOL/Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP) Reviewer. I have enjoyed this tremendously as it has allowed me to learn more about what other programs are doing to raise the quality of English language teachers. I have continued to try to give back to the field in order to support better practices for TESOLers around the world.

Connie Mitchell

Prince Sultan University

Kate started volunteering with the TESOL International Association in 1998 as a conference volunteer. She assisted in the employment clearinghouse and met other educators and employers. She learned about the qualifications and expectations for finding positions in Asia, North and South America, and the Middle East. She learned about the employers’ qualities, benefits, and negotiating contracts. At roughly this timeframe, Kate volunteered as the text review column editor for the Ohio TESOL Newsletter. She obtained desk copies from publishers and provided them to individuals who would review and evaluate them. She worked with authors by providing feedback on their reviews so they could craft reviews that were informative and useful for practice. Kate developed her writing and editorial skills while developing relationships with peers and learning about the texts and materials being published. This knowledge helped her in choosing her own textbooks and collaborating with colleagues in the future. These voluntary roles served as a springboard for more opportunities on the Professional Development Committee and Convention Planning Chair for 2013 for TESOL International.

Kate continues her voluntary activities with her regional affiliate of TESOL; currently she is on the Board of Washington State English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) and with TESOL International Association as the Teacher Educator Interest Section, Chair Elect. She learns more about the language learners of Washington State and the resources developed by educators in Washington. In her work in the TEIS, she has the opportunity to work with colleagues to develop convention proposals, webinars, and newsletters for teacher educators. Each year, working with these experts on the proposals and eventual convention sessions keeps Kate current in the developments in research and teaching, so she can use this information in her teaching.

Steve was a “trailing spouse” in Ukraine, and began teaching for Cambridge English on a volunteer basis. He worked with Ukrainian nationals who were employed by large international companies, teaching them both conversational and business English. Eventually, this grew into a paid position with the school. Steve also taught English at a state university in Uzbekistan, earning the same wages as the university’s other professors (approximately US$30 per month). While in Uzbekistan, Steve volunteered in local organizations for teaching English.

Through these examples, we hope you can see the benefits of volunteering in terms of developing your professional network, building your knowledge and practices of teaching and assessment, and extending other professional skill sets (e.g., writing, editing, evaluating).

Some emerging professionals are often concerned about how to get involved or the amount of time volunteering requires. Getting involved is simpler than it may appear at the outset. When joining a professional organization, opportunities are announced to members for volunteering in the organization’s activities. Individuals volunteering at conferences do not necessarily need to have many skill sets, so it is possible to begin with tasks that are comfortable and familiar; other opportunities require individuals to write a paragraph-long biographical statement of professional experience or qualifications; still others require a more thorough application process. It is important to start in a comfortable place.

The amount of time for volunteering is directly related to the role or task. Some tasks require only a couple of hours, while other tasks take a couple hours over weeks. Since these are voluntary roles, others in the organizations understand that volunteers may hold a full-time job and have other life obligations. Above all, we need to keep in mind that the time committed yields positive outcomes for our professional lives and for the field. We gain much more than we contribute.