Page 27 - ELG2301 Jan Issue 483

FEATURE

linguistic and behavioural change brings compared to our experience in a traditional to create standardised teaching practices and
sociocultural implications. ‘Global English’, as four-walled classroom. internationally recognised courses we can
we know it, is becoming more blurred and so Digital competency within a framework, access today.
starts a new chapter with more people meeting prior to the pandemic, would outline the But now the teacher is changing and so too
online and the geographical barriers becoming skills and knowledge needed in a simplistic must the training. The traditional CELTA
even less finite. and generic way, for example, being able to technology input session, for example, is a
What impact does this have on the teacher? use digital display, audio and video in lessons. minor part of the CELTA course, but could be
A transformation in communication (and The competencies often describe ‘know- the trainee teacher’s entire future career.
language) will be felt in many areas of teaching how’ and skills, which is a far cry from other Also, the traditional career pathway
as it will create a domino effect. For example, competency descriptors. for an EFL teacher (CELTA > work for
changing the CEFR to accommodate this new The participants surveyed prior to the institution > DELTA) is no longer realistic.
form of communication will impact on learner pandemic suggested that only 12% of their This is not to say that teachers will not want
measurement and assessment, which will then CPD for teachers was focused on technology. to complete CELTAs and DELTAs and work
influence syllabi, material development and But post-crisis, this rose to 46% of CPD for institutions, but there will be more teachers
course content. Ultimately, the teacher of sessions having a technological theme. When than before looking to work for themselves
today needs to understand this if they are to managers and directors were asked what through online tutoring companies or creating
unlock the potential in their students. And they would look for in new teachers, 64% of asynchronous digital lessons, to give just a
this is only one example. the responses were related to technological couple of examples. Today we have terms such
Thankfully, the CEFR has updated its themes that covered skills, knowledge and as the ‘teacher entrepreneur’ and ‘gig teacher’,
descriptors for online communication since attitudes of the teacher, including ‘willingness’ which are becoming established careers in
the pandemic, but now it’s time to follow and ‘ability to feel comfortable and confident’ their own right.
the trickle-down effect that it will have on when navigating this new multimodal form Due to time spent (or forced to spend)
teachers and students. of teaching. learning how to teach online, it now appears
Digital competency is now completely that teachers may be more experienced than
2. Modes of teaching are expanding. intertwined within the role and identity of the teacher trainers themselves. Those who have
Online learning, in its many forms, has been teacher, and this needs to be reflected in the spent considerable time teaching online
steadily growing over the years, but since the framework. Our very values and attitudes are have most likely been able to integrate their
global crisis, it has been catapulted into the not fully developed yet. And then if we add knowledge, but that is not to say the experience
lap of almost every student around the world. in the fast-paced change the digital world has led everyone to become an expert. In
Students have more options than ever before moves at, it possibly requires an entirely many cases it appears teachers were often
and more is expected of our teachers as a new perspective that is forward looking and autonomous in decision-making when it came
consequence. prevents us playing catch-up. to planning for digital learning, not because of
The research highlighted that prior to the A shift in values is evident, demand is there, experience and training, but because they had
crisis, there were common negative attitudes but where is the integration with pedagogy? no choice.
among teachers towards technology, such as “it What should that look like? Is reforming policy This leads to a radical question which
can’t be done” or “I can’t do that”. And then enough or are we to embark on something needs consideration. Does the top-down
institutions all over the world woke up one bigger, a revolution of sorts? teacher education model need to change?
morning and said to their teachers, “We are This approach has its uses and needs to exist
going online”. But from those surveyed, 57% of 4. Mental health awareness is growing. in certain areas, but now the current cohort
teachers had zero training for online teaching In recent years, mental health awareness has of teachers has had considerably more hours
and 0% were considered extensively trained been gaining traction in the workplace and of online teaching than their trainers. Could
for the new settings. This is hardly surprising, quite rightly too. However, in the ELT world, this be an opportunity to look at new models
as digital training prior to the pandemic was this accelerated exponentially when the for teacher education? Something that is
focused on in-class technology. industry went online. co-constructed, peer-to-peer and bottom-up?
In response to these new demands, there has Unfortunately, it was hard to find any
been a noticeable shift in the attitudes from literature, or even an insinuation, that mental These few ideas are big. We need to discuss.
teachers, who are more ‘flexible’, ‘adaptable’ health needs to be considered within teacher As a community. As institutions. As managers.
and ‘willing’ to try new things. But are we competency frameworks pre-pandemic. And it As teacher educators. As teachers.
asking too much of our teachers? still appears this area is mostly left up to each The reset button has been pressed, and
There needs to be a concerted effort from institution to set policy and support. while we are rebooting, we have an opportunity
teacher trainers and educators to ensure that One of the emerging topics from my to install new programmes, ideas and
teachers are better prepared for this. To deprive research was mental health, particularly with opportunities that are better at supporting our
the industry of fine teachers, based on their a focus on online fatigue, and issues resulting teachers as we move to a bigger world, a vaster
digital competencies, would be profoundly from learners and colleagues not being in the array of contexts and a new type of teacher. You
detrimental. same physical space. These included feelings of may already have started a conversation, but
anxiety, loneliness and alienation. if you haven’t, let’s start now. Ask a question,
3. Digital competency needs integrating. This topic needs more attention, but not join the conversation: eltspecialist.com
Most, if not all of us, have been familiar with just from within the ELT industry. By simply
the traditional classroom since childhood. looking to new policy and practices found in Beatrice Segura Harvey is a
During our formative years we spent most of other industries, some positive changes could freelance ELT specialist based
our waking lives in this setting, and then for the be made quickly..
lucky few, we have continued our education in sunny Brighton, England.
primarily in these four-walled spaces. 5. Teacher education is changing fast. Her eclectic experience
Contrast this with the digital classroom. This is possibly the biggest area of interest includes DoS, materials writer,
This virtual space has continuously evolved for me in my research, as how we teach our teacher trainer, conference
since the birth of the internet but, for many teachers is a fundamental, fascinating and speaker, researcher, mentor and consultant.
of us, this has not been our predominant (sometimes) frustrating topic. Since the take By day she is an ELT consultant and plate-
academic setting. So we, the teachers, up of teacher competency frameworks in the spinning mum, and by night she is an avid
teacher educators and managers, have limited 80s until present day, teacher education has reader and researcher who wants to support
experience within this environment when been moulded around key competency areas teachers globally.
editorial@elgazette.com 27