TESL-0100 - My teaching identity
Welcome to my blog! My name
is Hayley Jonasson and I am currently enrolled in a part-time certificate
program for Teaching English as a Second Language through the University of
Manitoba. I am graduating this fall with a Bachelor’s degree in International
Development Studies from the University of Winnipeg. I am taking this program
because the ability to teach is a marketable skill that I can use to
financially support myself abroad while I try to find work in the development
field. In addition, having a TESL certificate is expected if I try to find a job
locally where I can teach English to newcomers. I’m not sure what life has
planned for me in the future.
My class was instructed to
read a blog entry that was written by Tyson Seburn about what it means to have
a teaching identity. In the blog entry, Seburn explains that a teaching
identity is a public presentation about how a person wants to be seen
professionally in the teaching field. He states that a professional identity
requires a person to be aware of their skills and to perceive their job as a
profession. Furthermore, working for survival and a continuous search for a new
job take the place of a professional identity in situations where people do not
see their job as a career in itself. These attitudes explain why I do not have
a developed and clear professional identity, since most of the jobs that I have
worked were not rewarding and were not something that I wanted to make my career.
Instead, they made me see the importance of pursuing a university education to
provide me with better career opportunities. My educational journey has
improved my ability to read, write, and analyze information, which are skills that
I can incorporate into my teaching.
Seburn says that our areas
of interest and expertise inform us about how we fit into the larger
professional world. As such, one person’s role in the world of English language
teachers differs from another’s based upon their areas of interest and
expertise and what they bring to both the classroom and the international teaching
community. My educational background is situated in the field of international
development. I am aware that the ability to obtain a good education can be a
way out of poverty for people in the developing world. This is because English
is an international language and knowing it provides opportunities for further
education and for employment opportunities, like working in the tourism
industry. Therefore, my educational background allows me to have a clear
picture of long-term goals and overall outcomes. As such, my insights and
understanding differ from people with other educational and teaching
backgrounds and we all bring our understandings to the international teaching
community.
I also have experience
volunteering in an ESL classroom that teaches English to refugees and other
newcomers who live in Winnipeg. Together with my educational background, my
volunteering experience has helped me understand the importance of second
language acquisition and literacy for this population. Refugees must reach a
certain level of language competency before they can obtain employment. As a
result, the students in my class are highly-motivated to learn English. Not
knowing English severely limits the ways in which they can participate in
Canadian society because they cannot read, write, speak, or understand the language
in the ways that it is present in our everyday lives. As such, I understand myself
as a person who uses language resources and tools to present them in simple
ways to build understanding. This means that participating in social media and
partaking in the international teaching community by sharing ideas and
resources has a direct impact on my identity as a teacher.
My class was also instructed
this week to watch a YouTube video posted by Tyson Seburn about having a teaching
identity. In the video, Seburn discusses how teaching identities extend past
the classroom and evolve over time, depending on the people we are in contact
with and the choices we make inside and outside the classroom. As someone who
is new to the field, knowing what teaching strategies to use and which will be
most effective for achieving learning goals. This is why Seburn points to the
use of a Professional Learning Network (PLN) as a valuable source of
information and resources for teachers of all experience levels. You can see a
visual representation of my PLN here. In addition, I have created an About.Me
page that briefly describes my teaching identity.
References
Seburn, T.
(2017, March 19). On
developing identity: who am I? [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uysevKaxQ6E
Seburn, T.
(2017, April 23). Who do you think you are? Retrieved from
http://fourc.ca/teacheridentity/
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