Continuous Professional Development

Continuous Professional Development

As a new English teacher you may wonder: how to progress in EFL? What career pathways are open? How to develop your skills and prospects? Where to find theright support?
Firstly, you have to bear in mind that at every stage of your career there are opportunities to further develop your skills, knowledge and prospects.

Professional Development is basedon the principle that the effective teacher is the developing teacher: it is never possible to effectively stand still in your work. Continuing Professional Development (CPD) is a process that helpsteachers meet the challenges of their work and achieve their goals, as well as those of their learning center. It incorporates the idea of ‘reflective practice’ –the importance of reflecting upon whatyou are doing as an essential part of the development process throughout all stages.

Sharing and learning from each other becomes an essential ingredient to nurture your teaching abilities. CPDtakes place across all the stages of a teacher’s career. At each stage there are common challenges of the stage you are at and in progressing onward.

Stage 1 begins while studying for an initialteaching qualification. Here is when we find our first job in ELT. Learning from experienced teachers and from learners is crucial. We have to be aware of resources available. Discussing teaching issueswith colleagues guides us positively. Stage 2 comes from 0-2 years experience and we are consolidating skills from stage 1. We can progress at this stage by contributing to the team with the building ofresources, managing our time efficiently in planning and classroom management, finding a mentor and keeping a record of what worked well in class are of paramount importance. In Stage 3 we developteaching skills further and the wish of expanding teaching experience into different areas: teaching YL, ESP or business courses grows significantly. Here is when we should start planning a more...