How to develop a career in Business English teaching Tim Phillips and Gabriella Hirthe IATEFL Conference 2014 Harrogate, April 5th, 10:25 am
Our careers as Business English trainers Gabriella Hirthe Tim Phillips Gabriella: First degree, worked in bank, Germany – English teacher, Qualifications, DoS of school, freelance consultant, CLTC-C Tim: First degree, Germany, worked in school chain, did DELTA, worked in different medium-sized and multinational companies, Involved in start-up in elearning, worked for a large American consultanc and internet start-up, set up own company, Managing director of SKYLIGHT since 2004.
What does SKYLIGHT do? We facilitate and support the personal development of professional people working in an international environment: language, communication and behavioural skills. This includes the personal and professional development of trainers of Business English. We introduce ourselves. Gaby: Tim:
Shaun`s career ende
Shaun`s Story
Shaun`s Story
Shaun`s Story
Shaun`s Story
Shaun`s Story
Shaun`s Story
Shaun`s Story
Shaun`s Story
Shaun`s Story
Shaun`s Story
Shaun`s Story
Shaun`s Story
Lucy`s career ende
Lucy`s Story
Lucy`s Story
Lucy`s Story
Lucy`s Story
Lucy`s Story
Lucy`s Story
Lucy`s Story
Lucy`s Story
Lucy`s Story
Lucy`s Story
Lucy`s Story
Lucy`s Story
Lucy`s Story
What was the key to Lucy`s success? Personal motivation Careful selection of appropriate school Adventurous attitude Curious Specialized
The pitfalls Inherent insecurity No Continuous Professional Development Lack of credibility Non-professional behaviour Quantity before quality No constructive feedback Insecurity credibility suffers. believing secretly you are unqualified to teach BE because you never made time to do a training certificate specifically for Business English No Continuous Professional Development: Working for a school where you get little support and no teacher training No personal investment Lack of memberships, conferences, etc. Not credible: Starting in an ESP area with no previous knowledge Non-professional behaviour Underselling yourself in order to get work or into a company Avoiding/disliking doing the necessary paperwork Quantity before quality You can’t say “no” - too successful too quickly – quality suffers No constructive feedback Staying isolated in the teaching profession or even lonely even though you are surrounded by people the biggest part of your day
It`s important to make the shift in thinking ende
Business English training is not only about language training. ende
It`s not only about business functions: emailing, presentations, meetings, negotiations etc. ende
It`s about thinking about the client`s business goal About how he needs to function in his/her job ende
ende … running a project … leading people … working according to defined processes … building relationships … exerting influence ende
… and Business English trainers need training in how to do this. ende
COMMUNICATION & LANGUAGE TRAINER CERTIFICATE – Corporate 3 Stages www.skylight-development.com
Business English Trainers` Top 10 Skills Demonstrate interest in client, function, industry Define the competency gap Agree collaboratively on SMART course goals Customize can-do statements aligned to CEFR Apply ADDIE/Training Cycle to course design Facilitate and coach, rather than teach Modify and exploit authentic workplace materials Develop and implement workplace scenarios Assess progress without formal testing Provide concrete take-aways for each session/course
… and so what happened to Shaun and Lucy? ende
Shaun Shaun: got divorced, found another girlfriend and left Europe for South America where he‘s now a tour guide. Lucy: Has set up a partnership with a colleague. She runs intercultural and language seminars, she commands her own fee, she is active in the online community, gets invited to speak at conferences. She has a top-of-the range mini with all the extras. However, she is not married … not yet!
Lucy
Thank you ende Timothy Phillips and Gabriella Hirthe SKYLIGHT GmbH Burgmauer 10 50667 Cologne Germany timothy.phillips@skylight-online.com gabriella.hirthe@skylight-online.com www.skylight-development.com www.skylight-online.com Images created by Annette Schmitz-Dowidat Copyright SKYLIGHT GmbH 2014. Images may only be reproduced with the express written permission of SKYLIGHT GmbH ende