Teach English in Taiyu Zhen - Xianyang Shi

Teachers are under increasing pressures due to today‘s dynamic teaching environment. Their workload has increased so significantly that teachers constantly complain about not having sufficient time to do their jobs properly. And the amount of stress they‘re under has a lot to do with all of the demands placed upon them, particularly the widening of their role. A TEFL teacher, for instance, has nine different, equally important roles in the classroom (Lawrence D. (1999) Among others, the teacher has to be a manager and controller, in which case she is expected to take charge of the class and the activities. In this role she normally stands in front of the class giving instruction and or reading out loud. The teacher is also an organizer, which is one of the most important roles that she has to assume. Here, she has to organize students in an appropriate manner for various class activities, give instructions, initiate activities, end activities and organize feedback. Now considering how indispensable teachers are to our societies and the significant influence they are expected to have on those we consider, the most precious members of our communities, it is in our best interest to recognize that they too have needs that should to be fulfilled. One of the most pressing of those needs is the need for self-confidence. It is thus considered because a teacher without self-confidence, should under no circumstances, be expected to be able teach students self-confidence, which they usually require in order to be academically successful. So what is confidence? Well, it is said to be one of the most powerful qualities to possess and was defined as follows by the psychiatrist, philosopher and writer, Neel Burton M.D.: “The trust in oneself and, in particular, in one’s ability or aptitude to engage successfully or at least adequately with the world.” Dr. Burton claims further that “a self-confident person is ready to rise to new challenges, seize opportunities, deal with difficult situations, and take responsibility if and when things go awry”. The word stems from the Latin “fidere”—to trust (Burton N. 2015). Lack of confidence in teachers leads to a decrease in students’ motivation, a negative classroom atmosphere and boredom. A fearful, shy or doubtful teacher would not be able to maintain a good learning atmosphere because they would lack the confidence necessary for imparting discipline, which is particularly important when teaching young learners. All of the above have underlined the paramount importance of confidence in the teaching field but we have to face the fact that not all teachers, qualified or not, are automatically confident. And this begs the question: How are teachers, who lack self-confidence be helped to assume the role of manager, controller or organizer in the classroom? And the response is that, while confidence can be learnt, it would not be realistic to expect all schools to invest the resources necessary to teach their lacking teachers confidence. The good news, however, is that this is not necessary at all, as increasing confidence can easily be achieved by showing teachers recognition and praising their good work. The strategy cost next to noting and is an effective means of fostering teachers’ trust in their abilities. School organizations should, therefore, see to it that their teachers are shown appreciation. In addition to this, teachers should be supported with the resources necessary to facilitate teaching. They should be encouraged from the outset to plan their lessons and to have the needed aids and materials at hand so that their lessons could run as smoothly as possible. Proper lesson planing and familiarity with the material to be taught, encourages confidence by increasing certainty and significantly lessening the possibility of errors and embarrassment. Planning can’t be expected to immediately correct the lack of confidence but over time the teacher will develop trust in her teaching abilities and would begin to feel quite at home in the classroom. Her role as manager, controller and organizer would be seen as a normal part of her responsibility, instead of threatening situations that she has to come to terms with. The classroom atmosphere will become more positive, student boredom will become a thing of the past and student motivation will increase because a self-confident teacher encourages self-confidence in students, especially young ones. References Burton N. (2015): Self-Confidence Versus Self-Esteem [Online] Available at:https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/hide-and-seek/201510/self-confidence-versus-self-esteem (Accessed: 03 March 2019) Lawrence D. (1999): Teaching with Confidence: A Guide to Enhancing Teacher Self-Esteem [online] Available at: https://books.google.de/books?id=SqqxNeyax28C&lpg=PR9&dq=increasing teachers' confidence&pg=PR10#v=onepage&q=increasing teachers' confidence&f=true (Accesses: 03 March 2019)