Anyone who does the same job for a long time will have their highs and lows in motivation. This is no different, if perhaps even more common, for teachers.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned from over 20 years in English language teaching, it’s that variety is the key to staying motivated. Taking on a new project, signing up for professional development, or changing roles at work are all great ways to keep the passion for teaching alive.
In this post, I’ll take a look at different pathways you could explore to move upwards or sideways, or to just reignite your love of educating.
Teacher training
Every teacher has diverse and valuable experiences, skills, and knowledge to share with the world. If you’ve carried out some research, trialed something new, or are just absolutely fabulous at a certain aspect of teaching, you can bet others will want to know.
Getting into teacher training can sometimes be daunting, but it is also very rewarding. It can be nerve-racking sharing your skills to rooms full of experienced professionals. However, it’s always wonderful to see those techniques being interpreted in different ways and adapted for different contexts.
To get started, you may want to gain confidence by delivering sessions for your team. You could also look for online or face-to-face conferences.
Here are some blog posts you might find useful:
- Top Tips for Successful Conference Presentations
- Speaking at an ELT Conference: Demystifying the Application Process
Leadership & management
This is often the obvious pathway for many careers. Leading a team or managing a school has many benefits. Perhaps the most attractive advantage is increased salary. However, it can also allow you to use and develop your skills to their full potential.
For example, directors of studies and senior lecturers can be responsible for:
- recruitment & induction
- marketing
- team building
- curriculum development
- client liaison
- sales & promotion
- human resources
These are just a few of the skills you could gain in a role as an academic manager. Of course, with these responsibilities can come additional stress. Plus, you’d also need to consider whether you’d miss being in the classroom.
Research in academia
Academic research leads the way for advances in teaching methodology. Getting a job as a university lecturer isn’t easy, though. First, you’ll need to get a PhD. You’ll also need to get your research published in peer-reviewed industry journals.
However, there are other ways to get involved in research. You could sign up for a diploma or a master’s degree in TESOL. It’s likely that these will have at least one research module.
An alternative is to do some action research. This is when you identify a problem or area of teaching practice you’d like to explore and then trial different approaches to it in your classroom.
You can find more information in this active research sketchnote.
Blogging & writing
Writing articles for ELT magazines and blogging can be a fun side hustle. If you enjoy writing, it’s a great way to share your expertise with the world and build your online presence.
To get started, you’ll probably need to contribute on a voluntary basis first. Publications such as IATEFL Voices, Pilgrims Humanising Language Teaching, and Language Issues (NATECLA) are always looking for articles.
If you’d prefer to get paid, do some online networking with the marketing teams in larger ELT organizations. You could also contact Modern English Teacher, which offers a small payment for articles.
Having your own blog is a clever way to be invited to write articles for other organizations. I wouldn’t be here writing this post for Ellii if Tara hadn’t seen one of my own posts.
Materials development
If you love creating your own resources and aren’t overly motivated by money, this could be a good route for you. In general, ELT content writers and editors tend to earn about the same as teachers. Contrary to myth, this pathway isn’t paved with gold!
However, developing content that engages learners can be really enjoyable. You get to work with international teams, meet new people, and add a little piece of you to language classes. I personally also find it quite therapeutic.
If you’d like to explore this route, I’d recommend developing your own bank of resources. You can then share these online to build your profile or use them as samples to apply for work. You could also sell them on educational marketplace sites.
To get started, follow experts in the field like John Hughes and Katherine Bilsborough, who run their own materials development training course. Atena Juzsko often shares jobs posts too. And Freelance Publishing Professionals is a membership organization that post regular materials development opportunities and advice. They also host frequent training and networking events.
Here’s a sketchnote I did for their ELT Freelancers AwayDay.
Publishing, sales & marketing
I often feel that this route can be overlooked by teachers looking for a new career path. However, every ELT publisher has a variety of roles that require industry knowledge.
Working in sales and marketing can mean trips to conferences in other countries. It can also bring opportunities to visit schools in various locations. You’ll need enthusiasm, presentation skills, and a love of socializing.
If this interests you, check out the vacancies pages of ELT organisations.
Teacherpreneur
It’s becoming ever more possible to create your own job. Choose your niche, promote yourself, and build a variety of products and income streams.
Being a teacherpreneur means you could get paid for what you’re most passionate about. This could be:
- creating materials
- teacher development (e.g., podcasting, graphic facilitation, financial or digital literacy skills)
- teaching a particular niche of student (e.g., artists, soccer players, activists)
So that’s just a few ideas of different roles you can have in ELT. It’s not just about teaching! Look around for inspiration and opportunities!
What roles are you most interested in? What other opportunities are there? Any advice to share on how to get started in these pathways? We’d love to hear your ideas.
If you’d like to support your students to consider their own careers, here are some Ellii lessons and collections:
- Jobs & Employment (Collection)
- Career Pathways (Ellii Poll)
- How to Write a Resume (Lesson)
- Jobs (Lesson)
