Foreign language teacher: features and job description

Today, knowledge of a foreign language is not a luxury, but a necessity. In order to have a successful career and climb the career ladder during your life, you need to know at least one foreign language - English. However, many specialists are not limited to studying only it, which makes them competitive in the labor market. In this regard, the profession of a foreign language teacher is of particular importance in the modern world. Many applicants strive to obtain this specialty and build a successful career.

What are the features of the profession? What are the advantages and disadvantages of this work can be highlighted? What is the job description, what is the competence of this specialist? We will talk more about this in our article.

Foreign language teacher - it is an irreplaceable figure in any educational institution. At the same time, today the most widespread and popular language for learning is English. However, depending on the specifics and distinctive characteristics of the school or university a foreign language teacher can teach you Chinese, Italian, Spanish, Arabic or any other language.

Generally speaking, the tradition of learning foreign languages ​​has come to us since ancient times. So, for example, the first mentions of the study of an additional language are related to the ancient Roman schools. In addition, it is widely known that the Russian nobility, striving to provide their offspring with the best education, insisted on learning French.Thus, we can conclude that learning a foreign language is an integral part of a full-fledged education of any modern person. The process of learning new languages ​​has not lost its relevance at the present time. Due to this on the labor market, teachers of foreign languages ​​are quite in demand.

Before deciding whether you are ready to connect your life with teaching a foreign language, you should study all the intricacies of this profession, familiarize yourself with its advantages and disadvantages.

So, if we talk about the advantages of working as a foreign language teacher, then first of all it is necessary to highlight the following factors.

• Helping people... You will be able to improve the life of your students, the profession gives moral satisfaction.
• Demand... Job centers and job boards are overflowing with job opportunities for language teachers, so you'll never be out of work.
• High earnings. In some institutions, you will be able to receive high material remuneration for your work, for example, in private schools.
• Realization of creativity... Despite the fact that the activities of a teacher are to some extent limited by rules and requirements, an employee who occupies a similar position will be able to express himself in creativity.
• Constant communication... The profession is perfect for extroverts.
• Public importance. Working as a foreign language teacher is respected in the community.

However, at the same time, it should be remembered that the work of a foreign language teacher (like any other profession) is not ideal and has its drawbacks. Among them:

• constant emotional stress - among teachers, such a phenomenon as professional burnout is widely known and widespread;
• busy work schedule - often work does not take the standard 40 hours a week, but requires additional time, for example, on weekends or as overtime;
• a large amount of paperwork - in addition to direct contact with your students, you will have to devote time to other activities, in particular, filling out documents and working with papers;
• stress - it's not a secret for anyone that very often conflicts arise between teachers and their students or even the parents of students;
• high level of personal responsibility – during the lesson, the student is under your personal responsibility.

In order for work at school to be enjoyable and also effective enough, you must strictly follow the job description, which spells out all the tasks and functions that you must perform in the course of your professional activity. This list includes:

• conducting lessons;
• strict adherence to the developed curriculum;
• independent development of educational programs;
• the use of computer technology and other latest developments in the process of teaching children;
• control over discipline in the lesson;
• keeping records (for example, an attendance log);
• checking homework;
• assessment of students' knowledge;
• control work;
• organization of extracurricular activities (for example, excursions, master classes, mind games), etc.

The employer puts forward a variety of requirements for a foreign language teacher (both professional and personal). A modern teacher must maintain his competitiveness in the labor market, and therefore must prove his competence to the employer. This can be done with a portfolio and resume. Anyway, but a foreign language teacher must know what a professional standard is, have all the necessary skills, have a good speech and meet the requirements in all categories.

Professional skills and knowledge are the most important column in the resume of a specialist, as well as something without which he will not be able to carry out his professional activities. These skills include:

• fluency in the taught language (both spoken and written);
• the ability to translate from Russian into a foreign language and vice versa;
• availability of appropriate higher education;
• knowledge of the order, rules and principles of curriculum development;
• the ability to work with pedagogical documentation;
• possession of modern teaching technologies, etc.

It is important for a teacher to have the following personal qualities:

• sociability;
• love for people;
• desire to share knowledge;
• empathy and empathy;
• stress tolerance;
• the ability to maintain authority;
• the ability to admit your mistakes;
• punctuality;
• optimistic attitude, etc.

When filling out a resume, you should not rewrite all the qualities, it is important to take into account your individuality.

The rights and responsibilities of a foreign language teacher are usually spelled out in the job description, which will be issued to you by the employer after direct employment in the position.

Teacher rights may include the following items:

• give assignments to students;
• take part in the management of an educational institution;
• enjoy the rights provided for by the Labor Code of the Russian Federation;
• improve the level of qualifications, etc.

In this case, liability may arise in the event of:

• failure to comply with the requirements of educational programs;
• the use of physical methods of education;
• violation of students' rights, etc.

In order to become a foreign language teacher, you need to study hard. After leaving school, you need to decide on a specific university and the direction of training. At the admissions office of a higher educational institution, you need to find out about what exams you need to take to enter the chosen direction, and then you should begin a thorough preparation. When doing this, keep in mind that the learning process will take several years (on average 4-6).

After graduation, you can start looking for work... First of all, contact those employers with whom you had an internship and practice during your studies. The ideal first place of work for a foreign language teacher is school. At the same time, it should be borne in mind that in order to remain a competitive and in-demand specialist in the labor market, it is very important to improve your qualifications, to follow the latest trends in this area. To do this, you need to visit courses, master classes, trainings and conferences.

Once you adjust to the school work and become more confident, you can apply for a higher position, such as headmaster. You can also go to work in other organizations, for example, in higher education institutions.