Teachers, including those in ESL, may decide to leave the profession for a variety of reasons. In this article, the author encourages teachers to stay the course and overcome barriers in order to continue in their chosen profession.

Why do teachers leave?

ESL teachers may need to seek alternative careers since numbers are shrinking in intensive ESL programs (IEPs) for a variety of reasons. Besides numbers, other factors may cause teachers to transition to a different profession.

Teachers want to teach. That is why they enter the profession. But things may be different when they finally start.

Stress

Teaches feel more stress when their students are stressed, according to research:

"In one 2016 study, University of British Columbia researchers tracked the levels of stress hormones of more than 400 elementary students in different classes. They found teachers who reported higher levels of burnout had students with higher levels of the stress hormone cortisol each morning, suggesting classroom tensions could be ‘contagious’."

How teachers see stress

Another factor is whether the teachers have the resources to meet their students’ needs.

"Teachers whose demands were greater than their perceived resources were only half as likely to say they would choose to become teachers again as were teachers who saw their demands and resources as balanced," according to the University of British Columbia research.

A teacher who is not trained in ESL/ESOL will feel stress if there are ELLs in a regular classroom. Fortunately, most districts offer ESOL training through in-service workshops or teachers may take TESL courses at a nearby university or even online.

Teachers who are not trained in teaching literacy may have difficulties when faced with ESOL students who are non-literate in their own language as well as English.

Recent immigrants may have conversational ability but be unable to read and write, causing additional difficulties, since students’ ability in L1 reading has an effect on L2 reading skill development.

Multi-level sections

Another source of stress is the multi-level classroom, which presents a unique challenge to the ESL teacher used to the standard model of a group of students working through a book at the same pace. as well as the content area teacher with LEP students mixed with native speakers.

Students learn at different rates and employ various strategies; they may also acquire different skills, resulting in a group that has some members very proficient in reading, while others may read poorly but be able to speak quite well. Some will understand; others will just repeat without understanding while some may just sit and watch.

Some may have had more exposure to the language than others; in addition, some students may be better able to employ learning strategies and appear to "pick up" languages quicker.

As I wrote in 2016 for MultiBriefs, "Classes may be mixed level with students of varying abilities. The point is to establish a language-rich environment that provides plenty of input and allows student output and participation."

Helpful hints to overcome obstacles

Teachers want to teach, but may be overcome by obstacles. Here are some ways teachers can work around any potential problems. Teaching in a challenging job since one has to take into account many factors that go beyond the basic lesson plans.

As Erick Herrmann wrote in a July 2017 article for MultiBriefs, "We also have to take into account those students who are talented and gifted, students with special needs and students who are learning English as an additional language. Some of our students may fit into multiple categories as well, such as having special needs and learning English as an additional language."

Meeting together is one way to make things easier as teachers can share teaching hints, strategies and lesson plans. New teachers will find that colleagues may have experienced the same problems and be able to offer solutions that have worked in the classroom.

"One way to make sure you have time to plan together is to have a standing meeting at a certain interval. For example, decide that you will have lunch together once a month to discuss students, curriculum, successes and challenges," Herrmann wrote.

Content area teachers are a major resource. They can let the ESL teachers know what areas the students will be working on, allowing the ESL teachers to pre-teach the vocabulary and some of the basic ideas.

Explanations of content, often including videos at various levels, are available on the internet from sources such as PBS.org and YouTube.com. Content-area teachers can also collaborate and share the vocabulary they will be focusing on in each unit.

In this way, teachers can help reinforce the vocabulary and other academic language that is being taught across the content areas.

Teachers can review material and decide which books, worksheets, and activities are appropriate for the learners and possibly discuss ways that existing materials can be modified for LEP learners.

Sometimes these materials are helpful, and other times they were not created with great care, and so may not be as useful. As you work with your colleagues, decide together what materials you have access to will be helpful. Alternatively, decide who will test out specific materials with students and then report to each other the effectiveness of the materials,” said Herrmann.

The divide between administrators needs to be broken down, as Christine Henseler wrote.

"This can be accomplished by organizing structured and organically evolving lunches, meetings, workshops, and other activities where genuine engagement with all faculty members can take place on a regular basis."

It is unfortunate that ESL programs are set apart from L2 programs even though both are involved in L2 teaching.

“Even though we too teach a second language, ESL programs at universities are often in a clearly separate silo from other language programs on campus,”Michael Anderson wrote.

Outreach

Community colleges often recruit from local high schools. The same process can help add LESL students who might otherwise not continue their studies.

As stated by a Modern Language Association committee in 2006, "Two-year-college faculty members are often asked to do outreach to the local K-12 systems both to articulate coursework and to publicize programs to recruit new students. Many community colleges sponsor visitation days for high school students and even for elementary school students, especially those in less advantaged districts, to encourage student goal setting to include attendance at the community college."

Obviously, if everybody is working together, the work environment will be better.