Creating Teacher identity for multilingual classrooms

It is crucial that teachers possess competences that guarantee the learning outcomes of their students. If you are a teacher or will become one ensure you make your own checklist and see which competences you possess—or need to acquire.

Professor Jermaine S. McDougald is currently conducting a study to define core competences and skills needed by “qualified” teachers in a multilingual teaching context with the objective of establishing the basics of teacher identity.

Educational institutions need teachers that have an identity—but what is that teacher identity? Identity is what sets an individual apart and makes them recognizable, which in turn allows a teacher to brand themselves by skills set as well as by personal characteristics. To create this identity, no matter what language is used to teach classes, three categories should keep in mind. Prof. McDougald identifies them as:

· Knowing About: Full knowledge of the subject and how it is learned, of the school or university at which you teach, and about the students and strategies needed to continue developing as a teacher.

· Knowing How: Supporting your learners through planning and teaching techniques; noticing what is happening in the classroom; providing classroom conditions that support learning; assessing learning; relating to learners, colleagues, parents, and overall stakeholders; accessing and using new ideas.

· Knowing To: Being skilled at noticing aspects of classroom events; being able to interpret what is noticed and use it to make instant decisions about what to do next; being able to use your knowledge ability in the right place at right time to support learning.

Accordingly, various types of competences must be considered and understood. Prof. McDougald has already identified several competence areas, including core competences, which concern teachers’ innovative teaching practices; general teaching competences, that play an important role in shaping educational objectives; professional attributes, which concern the ability to improve learner motivation and

learning outcomes; and social competences, which are important for managing learners’ social and emotional development. There are also further competences that teachers need to incorporate as parts of their teacher identity corresponding to 21st Century competences, which can be organized into categories such as civic literacy, global awareness, cross-cultural skills, critical and inventive thinking, communication, collaboration, and information skills. When teaching a content class such as math, biology, ethics, or economics and using English as a medium for instruction, it is the teacher who is responsible for managing key information regarding content, and there are further competences, skills, and abilities that such a teacher should possess.

Many stakeholders, especially in Latin America, believe that native English speaking teachers (NESTs) are better equipped to teach integrated content and language because of the belief that they possess “better language proficiency”. However, according to Prof. McDougald, it is in fact often well-trained teachers who are non-native English speakers (NNESTs) that can best teach such classes—better than NESTs—thanks to their greater technical linguistic knowledge, as well as their knowledge of the relevant content.

Mindsets cannot be changed overnight—but, if we start to appreciate and understand our roles/contributions to any discipline, a difference can be made.