Paul D•••

About

On the record

I strive to be an inspired and inspiring English language Instructor. I have a wide range of experience and an overarching teaching philosophy which is learner centred and competence based. I am qualified with the Trinity CertTESOL and Trinity DipTESOL. The bulk of my experience ranges from teaching and developing curriculums for JHS and HS courses, through being an examiner to instructing adult learners in business English and English for special purposes. I also have some experience managing, scheduling, training and mentoring teachers. To me what is central to understanding language competence is grasping that language is about other people. Language is where we meet others and where we show ourselves. It is where we collaborate, compete and sometimes even conceal ourselves from each other. Human beings are fundamentally not just language users, but language is where we make our home. As for language learning, when we work with the muscles of the language and exercise those muscles to develop the capacities of our learners, we shouldn’t forget that the greatest asset we have is the human desire and ability to learn. We should also keep in mind that learning is growth and the experience of that is a source of strength and confidence. We need to let our learners experience that. Learning is not just a process with an end result, it is a practice with its own qualities to be appreciated and allowed to help us. That is to say that it’s not just what we do, but how we do it. Or more precisely it is how learners experience their own learning as well as achieving that learning that drives successful learning. So I feel that learning should be satisfying in its own right as well as clearly leading towards desirable goals.