Week 4 (Feb. 2-8, 2015)

During the fourth week of the session, participants will:

• learn about the challenges as well as opportunities that non-native teachers of English face in the workplace.
  
• exchange introductions and become familiar with the group environments (Google+)
• read selected articles on the assigned topic (Wiki)
  
• reflect on their own experience in the workplace as well as help others find strategies to deal with workplace issues as they relate to NNESTs (Google+)
• engage in a synchronous (Elluminate) and asynchronous (Google+) online discussions with two speakers on the topic for this week

Guest Speaker for Asynchronous Discussion:  Dr. Valerie Jakar

     Topic: Mentoring NNESTs in the Workplace: Opportunities and Challenges

Reading: Dr. Jakar shared this reading with us.  Please read before watching her presentation:  Mentoring ESL Professionals TESOL Matters 2002.doc 

She has also shared this PowerPoint on Empathetic listening that you may find useful:empathetic-listening for EVO 2015.ppt

Dr. Jakar's recorded presentation, http://my.brainshark.com/Revised-EVO-2015-NNEST-15-1-15-326432820 

 You can access this recording anytime during week 4, but please keep in mind the suggested dates for posting your ideas: February 2 to February 5, 2015.

https://plus.google.com/u/0/?tab=wX#communities/109439906154139597692/stream/28f17ad0-9d49-41ee-8aa9-a7e1d1dbea83.

Discussion: Dr. Jakar talks about some challenges when mentoring both NESTs and NNESTs such as matching issues, issues with power and authority, as well as proficiency issues.   Have you faced any of these issues in mentoring situations you have been involved in? 

Dr. Jakar shared with us a list of top ten tips when mentoring.  Please comment on the one the resonated the most with you.

Guest Speaker for Synchronous Discussion:  Lia Lia Kamhi-Stein, Ph.D

Topic: Issues When Hiring and Promoting NNESTs

This very interesting and useful presentation will cover issues of importance to NNESTs and NESTs as well as to program administrators.  Dr. Kamhi-Stein will share her ideas on: 

-World Englishes and the NNESTs

-Race and the NNEST

-Positioning of NNESTs

-Tips for job interviews

-Dealing with issues of credibility on the job

-Using support networks

Live session:  Friday, February 6, 2014 9-10 a.m. (Pacific Standard Time)--This session has been cancelled due to a family emergency. 

  Discussions will take place in the Google Plus Community Page.

Things to do before Dr. Kamhi-Stein's discussion:

Talk to a program administrator in your place of work and ask this person about how they approach the hiring and promotion of NESTs and NNESTs. How do students, other teachers, and stakeholders react to these practices? How do they handle criticism? Would you change anything? Why or why not? Write a short reflection, and post it in the G+ community.  Please do this by Thursday, February 5, 2015.

To post your reflections go here:  https://plus.google.com/u/0/?tab=wX#communities/109439906154139597692/stream/28f17ad0-9d49-41ee-8aa9-a7e1d1dbea83

Reading:  Dr. Kamhi-Stein has shared this reading with us.  Please read before her talk.  Kamhi-Stein, L. D. (2014) Nonnative English-speaking professionals.pdf

Final discussion questions at the end of the week:

As you reflect on the two presentations this week, what have been your main takeaways?  How can we move forward in TESOL to improve the working conditions for NNESTs and NESTs alike?  Please post your ideas here by 9 p.m. (EST) Saturday, February 7, 2015.

https://plus.google.com/u/0/?tab=wX#communities/109439906154139597692/stream/28f17ad0-9d49-41ee-8aa9-a7e1d1dbea83