Who needs ELT Coaching Hub?

1) Teachers of English working for language schools that don't offer any ongoing professional development: Recently, I met quite a few teachers of English who talked about their desire to keep developing professionally. All experienced and highly motivated teachers. However, the institutions where these teachers work don't provide ongoing mentoring, i.e. regular lesson observations, feedback, professional development sessions, etc. This can be really demotivating and discouraging. At the same time, it is also very sad - here we have fantastic teachers who want to grow and become even better for their students, but they have no support and no way of doing this.

2) Teachers who want me to be their mentor: A teacher called Toma contacted me on Instagram in September 2024 and said that my way of teaching and training is extremely inspiring and that she would absolutely love to have me as her mentor. She was just about to start her CELTA course and wanted me to mentor her on the way. I explained that this is not possible and that her tutors will guide her on the course. However, Toma insisted that she wanted to be mentored specifically by me as. She wanted to talk to a more experienced teacher and teacher trainer, share her thoughts and beliefs and get my opinion.

3) Post-CELTA professional development: Being an experienced CELTA tutor, I always tell my trainees to find work at a reputable organisation that provides ongoing support and mentoring, especially in the first year of being fresh off CELTA. It is crucial to find a place like this! CELTA is extremely intensive even if you do it part-time, and there is just no chance to automatise every single area that is introduced on the course. Often times, CELTA graduates find work in small schools that simply don't have the funding to provide mentors/senior teachers. Such teachers often become the teachers from the first category: "Teachers of English working for language schools that don't offer any ongoing professional development."

4) Freelance teachers and/or teachers working online all the time: Do you remember the time we all started working from home? The time when your flat was everything - your workplace, restaurant, cinema, gym, beauty salon, etc.? Maybe you also remember how lonely it felt? To me, it certainly did. Working online all the time made me feel that I was completely on my own. I wanted to be back to the staff room to discuss cool ideas and find out about new activities from my colleagues that I could immediately try out in class that same day. However, being a freelancer worked well for me. After all, I was my own boss and could manage my workload the way I wanted to. If you too are a freelance teacher or a teacher working for a school online, you may well feel lonely at times and have no one to talk to, share ideas with and learn from.