Enhancing Employability of Early Career Language Teachers

 Handout and Resources

-Mark Cormier, 2025

Introduction: This blog contains the content, activities, and support material for an interactive talk given at Universidad Nacional de Costa Rica on September 16, 2025 as part of their Jornada de Internacionalización: English Teaching for a Global Future event.  

Session Goals: 

• Differentiate some of the components of professional identity for English language teachers.
• Develop an outline of your personal philosophy of teaching and learning.
• Apply your philosophy statement as a guide for CV development and interview preparation.

Guiding Questions: 

• What makes someone a professional in the field of English language teaching?
• Why should teachers develop a personal philosophy of teaching?
• How can I use my teaching philosophy to highlight my relevant knowledge, skills, and experience?

Table of Contents

Click the links below to access the section of the blog you would like to see.

Beginning Career Challenges and Opportunities

Professional Identity and Teaching Philosophy

A Reflective Framework for Articulating a Philosophy of Practice

Highlighting Evidence of Your Philosophy in Action

Resume and Interview Preparation

References 

Session Details, Author Information, and Attribution 

Beginning Career Challenges and Opportunities

Career entry is arguably the most challenging stage in teachers’ professional lives as they struggle to navigate new responsibilities, institutional policies, and classroom contexts while simultaneously beginning the process of forming and assuming their own professional identities, their “conceptions of self-as-teacher” (Farrell, 2009, p. 183). With career attrition rates reaching highs of forty to fifty percent in some North American contexts according to Crandall and Christison (2016), the first five years represent a critical period in which educators “either develop a sense of efficacy as teachers, or they leave the profession” (p. 9).

Recent graduates from teacher education programs often lack technical abilities needed to effectively present material, manage the classroom, design lessons, and apply assessments as well as the soft skills and resilience needed to navigate institutional policies and the personal politics of the profession. It is quite understandable for these fledgling professionals to feel inadequate, especially when judging their limited skills and experience against those of more seasoned colleagues. However, teachers in the earliest stages of their career would benefit greatly from identifying the qualities they currently possess as starting points for future development rather than dwelling on the ones they lack.

This paper introduces an original seven-part reflection framework to help teachers express their own philosophy of practice, a core element of their professional identities which they can utilize as a guide to develop their résumés, prepare for job interviews, and make decisions regarding their future professional development. Having a sincere and articulate answer to the following questions will help new teachers demonstrate to themselves and others that they have fully assumed their professional identity as language teachers and they are ready to face the challenges ahead.

• Identity: Who am I as a teacher?
• Attitudes: What motivates me in my work?
• Knowledge: What do I believe about the teaching and learning process?
• Skills: What can I do in the classroom?
• Goals: What is next for me professionally?
• Awareness: How do I evaluate and make decisions about my teaching?
• Vision: How does my teaching transcend the classroom?

Professional Identity and Teaching Philosophy

Everyone has a philosophy of teaching and learning, a set of assumptions about what constitutes effective educational practice. Even the average person on the street has opinions, however vague or uninformed, about teaching guided by their own intuitions and past experiences. A career language teacher, on the other hand, should be able to confidently and convincingly articulate a coherent statement of belief about important matters of their field. They are, after all, professionals. Penny Ur in her 2002 article “The English Teacher as Professional” provides a helpful framework for conceptualizing professionalism in English language teaching (ELT) through contrasting professional teachers with four types of non-professionals.

• Laypeople: ELT professionals are a distinct professional group with a shared set of specialized knowledge and terminology. They have their own professional associations and publications. They are not laypeople.

• Amateurs: ELT professionals have a responsibility to uphold the standards of their field through academic preparation and ongoing professional development throughout their careers. They are not amateurs.

• Technicians: ELT professionals are capable of making informed decisions to support their students’ learning needs through their own initiative and expertise. They do not blindly follow recipes and procedures. They are not technicians.

• Academics: ELT professionals are focused on making an impact in the real world and finding what works in the here and now. They are not content with endless theorizing in search of an ultimate, abstract truth. They are not academics.

For early career teachers, a helpful path to assuming this professional identity is to examine and articulate their beliefs about language teaching and identify how those beliefs are aligned with their classroom practice. This process not only helps strengthen teachers’ personal sense of belonging to the field of ELT, it demonstrates to recruiters, hiring managers, admissions committees, and colleagues that they possess the qualities expected of a fellow professional. Of course, this statement of belief is by no means static but should continue to develop throughout teachers’ careers through an ongoing “process of self-reflection and self-renewal” (Kumaravadivelu, 2003, p. 17) in order to become transformative change agents rather than passive technicians.

A Reflective Framework for Articulating a Philosophy of Practice

The following original framework is a tool designed to facilitate this reflective process. The components of the model are illustrated in Figure 1. Because teachers can only change that which is within their awareness (Bailey, 2006), this element is placed at the center surrounded on five sides by identity, attitudes, knowledge, skills, and goals in order to highlight its role as the driver of growth of the other five components. The seventh element of vision underlies the others, representing the transformative potential of teaching to make an impact beyond the classroom.

Figure 1 - Components of Language Teacher Philosophy of Practice

In the section that follows, each of the seven components are described and exemplified through a series of reflection prompts and the partial responses of a fictional English teacher from Costa Rica named Jennifer who has recently completed her undergraduate degree in language teaching. Although she lacks experience, she stands out from her peers due to her enthusiasm, professional demeanor, and ability to articulate her philosophy of practice.

1) Identity - Who am I as a teacher?

Teachers are people first and foremost so this model begins with an acknowledgement of the human being doing the teaching. Identities are a complex intersection of factors influenced by familial, ethnic, and community backgrounds; life experiences, and personal idiosyncrasies. Taking their identity into account helps educators teach with authenticity because as Palmer puts it, “we teach who we are” (1997, p. 14).

Reflection Prompts Who am I and where do I come from? How do I describe myself and why? How would others describe me and why? What are my personal and professional passions and interests?

Jennifer’s Responses I live in San José but I grew up in a small community in Alajuela. I have a big family and we’re very close … I’m an energetic, passionate, and curious person. I’m organized, responsible, creative, and disciplined. For example, I love to … My students would say I’m patient, kind, funny, organized, and easy to get along with. They think I … I’m a pet person! I love taking hikes with my dogs. I play videogames with my friends and I like to read romance novels and watch different streaming series. I’m learning Portuguese and I’m also taking cooking lessons …

2) Attitudes - What motivates me in my work?

Teaching is a very challenging job and the salary will never fully compensate for the hours and energy required, so there must be other attitudinal factors that contribute to a teacher’s sense of satisfaction and help explain why they teach and what motivates them in the work they do. This model takes into account the external motivators of the impact of teachers’ work on others and the internal motivation that comes from the impact the work has on themselves.

Reflection Prompts External Motivation: How can my work contribute to students, my school, my colleagues, the field of education, my country, the world, etc.? Internal Motivation: What is in it for me? Besides money, which of my personal need(s) does teaching satisfy?

Jennifer’s Responses I want to help my students see that learning a language can be fun and useful to them. I want them to have better job opportunities by becoming bilingual. Although I’m young, I hope I can learn from and contribute to my colleagues’ learning, uphold the standards of professionalism of my field, and make a positive impact in the country. Costa Rica is facing a lot of challenges including … I love using my creativity to plan lessons, design games and activities, and create didactic materials. For me it is rewarding to help others because I can …

3) Knowledge - What do I believe about the teaching and learning process?

Knowledge refers to the cognitive resources that teachers have acquired through their teacher preparation programs, self-study, and personal experiences. For practical purposes this model identifies three areas of knowledge that define in large part the work of teachers: the subject matter they teach, the population of the learners they support, and the process by which the subject matter is acquired.

• Content: Knowledge of the subject matter

• Language Systems: grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, and discourse
• Language Skills: reading, writing, speaking, and listening

• Students: Knowledge of the student population

• Traits: Typical characteristics of the target population (children, teens, adults, elderly) including stages of cognitive and emotional development, cultural and socioeconomic background, language proficiency, reasons for studying English, likes and dislikes, etc.

• Learning: Knowledge of learning theory

• General: Theories of learning (i.e. constructivism, humanism, behaviorism, etc.)
• Specific: Theories of Second Language Acquisition (SLA), language teaching methods and approaches

Reflection Prompts Content: What do I know about the subject I teach? Students: What do I know about the people I teach? Learning: What do I know about how people learn?

Jennifer’s Responses I view grammar as a communicative resource… Pronunciation instruction does not need to follow a native speaker model. A competent L2 user provides a more realistic goal for students to aim towards because … Teenagers are challenging to work with but I enjoy it. They are in search of an identity, so what their peers think of them is really important. That’s why it’s essential for teachers to provide … Learning is not a passive process. It involves active knowledge construction … I follow the communicative approach to language teaching, which means I believe people learn a language by using it to express real ideas …

4) Skills - What can I do in the classroom?

Skills are the behaviors that teachers need to be able to carry out in order to perform their job. They range from general actions required to teach any subject like voice projection and classroom management to specific practices needed in the context of foreign language teaching such as explaining grammar points, developing listening activities, treating learner errors, and many others. The questions in the reflection prompts column below highlight some important considerations, but it is far from an exhaustive list.

Reflection Prompts How do I write objectives and organize a lesson plan? How do I introduce and clarify new language? How do I give feedback and correct students’ errors? How do I evaluate students’ learning and performance? What tools, platforms, and resources do I know how to use?

Jennifer’s Responses I use the ABCD framework to write my lesson objectives … I always start my lesson with a brief warm up followed by a schema activation activity so I can … I like to introduce new grammar and vocab in context through a short text or dialogue. Then I have students circle the words they don’t know and … Sometimes I correct students on the spot but only when the error really interferes with communication. Usually, I take notes and … I like to create short formative assessment activities to wrap up each class. For example, I have students take a short quiz and … I’m familiar with different learning management systems like Canvas and Moodle. When I did my teaching practicum I created a lot of interactive games online using Padlet and Wordwall. One time I …

5) Goals - What is next for me professionally?

Completing an undergraduate degree is the first step in the ongoing process of preparation and professional development that teachers engage in throughout their careers. Even if their plans may not be set in stone just yet, new teachers should have some vision of the developmental trajectories they would like to explore going forward.

Reflection Prompts Am I trying to gain specific kinds of professional experience? Do I have plans for further degrees or specialization? Do I envision myself teaching in different contexts or doing other kinds of work within the educational field?

Jennifer’s Responses For the next few years, I’m eager to gain hands-on teaching experience in a high school … In two or three years I’d like to start a master’s degree. I’ve always been interested in technology so maybe I will look for a specialization program in educational technology. Although my degree is in high school education, I’m also interested in adult learning and I think with a master’s I can also eventually teach at the university level…

6) Awareness - How do I evaluate and make decisions about my teaching?

Awareness refers to the degree to which teachers are conscious of and pay attention to different aspects of their practice, a necessary prerequisite for growth. As Figure 1 illustrates, awareness is central to this framework because it serves as an invitation for teachers to engage in reflective inquiry about components of their identity, attitudes, knowledge, skills, goals, and vision; compare alignment of stated beliefs and actual classroom practices, and identify gaps to be filled through future exploration.

Reflection Prompts Personal: Can I justify why I teach the way I do and how I know what I know? Am I aware of my strengths and weaknesses? Contextual: What do I know about the institution I am applying for: their philosophy, values, methodology, students, resources, etc.? Am I reasonably aware of the challenges I may face? Doubts: What more do I want to know about this position? How will I know if it is the right place for me?

Jennifer’s Responses As a follower of the communicative approach, I think it’s important to … I don’t have much experience with rubric design, so that’s an area I’d like to explore in the future. I read that Colegio San Gabriel values 21st century skills and global citizenship. I think it’s important for students to … I realize that many students in this community come from families with limited economic resources so … I would love to know more about the resources available for teachers … Is there a comité de evaluación? How often am I required to meet with my coordinator? Besides teaching my lessons, what other responsibilities will I have? What opportunities for professional development does the institution provide?

7) Vision - How does my teaching transcend the classroom?

The six components of the framework described so far are sufficiently comprehensive for most entry level teachers. However, the seventh element of vision was included in the model to highlight the transformative potential of teachers’ work to make an impact beyond the classroom and the narrow confines of their subject matter. Being able to describe how their teaching addresses well known cross-curricular topics such as social emotional learning, 21st century skills, entrepreneurial thinking, social justice, United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNDP, n.d.), or others can set them apart from other teachers as a truly visionary professional.

Reflection Prompts Strategies: How do I address these topics in my lessons? Impact: How does my teaching impact my students, my community, my country, the world, etc.?

Jennifer’s Responses I try to include components of the CASEL social emotional learning framework in my lessons. For example, in my practicum I addressed the topics of self-management and responsible decision making by having students create a project where they … I am also interested in the UN Sustainable Development Goals framework, especially related to the goals of Quality Education and Gender Equality. I think that my teaching impacts these goals by empowering students to …

Highlighting Evidence of your Philosophy in Action

For teachers’ philosophy statements to have credibility, it is important that they be able to connect specific experiences they have had to their philosophy. Although their formal work history may be limited, early career teachers can draw upon three to four years of formal training in their university programs to highlight why they believe and act the way they do.

Reflection Prompts Specific courses from my degree program and what I learned in them. Specific teachers I admire and their behaviors and attitudes I want to emulate. Specific projects and assignments I did and how they demonstrate my beliefs, knowledge, and skills. Specific paid or volunteer work I have done and what it says about me. Participation in university community service projects, teaching practicum, research, theses, presentations, conferences, seminars, clubs, and others.

Jennifer’s Responses In my course on methodology my partners and I created a lesson following Total Physical Response (TPR) where we had students follow our commands in order to introduce the new vocabulary. It was really fun and … I had a teacher in my final semester that really inspired me because she always … and that is something that I want to try to replicate with my own students. In my practicum I had to develop all the materials for my classes and I tried to focus on creating worksheets and readings related to topics students like. For example … I did a research project on the effects of oral versus written feedback. It was interesting because I tried to show … In the end, I think both strategies can …

Résumé Writing and Interview Preparation

The seven steps described in the previous sections provide a reflective framework for articulating a philosophy of practice which can be used to guide preparation for job interviews and writing résumés. The table below provides some final reflection prompts for this purpose.

Résumé Preparation Are aspects of my professional identity and philosophy visible in this document? Have I put the most important information at the top? Have I been sufficiently specific about my qualifications and experiences? Have I proofread the document for formality, accuracy, and format consistency? Am I doing regular updates to include new experiences I gain?

Interview Preparation Am I sufficiently prepared to talk about myself, my beliefs, my experiences, and aspects of the job I am applying for? Have I done my homework about the institution, their programs, philosophy, and student body? Can I list questions I might be asked and use my philosophy statement to articulate answers? Can I cite evidence from my previous experiences that shows what I do and why I do it?

Final Thoughts

Being a professional in the field of English language teaching implies having specialized knowledge and skills and an ability to articulate a set of beliefs that guide classroom decision making. Although career entry is perhaps the most challenging period in teachers’ lives, there are opportunities at this early stage to bring order to the chaos and uncertainty. By reflecting on aspects such as identity, attitudes, knowledge, skills, goals, awareness and vision beyond the classroom, teachers can develop a philosophy of practice that demonstrates their willingness to assume their professional identity and the responsibilities and expectations that go along with it. This philosophy statement can also guide in the creation of résumés and teaching portfolios, preparation for job interviews, application to graduate programs, and having meaningful conversations with new colleagues. See the worksheet “Outlining my Philosophy of Practice” in the appendix of the PDF of this paper to get started today.

References:

Bailey, K. (2006). Language Teacher Supervision: A Case-Based Approach. Cambridge University Press.

Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning. (n.d.). What is the CASEL Framework? CASEL. Retrieved September 8, 2025, from https://casel.org/fundamentals-of-sel/what-is-the-casel-framework/.

Crandall, J. & Christison, M. (2016). An overview of research in English language teacher education and professional development. In J. Crandall and M. Christison (Ed.s), Teacher Education and Professional Development in TESOL: Global Perspectives. Routledge.

Farrell, T. (2009). The Novice Teacher Experience. In A. Burns & J. C. Richards (Eds.), The Cambridge Guide to Language Teacher Education (pp. 182-189). Cambridge University Press.

Kumaravadivelu, B. (2003). Beyond Methods: Macrostrategies for Language Teaching. Yale University Press.

Palmer, P. (1997). The Heart of a Teacher: Identity and Integrity in Teaching. Change Magazine 29(6). Pp. 14-21.

United Nations Development Programme. (n.d.). Sustainable Development Goals. UNDP. Retrieved September 8, 2025, from https://www.undp.org/sustainable-development-goals.

Ur, P. (2002). The English Teacher as Professional. In J. Richards & W. Renandya (Eds.), Methodology in Language Teaching: An Anthology of Current Practice (pp. 388-392). Cambridge University Press.

Session Details, Author Information, and Attribution

Session Title: Enhancing Employability of Early Career Language Teachers

Session Abstract: So you’re just finishing your BA and you don't have an impressive CV, a masters, or gray hair to prove your status as a seasoned teacher? That's OK. At this point in your career you are not at fault for what you don't have. However, you are responsible for the ways in which you represent yourself to potential employers and graduate school admissions committees. Being able to clearly and passionately communicate aspects of your growing professional identity and personal philosophy of teaching and learning at this early stage in your career will set you apart from other candidates. Through a process of guided reflection and peer collaboration we will follow an original framework of professional development to identify some of the elements that make up your personal philosophy of teaching and learning. Having a sincere and articulate answer to the following questions will demonstrate to yourself and to others that you have fully assumed your professional identity as a language teacher and you are ready to face the challenges ahead. Who am I as a teacher? What motivates me in my work? What do I believe about the teaching and learning process? What do I do in the classroom and why do I do it? Where am I going next? 

Keywords: Employability, Early Career Language Teachers, Language Teacher Education, Professional Identity in Language Teaching, Teaching Philosophy, Language Teacher Identity

Author: Mark Foster Cormier

Author Bio: Mark Foster Cormier is an English teacher and teacher educator who is passionate about materials development, reflective practice, and professional development in ELT. He earned a master of arts in TESOL from Marlboro College and bachelor’s degrees in English teaching and Latin American studies from Universidad Americana and Appalachian State University. Mark has been an EFL teacher in Costa Rica for 16 years and has specialized in teacher development for over a decade. He currently works as Head of Training and Professional Development at Centro Cultural Costarricense Norteamericano where he is in charge of new teacher recruiting and training, planning ongoing professional development initiatives, and hosting the monthly webinar series for language teachers called PD Talks: Professional Development Sessions. Click here to connect with Mark on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-cormier-elt/

Attribution: Enhancing Employability of Early Career Language Teachers © 2025 by Mark Foster Cormier is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/