The English language is considered one of the most powerful languages in the world. It is estimated that more than 500 million people speak it as a first or second language. This makes learning it extremely beneficial. Because of this importance, many countries include teaching it in their curriculum. Morocco is no exception. English is taught in public schools starting from 9th grade. The aims of teaching it are various. Some of them are to help students communicate in the language, discover other cultures, learn about other subject areas, and become aware of their own culture. To help students achieve these goals, the Regional Academies hire new English teachers in every year. These teachers take training in teaching the language, and they then get dispatched to different public schools to start teaching and realizing the government’s goals in the sector of education. These teachers are well-equipped to teach the language; however, this does not guarantee that they do not face challenges at school in their first year. The aim of this article, therefore, is to highlight some of the challenges that these teachers face in their first year of teaching and propose some solutions.
There are many challenges that novice teachers encounter. One of them is that not all the students are interested in learning. In my first lessons ever, I have come across students who did not show any interest in what was going on. I did find students who were very interested in learning, but few others were not. This is a lesson that I have learned with time. Not all the students are keen on learning the language. However, this should not be seen as a reason for giving up on the teaching profession. It is true that, in almost every class, there are those students who are uninterested in learning. But, this problem can be solved if we change the activities we have our students do, give them agency for their own learning, spice up our lessons, see things from the students's perspective, build a good rapport with them, etc.
Another deadly challenge that novice teachers face in their first year of teaching is their inability to manage the class properly. Classroom management can be a burden, and actually, for novice teachers, it is. Novice teachers find giving instructions, setting up activities, explaining new language points, and dealing with disruptive students very challenging. These are normal problems and they happen to almost every teacher in his/her beginnings. Good teachers are those who recognize that what they face is normal and start looking for ways to get over the problems that they come to face. It is not the end of the world if you gave complex instructions in your first lessons, but you need to learn from your mistakes. Some ways of avoiding these problems are reading books about teaching, attending ELT conferences, talking with colleagues, asking a friend to come and observe one of your lessons and give you feedback on it, and making note of the problems that you usually make in order to set a plan for getting over them.
- For giving instructions, you can write down the instructions before you go to class and rehearse giving them in front of the mirror. This method can enhance your confidence and make the task of giving instructions much easier. Also, teachers need to try to avoid using language that is way too complex. Students might get lost and become unsure of what to do.
- For dealing with disruptive behavior, we need to know how to stay calm and deal with it without telling students off or hurting their feelings. We need to know the reason why some students misbehave first before making any move. Then, we need to divide the students’ behaviors into serious and non-serious ones. With non-serious ones, approaching the student, reminding him or her of the rules, or simply glancing at him or her can put an end to that behavior. Then again, we need to remind ourselves that it is the behavior that we abhor and not the student. With more serious behaviors, we can have a private talk with the student, get help from the administration, or call the student’s parents.
Not many teachers may agree with these techniques, and that is completely fine. This difference of attitude is one factor that makes every teacher different from the others. All in all, teachers who want to overcome the challenges that they face need to know that it is all about choosing the best technique for the problem in hand.
To sum up, although teaching is a noble job, it is not an easy profession at all. Teachers face many challenges in their first year of teaching. They meet students who are uninterested in learning, deal with disruptive students, work for many hours, correct piles of papers, and so on. We need to encourage inexperienced teachers who are in their first year of teaching, thank them for the great work they do, and show them, whenever needed, how they can improve.
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