Natecla London has been looking at ways to support ESOL volunteer Teachers and as previously mentioned on this forum,  esol teaching in an ideal situation should only be delivered by trained and qualified teachers. 

The truth of the matter is that a range of  organisations would have to simply stop providing esol should they not have volunteers. 

No offence but Lack of sensitivity to the learners is also a subjective matter as demonstrated by the recent lgbt in esol debate whatvseems inappropriate to one can seem totally relevant to others. 

I too (many moons ago) have used primary school resources to teach literacy to adults before discovering adult esol literacy resources, all the volunteers I have comevacross are well meaning with a genuine desire to support refugees and migrant workers acquire language. They need to be supported, guided and signposted on to relevant forums which will increase their awareness of our students needs and develop them in to well rounded practitioners 

Whether they should be instructed in matters concerning pedagogy and curriculum, and they should have: sociocultural understanding of the learners and their situation; some insights into political economy 
.....Is another debate altogether. How is language acquired is still a contentious topic depending on which school of thoughts one refers to.... So no quick fix here either. 

As stated above I know of many organisations who would have to simply close down their services ... So 


may I suggest signposting that particular volunteer to one of our natecla branches where they would not only be able to meet and network with esol tutors but also have access to high quality CPD 

http://www.natecla.org.uk/

Thank you 


Laila El-Metoui
Chair NATECLA London 
Sent from my iPhone 


On 18 Dec 2012, at 21:38, "chrissie d'costa" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Hello
> After an agonising session at a class for refugee women, where a volunteer teacher equipped with a bag of colourful goodies set out to infantilise the learners, I have serious concerns about letting loose ill-equipped and clumsy volunteers into a delicate and sensitive language learning / teaching arena. The intentions of this volunteer (a former school teacher) were no doubt well-meaning,  but the content was totally inappropriate.  I should add that I have also seen other informal language classes where the teaching materials were selected with a total lack of sensitivity to the the learners.
> I think it is foolish to believe that volunteer teachers can be equipped with a quick-fix kit to help English language learners. These volunteers should be instructed in matters concerning pedagogy and curriculum, and they should have: sociocultural understanding of the learners and their situation; some insights into political economy; and, of course, a great deal of common sense. However, this awareness and understanding cannot be imparted as a multi-vitamin capsule (which, like the literal version, has no real benefits), but should be allowed to germinate organically, that is, facilitated through awareness-raising discussions over a period of time.
> I also think that another form of volunteering  that is being tried by some voluntary organisations - expecting trained and experienced teachers to teach for free - is thoughtless and unrealistic.
> Any suggestions?
> Chrissie
> 
>  
> 
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***********************************
ESOL-Research is a forum for researchers and practitioners with an interest in research into teaching and learning ESOL. ESOL-Research is managed by James Simpson at the Centre for Language Education Research, School of Education, University of Leeds.
To join or leave ESOL-Research, visit
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