ESOL as Business: Time for the Market‐Oriented Teacher?

Abstract

Private-sector institutions offering English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) in postcompulsory contexts are distinctive in terms of their dual nature: As businesses, their principal raison d'etre is to turn a profit for their owners and shareholders, but at the same time they are educational institutions that are expected, at least in regulated environments, to adhere to established professional and ethical standards. ESOL teachers are professional educators trained in a humanistic academic tradition. When employed in private-sector English language centres, how do such professionals come to terms with the challenges of practising in a manifestly commercial environment? This article employs a services perspective to explore tensions between commercial and educational or professional imperatives in ESOL. It considers the challenges facing ESOL teachers in functioning as so-called market-oriented teachers (Fredriksson, 2009), able both to uphold the tenets of their profession and to support the business strategy and commercial practices of their employer. Although it is unlikely that strains in the ESOL business-education relationship can be entirely dispelled, examples of good practice suggest that a mutually beneficial alliance of the commercial and the educational is possible, resulting in profitable, professional, and ethical private-sector ESOL organisations.

Sources of Stress: Perceptions of South African TESOL Teachers

“…Among the satisfactions commonly voiced about a career in TESOL are the opportunities for travelling the world, interactions with people of different cultures, and the chance to teach the English language in creative and exciting ways (Kim & Kim, 2015) [21]. At the same time, there is much dissatisfaction among TESOL teachers ranging from complaints about low salaries and the almost universal lack of benefits to inadequate recognition on, and of the job, coupled with chronic job insecurity and in some cases, gross exploitation (Walker, 2014) [22]. Sun (2010, p.142) [23] maintains that TESOL teachers are generally "disenchanted with their working conditions" and deeply concerned about inequitable workloads, undesirable working conditions, low pay, job insecurity and a lack of professional development and support.…”

Why have all the teachers gone? An action research investigation into the causes of teacher departures from the field of adult English language learning, and the viability of ongoing professional development as a solution for career persistence

“…However, there is cause for concern with the field, as Shin and Ging (2019) comment, when budgets are the focus over the education of students and the professional support of faculty. Low and decreasing funding of adult ESL programs (Eyring, 2014) may be primarily to blame, from allowing students into courses that are not the correct level upon student or parent demand to asking instructors to help sales by pushing students to register for additional courses (Walker, 2014).…”