You Have an Education in TESOL. Now What?

Now that you have graduated (or are nearing graduation) in TESOL, now what?

TESOL professionals come from a variety of backgrounds and interests, ranging from desires to serve in the community, to desires to advance through academia at the post-graduate level. This blog post shares ways that seasoned TESOL professionals have used their TESOL education to contribute to their institutions and communities. These ideas can help generate ideas for novice TESOL professionals to assist them in channeling their interests as they embark on their careers. 

The following suggestions are ways for TESOL professionals (from the novice to the seasoned) to use their education and experience inside the classroom, outside the classroom, in the community, and on the Web. (You may notice that some of these ideas are specific to the Utah geographical area as the information has been adapted from a presentation delivered at the Intermountain-TESOL affiliate fall conference; however, the information can be generalized to other geographic locations.)

Inside the Classroom:

•Teaching English

•Domestically

•Abroad

•Compensated

•Pro-bono/Philanthropic

•Teaching in Higher-Education Settings

Outside the Classroom:

•Presenting at Conferences

•Participating in Continued Professional Development

•Conferences

•ELL-U

•Listservs

•Webinars

•Online Workshop

•Writing Curriculum 

•Authoring Books

In the Community

•FamilyLiteracy

•Church Groups

•Tutoring

•ESLCenter

•Foodand Care Coalition

•Serveon TESOL affiliate boards

•Non-profit work

•ProjectRead

•RISEInstitute for Literacy

On the Web

•Blogging

•Maintaining a Personal Blog or Guest Blogging

•Webinars

•KahnAcademy/You Tube

•Teach Distance Education via Video (e.g., Brown University)

•Teach Online Courses