Dina Dobrou is an EFL teacher and freelance translator from Athens, Greece who has been working for over 16 years in language institutes in Athens, both as a teacher and a Director of Studies. She currently works for an educational organisation in Athens, Greece and spends her summer teaching multicultural classes in the UK. She is as passionate about teaching as she is about learning foreign languages and Argentine Tango. She believes that with a little luck and a lot of hard work you do not need a little luck.
What are you passionate about Dina?
I’m passionate about change, development, and taking things to the next level. For example, I firmly believe that one idea is enough to change the world so it should be shared. Even if that idea seems silly, it may inspire someone else to develop it, adapt it, change it and take it to the next level — a level that’s going to make a difference to all.
On the same note, an Italian proverb says: He who leaves an old route for a new one, knows what he’s leaving but knows not what he will find. So, exploring new routes also fascinates me. I think one of the reasons I became a teacher is because I have the student syndrome myself and don’t want to be far from a classroom. I love this childlike sense of wonder and always want to learn more and explore the world around me.
How and why did you become a teacher?
My story of how I started teaching English goes back to 1995 when I took a turn from sitting for the University Entrance exams at Athens Polytechnic to taking a CertTEFL course. In those days my main aim was to add an extra qualification to my Cambridge Proficiency Certificate so that I could teach during my studies at University, but I soon fell in love with ELT and decided to postpone my aspirations of becoming a Mechanical Engineer.
I was hired by the central branch of a big chain of language schools here in Greece. This school focused on adults and I had to spend the first week of my contract just observing other teachers and discussing any notes I’d taken with my DoS. The week after, I was asked to teach a group of Elementary students and remember being absolutely terrified. My DoS said something that put me at ease, though. She said “Don’t worry. You know more than they do. And you know how to guide them and help them learn.” To this day, whenever I feel stressed about entering a new class, I keep these words in mind.
Upon entering that first class, I felt a sense of belonging in this profession. Everything just fell into place and though I never returned to my old dream, my somewhat technical background assisted in my Diploma in Translation exams where I got a Science and Technology specialization. It has also kept me highly motivated to use technology in my current profession. I do work as a translator on and off and I do enjoy the peace and quiet this job provides, but I cannot live without the everyday hustle and bustle in a school for more than two daysTo sum up, I feel that whatever I’d chosen to study, I’d still have ended up teaching it…
What are you most interested in right now?
I’m particularly interested in Web2.0 tools and CPD through social networking. Two years ago I was introduced to the world of PLNs and technology in education. Connecting with like-minded educators from around the world has opened a whole new world for me and my students that I didn’t even know existed and I intend to explore that more. I’d like to do an MA in Educational Technologies in the hopefully not so distant future and find out more about how technology can be used so that it can be of more educational value to learners. Also, being part of a PLN, an online community of teachers and sharing ideas with them is just so stimulating and leaves you feeling that you are actually, literally helping shape the world of ELT that you’re a part of.
What things do you do to help you get better at being a teacher, Dina?
I try to do a little bit of everything, time permitting. I attend conferences (local, international and online ones), seminars, webinars, participate in #ELTchat, read books, journals and blogs. I have also started a blog to reflect on my teaching but it’s been inactive for a couple of months due to too much work, really. My next step is to do a DELTA course soon.
What’s the biggest challenge you face as a teacher?
One of the biggest challenges for me has always been balancing the time I need to devote to teacher development with the time I need to work and sustain myself. What I do is take notes, lots of notes, of all the things I want to do, and then I prioritise. If something changes along the way, I re-prioritise and try to assign time for both. Most of the times it’s more work than development, but I have created a path and I try to keep on track as much as possible. I’m also trying to have a better work-life balance. I don’t have time to do all of the things I like but I try to make that time because I need to be away from work too. There’s a fine line between taking your work seriously and taking yourself seriously and we should not cross it.
What advice would you give to a teacher just starting out on a journey of professional development?
Take one step at a time, but make sure it takes you to where you want to go. Create a structured career path, picture yourself in where you want to be weeks, months or years from now and work towards it. Also, try to put into practice everything you learn as soon as possible. Any new teaching ideas you find exciting may soon be forgotten if not put to practice.
Dina, is there any blog or online link you’d like to recommend?
My favourite blog is Shelly Terrell’s blog. I find it’s a hub of all things Web2.0, which I’m currently interested in. I also like her 30 Goals challenge series.
http://teacherbootcamp.edublogs.org/
Other sites I find useful as a teacher include.
It’s helped me a lot in training myself on how to use technology.
This is an exhaustive list of resources and THE place to build your PLN on Twitter. The site has recently moved to a new domain: www.eltchat.org
The journey to building your PLN need not be a lonely one. Get free mentoring.
What’s your favorite quotation about being a teacher?
If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost. That is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them. – Henry David Thoreau
When I started teaching many years ago, I felt that my initial training was not enough as I hadn’t studied English Literature like you would expect an English Teacher to have done (at least in Greece) and I always felt there was something missing and there was always something more I should have learnt to be better at what I had chosen to do. After a while, I embraced the fact that learning need not be linear. In other words, I didn’t destroy my ‘castle in the air’ but strived and am still striving to create sound foundations under it.
Hello Dina,
I really enjoyed reading your post.
I thought it was interesting that you said that you thought you needed a background in English Literature in order to teach English and, that it was normal for English teachers in Greece to have studied English literature. This struck me because a friend of mine in Windsor, Ontario, Canada told me that most of the teachers at the University of Windsor’s Centre for English Language Development had their Masters’ Degrees in English Literature. He implied that their was a bias toward teachers similarly qualified. In Japan, at the tertiary level, most of my Japanese colleagues have their post graduate degrees in English Literature. Interesting how this pattern exist in different places across the globe. There seems to me no logical reason an English Language teacher should need to have a background in English Literature, unless he, or she, we’re going to teach English literature to speakers of other languages. Nevertheless, the bias seems to persist. In your case, I’m sure your technical background was of much more practical use to you as an English Language Teacher than an ability to do a post-modern analysis of King Lear would be.
Another thing about your post that struck me was your struggles with the work life balance thing. I have a big problem with this too, and I made some changes to try and create a better balance. We see how that works out.
Anyway, I looking forward to the next time we meet. Perhaps Istanbul in December?
Hello Michael,
Your post was comforting, to say the least. I thought it was just Greece! I guess that this preoccupation with teachers needing to have studied English Literature could be to serve as proof that their language skills are impeccable, but then again, as you said, this does not necessarily prove they can share that knowledge.
I can still feel the bias as, according to Greek legislation, I am not allowed to work in primary/secondary schools. However, I currently work at a university in the UK as a part-time lecturer! I wonder who knows best…:)
I sure hope you find a good work-life balance and that your changes work for you. (I could use some tips). And hope we meet again sooner than later. Istanbul is an option but not sure, yet. 🙂