Becoming an English professor in Canada requires lots of effort in teaching, research, and writing. Therefore, you must hone your skills to excel in this career path. So, if you are serious about becoming an English professor in Canada, the first step you should take in your career pursuits is knowing the right skills and getting the necessary education.
We have gone the extra mile to compile these skills. They are ranked in no particular order. It would help if you considered learning these skills to scale up your teaching career faster. Enjoy reading!
What Are the Essential Skills for an English Professor in Canada?
Generally, you need a mix of skills and some experience to excel in your career pursuits. For example, English professors need hard and soft skills. You can easily get some of them in school as you study for various English programs. But for others, you can only get them if you have a chance to work in an organizational setting or take up teaching jobs.
Soft Skills for English Professors
These skills include personality traits and attributes that help employees interact and perform better in the workplace. With these skills, you can easily lead a team, become an effective speaker, manage your time and get a job done early. Here are some soft skills English professors must have to excel in their careers.
- Communication skills
Professors need to communicate effectively with their students. It usually involves speaking and writing to convey value and understanding to the listener or reader. Teaching advanced courses in the university may involve the use of jargon, leaving students in a confused state.
A competent English professor must break down this jargon and help the student understand it better by relating them to real-life scenarios.
- Teaching skills
As you strive to become an English professor, you must learn how to prove your competency level by honing your teaching skills. A professor must understand what it takes to teach professionally. In addition, they must know different teaching methods and how to apply them in diverse circumstances.
Most times, your job as a professor may require that you offer academic support to students in your department. This requires top-notch teaching skills and deep knowledge of the English course of your specialty.
Problem-solving skills
As a professor, when you are confronted with a research problem within your specialty, you must be able to prove your expertise by recognizing the nature of the problem and providing solutions that work.
This may require you critically compare the costs and benefits of taking certain actions or using a particular approach to solve a problem.
- Creativity
A professor may add flair to a course or study program by introducing new ideas, principles, and teaching approaches. This requires a high level of creativity. A professor must know how to think outside the box and keep all students engaged while teaching.
- Analytical skills
Analytical skills involve critical thinking abilities and data analysis skills. In addition, it generally involves processing information in a productive manner that eliminates all ambiguities.
Some popular analytical skills involve research and logical reasoning abilities.
Hard Skills for English Professors
Hard skills relate to the job directly and can be demonstrated in a measured way. These skills include English professors' technical, core teaching, and time management skills.
Here is a broader category of hard skills needed by English professors.
- Classroom management
This refers to a wide range of skills teachers use to engage students and keep them organized and focused during classes. In addition, since English professors teach students from diverse backgrounds, they must know how to help them learn cohesively to achieve a unique goal.
With this skill, you can plan your class structure effectively, develop a wide range of teaching strategies and develop a fun and interactive learning environment for students across all levels.
- Literature
This skill is essential for:
- Developing courses in English language study
- Facilitate active discussions while teaching for critical analysis and evaluation of English literature.
- Develop and facilitate programs for study in the English department
- Teach courses in English literature, composition, and writing
- Grammar
English grammar guides the structure of the language. The grammar rules help us decide on word choice, sentence structure, and arrangement. Grammar also dictates the syntax and morphology of the English language.
English professors are responsible for developing reading and writing exercises alongside the curriculum and grammar needed for teaching English effectively in colleges and universities.
An English professor must have in-depth knowledge of grammar and its application in modern-day English. This skill is not just needed in teaching others the language. It’s also essential for conducting classes and organizing in-person or online lessons.
- Public speaking
The art of public speaking is old but still relevant in professional settings. If you have ever been asked to address a crowd or speak before a group of people and lost your voice, you should understand the importance of public speaking in English.
Public speaking doesn’t just entail speaking before others. It also encompasses online oration through voice calls, webinars, digital conferences, and online classes.
English professors are responsible for helping their students build self-confidence in and outside the classroom through public speaking.
It’s easier for students to emulate the examples of their English teacher when they watch them speaking confidently with tactfulness in public. It’s one of the most important skills that English teachers across all levels need to excel in their diverse career pursuits.
How Can I Develop My Skills as an English Teacher?
You can develop your teaching skills outside the classroom in many ways. Here are some of them.
- Practice new skills
You may find it beneficial to practice skills like active listening and empathy with people around you. This includes colleagues, friends, and other family members. This could help you understand your students and find creative ways to engage them as you teach.
Teaching is a skill. And not until you master the skill, you may struggle to gain your student’s attention while teaching, make them use creative ideas to solve tasks assigned to them, and above all, make progress in their studies.
- Explore English teacher jobs
You may not land an English professor job right after your doctorate. Therefore, it would help if you take related jobs to gain more experience and eventually add them to your resume. Find out how much you could earn as a professor.
These jobs may range from teaching jobs in your field to volunteer service within a school or organization. This is a great way to demonstrate your schools, gain more experience and communicate better with students. Undoubtedly, these skills are a must-have for English professors.
- Ask for feedback
As an English teacher, how do you know you are impacting the lives of your students positively? Asking for constructive feedback is never a bad idea if you want to know what you may be doing wrong or whether you are using the right teaching methods.
For example, a student may dislike your teaching approach or how you answer classroom questions. Seeking their opinions will highlight many ways to improve your skills and develop effective teaching methods to help the student in the long run.
Now that you have all the skills you need to land English professor jobs in Canada, it’s time to take a bold step – searching for jobs.
How Can I Highlight My Skills for English Professor Jobs Online?
This might seem like an impossible task. But it isn’t if you know the right thing to do at the perfect time. The steps below could help.
Highlight Your Skills on Your Resume
This is the easiest way to demonstrate your skills to potential employers. Since your resume is the first formal way they may likely learn about you, you must make it stand out.
When preparing your resume, it would help to use words that your potential employers usually use to describe their ideal candidate. It’s also important to highlight your teaching skills in your resume’s “work experience” section.
Speak About Your Skills During Job Interviews
When you eventually have a chance to sit before your potential employer and answer a few questions, see it as a great opportunity to demonstrate your teaching skills. Try to showcase effective communication skills through active listening. Discuss your skills using real-life scenarios rather than theory.
Demonstrate Your Skills at Your Workplace
After getting an English professor job, it doesn’t end there. You must continually demonstrate your skills in the workplace to attract career growth and personal development.
Develop a professional relationship with students and other teachers in your school. Provide solutions to problems in your English department when possible. Use every opportunity to show others the stuff you got.
Final Thought
You need a handful of skills to become an English professor in Canada. This guide didn’t just highlight the skills you need for success in your teaching career but also revealed the best ways to learn the skills. Remember that your teaching skills might remain hidden forever if you fail to demonstrate them before others.
So, learn these skills, demonstrate them and soar higher in your teaching career. See how long it may take!
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