Parent to child: What would you like to be when you grow up, dear?
Child: Director of a private language school!
Parent: Really? That’s an odd choice. Why do you want to do that?
Child: Well, I like languages. I like travelling. And I’d like to make some money.
Parent: Well, if you’re sure that’s what you want…
Child: What do you think I should study?
Parent: Umm, let me think. Language teaching? Business management?
Child: Both at the same time?
Parent: Probably not. Best do the language teaching bit first and then, if you’re still keen, do the business management afterwards.
Child: That sounds complicated. Maybe I’ll be a vet instead.
Parent: Yes, that sounds much more sensible.
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How do you learn how to run a private language school?
Well, some managers come ‘ready-made’ in the sense that they’ve studied an MBA and/or worked as managers or consultants in a different industry. Some of them are quite successful. But most of the managers I know in the language teaching business have made their way along the following long and winding path:
It starts with a language teacher training course (I’d recommend the CELTA for English language teachers, but there are alternatives). Then you go off and get some experience teaching your own language, probably somewhere abroad. After a couple of years, if you’re still having fun, you might take a more advanced qualification (still completely focused on teaching). If you survive that, you could then move into a position of some responsibility, perhaps as a level head, or Assistant Director of Studies. A year or two later you’ll probably have to choose between taking the academic branch on the language teaching career ladder (and become a teacher trainer, Director of Studies or possibly even a materials writer) or take a leap into the much less familiar, much harder-nosed world of business management. (OK, it’s not exactly Gordon Gekko territory, but if not dog-eat dog, it can be parrot-pull-the-tail-feathers-out-of-parrot…)
If you choose to take the leap into business and you work for one of the larger language teaching organisations, you’ll probably find that they offer their own internal management training courses, which may or may not be useful.
If you’re tempted to make the leap but your employer can’t help, there are a couple of useful training courses out there which are open to everyone:
IH London offers an online course in Educational Management http://www.ihlondon.com/courses/diploma-in-academic-management/
IH Barcelona (my own outfit) runs a blended learning course leading to the International Diploma in Language Teaching Management http://www.ihes.com/bcn/tt/idltm.html
Excellent courses, but they are moderately expensive. If you can’t afford the fees (or your organisation isn’t prepared to help finance you) there is always the Web with its swarms of helpful user groups, networks and bloggers who are more than willing and quite often able to guide you.
But let’s face it, whatever pre-service training you do, nothing could fully prepare you for the daily smorgasbord of issues you’ll have to deal with as director of a private language school. Depending on the size of the school, you may end up being strategic planner, financial director and/or bookkeeper, marketing director, community manager, webmaster, human resources director, social programme organiser, exam administrator, janitor, cleaner, and standby teacher, all at the same time.
If that sounds daunting, it often is. But it can also be stimulating and fun. And there are plenty of opportunities out there for budding managers who are prepared to take the leap and put in the hours.
Alternatively, you could always become a vet.
jonathan dykes blog 