A true educational leader, teacher, or trainer can help others learn and imbibe skills that help them lead a better life professionally and personally.
Eman Khalid, a journalist by profession, couldn’t help but fall in love with teaching when she stumbled upon an opportunity by accident. However, once she started working in this field, she found that enlightening the minds of young people is more than about teaching the subject. It is about inspiring them to be better individuals and better human beings. Today, as an English instructor and a Corporate Trainer, Eman aspires to grow professionally in the field of education.
A Passionate Teacher
Before pursuing teaching as a career, Eman wrote articles, news reports, press releases, and e-blogs for publications online. She also worked as a United Nations volunteer, volunteering for several international non-profit organizations such as the UNHCR, UNICEF, World Health Organization, Ann Foundation, and Emergency USA in their respective media, communications, and outreach departments. For the past two years, she has been working as an English instructor and a Corporate Trainer. Her passion for teaching led me to pursue an MA in Applied Linguistics and TESOL. Alongside that, she completed 480 hours of training in TEFL from the London College of Teachers & Trainers.
As a freelance English instructor and Corporate Trainer, Eman works for several international educational institutions. Her experience in training candidates who aspire to appear for the IELTS, ESOL, and UKVI examinations has led her to train around 100 different candidates in these past two years of several nationalities and educational backgrounds.
Bringing fresh ideas to her teaching methodology, Eman designs customized learning plans according to each student’s diverse needs to ensure successful outcomes for them all which maximizes their educational performance. She tries her best to make the learning process for all her students fun, engaging, and interactive by incorporating digital tools, gamification, and simulations from real life. She adopts the teaching methodologies of Communication Language Teaching (CLT), Task-Based Assessment (TBA), and Task-Based Learning (TBL).
“In addition to the utilization of innovative resources in my classroom, I leverage online platforms, interactive exercises, and more to provide students with a contemporary learning experience. Lastly, providing students with timely feedback is also extensively crucial as it allows me and the students themselves to monitor their overall academic progress. My teaching experience, combined with my global cultural awareness, brings a diverse perspective to the classroom which helps me to fulfill individual learning needs and narrow down the educational disparities,” says Eman.
Initial Hitches
Straight after university, Eman got an opportunity to teach IELTS students, and she did not know what IELTS was. However, a vacancy opened up and they asked her to join. She spent around 2 months preparing for that job, understanding the exam patterns and the structure of the professional examination. She joined the teaching career at a very young age and due to this, any mistake she’d make would be pinpointed and she’d always be reminded of how she was an “inexperienced educator” during the first few months of her teaching career.
However, the discouraging remarks did not stop Eman from pursuing teaching as a full-time career and writing as a side career. She contributed to writing books and designing curriculums for international institutions, specifically the British curriculum, in Kuwait.
“Every mistake I have ever made made me a better human being and a better educator. Every mistake of mine led me toward the path of becoming a better human being. I have realized that challenges are a part of life, especially if you are a young girl starting your career at an early day age. However, a few years later, we look back and realize that those challenges actually made us stronger,” she emphasizes.
Preparing Students for Innovative Mindset
Eman believes that students can be encouraged to think entrepreneurially if the curriculum contains business development principles which consist of teaching students how to solve problems creatively, identifying opportunities, and creating value. If case studies and real-world business scenarios are presented, students can conveniently learn to adapt to the changing environment and attain business innovative abilities.
Through this incorporation, students can develop a growth mindset, more inclined towards adaptability and innovation. If she gets a chance to ever create a “Business Communication Module,” Eman will incorporate market analysis, competitive analysis, and strategic planning for students with exercises on how to communicate in a business setting to generate revenue and drive sales for an organization effectively.
She has provided corporate training to professionals in the industry of aviation, and hospitality where she created her own curriculum and taught them how to write emails effectively in English and communicate their ideas to external and internal organizations.
“In my curriculum, I included activities that not only enhanced their business abilities but also inspired them to think innovatively and strategically about contemporary projects. The business development subject consists of building and collaborating on professional networks. Students can understand the benefit of external partnerships and teamwork through opportunities for networking and projects of collaboration,” says Eman.
Staying Prepared
Eman stays updated with educational practices by attending professional development events and networking on platforms like LinkedIn. Her MA in Applied Linguistics and TESOL has equipped her with skills in curriculum design, lesson planning, and understanding speech pedagogy. She enjoys reading educational journals, which has deepened her knowledge of second language acquisition, highlighting the importance of cognitive processes and emotional factors like anxiety and motivation. She manages her diverse responsibilities in teaching, corporate training, journalism, and volunteer work through disciplined time management and strategic planning, ensuring a healthy work-life balance by setting clear boundaries and prioritizing self-care.
Looking Forward
Eman believes the teaching industry will undergo significant changes in the next five years, with increased adoption of digital learning platforms for remote, blended, and personalized education. She opines that organizations should invest in digital infrastructure, train educators, and develop engaging digital content. As the job market shifts, there will be a greater focus on skills-based education and lifelong learning, requiring expanded course offerings and industry collaboration. Personalized learning experiences will become more important, necessitating adaptive learning technologies and data analytics to support student progress.
“My next big goal is to pursue my PhD in education In Sha Allah. Additionally, I aspire to launch an NGO of my own in the near future, which would specifically focus on assisting students from underprivileged backgrounds to pursue their education freely. Because I am a firm believer in the fact that “education isn’t a privilege, it is the right of every human being,” concludes Eman.
My favorite saying is from our beloved Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) who said,
“Acquire knowledge and teach it to the people. Learn dignity and tranquility, and live with it.”
I believe that education is a very important part of everyone’s life as it helps a person to change their life and the lives of their loved ones in a better way. Teaching is my passion and in the next five years, I see myself as the head of the English department of an institution where I lead a team of other teachers, and guide them, along with my students, to the right direction in life.
“If you’re a teacher, you can change someone’s life positively. And if an academic institution’s mission is similar to my passion and dedication toward education, I am more than happy to work there as well.”