Gerhard Erasmus

Gerhard Erasmus started blogging for Pavilion ELT in December 2019. He moved over to blog for the new look Modern English Teacher in January 2022 where he will continue to write about teaching and management issues, ways to teach pronunciation and other teaching/teacher training techniques. Gerhard has been involved in ELT management since 2006 as senior teacher, academic manager, and director of studies. He is currently based in Taiwan where he is Director of Studies and Course Director at a language school and teacher training centre. He is also a Trinity Certificate TESOL, TYLEC, and Trinity Diploma TESOL tutor. Alongside all of this, Gerhard is Coordinator of IATEFL LAMSIG (Leadership and Management Special Interest Group) and draws lots of his inspiration from the connections he has built with managers and leaders in ELT from across the globe. His management interests involve learning and development of managers, specifically those starting their careers as teachers, and it is also the focus of his current Educational Doctorate studies.

Difficult situations – difficult conversations

2016-05-09

When I started in management, I dreaded having difficult conversations with parents and students. I even couldn’t sleep the night before! Experience has made conversations like that much easier, especially if we keep reflecting and learning from them.

To manage or not to manage? Is that really a question?

2015-06-12

In his first blog for Pavilion ELT, Gerhard Erasmus talks about how as a manager, he aims to provide his teaching team with as many opportunities and skills as they are ready for because when the next big promotion comes up, they better be ready. He says he celebrates their promotions probably more than they do themselves, even feeling like he’s succeeded when they succeed! Consequently, when he had a discussion with one of his teachers fairly recently – someone he rates quite highly as a teacher – he ended up being slightly annoyed by the fact that this person had avoided taking up opportunities to present on training days or mini-conferences they’d arranged and also declined becoming a line manager for a part-time teacher. This led to a bit of a rethink... read on to find out what happened next.

Road to management – Is there a map, please?

2014-05-08

Following up on his first blog on why teachers might not want to manage, Gerhard Erasmus aims to help future and current managers develop their own road map to help them develop the skills and expertise needed to transition effectively into management. The post looks at skills that teachers have developed that can transfer into management, qualifications that can support the development of management skills, and how to utilise your current role as a teacher to develop the skills you will need as a manager.

Is everything OK? Individual resilience as response to admitting it is not

2014-01-24

Over the last few months, there have been significant changes in how we teach, how viable our organisations are, and how we view ourselves as teachers. This post looks at why everything is not just OK and how to find what makes us resilient by accepting the uncomfortable challenges we are facing.

Academic vs non-academic roles in a school – Is it a 50/50 balance?

2013-11-12

Does the staff member running the non-academic side of a school really need an ELT background? Here, Gerhard Erasmus looks at the scope of non-academic management – and how an understanding of the other areas of the school feeds forward and back into the academic team.

Gerhard Erasmus

Difficult situations – difficult conversations

To manage or not to manage? Is that really a question?

Road to management – Is there a map, please?

Is everything OK? Individual resilience as response to admitting it is not

Academic vs non-academic roles in a school – Is it a 50/50 balance?

Contact

Pavilion ELT

Account