Considering the creation of a language teaching institute as a working and educational alternative

Abstract

Although the knowledge of English has been imposed by the Government as an essential requirement to have access to the educational and labor fields, in the second semester of 2007 in the University of Cauca more than 90 percent of non-tenured English teachers were not hired. This reduction of official working opportunities in Popayan reflects the discouraging horizon education and especially foreign language teachers-to-be are facing nowadays. In the face of this challenging reality the present project gives some academic, administrative and legal orientations about the creation process of a language institute. This proposal allows us both to conceive a new alternative for professional and academic growth and to reinforce the labor opportunities for teachers and students in a bilingual working context. There were some fundamental aspects to consider when carrying out this project, for example the need for a critical recognition of our socio-economic reality, as well as the assumption of social engagement to consider social and economic structures; and finally the need to promote a business mentality1 in the educational field, namely, people with initiative and proficiency, which refers to the perception of the reality and the attitude required to it, in this particular case the commitment to society in order to create alternatives in the educational labor field by means of particular ideals.