We had a lot of good discussions on whether the teacher should be an "expert" in grammar during out TESL course. In my opinion, teachers should be knowledgeable enough to be able to explain the concept to a student in a clear and efficient way.
There’s nothing wrong with teacher admitting that he or she doesn’t have the answer now, but will look into it and come back with the correct answer. However, if it happens too often, the teacher risks losing credibility in the student's eyes and not providing the best possible service for the students.
As long as the teacher realizes that there’s always potential for their professional growth and development and continue working towards it, they can be helpful to their students. In other words, it’s never a destination but a journey! Another factor to consider is your learner’s goals and whether your level of expertise will be sufficient enough to help them achieve them. Some of my students needed help with functional language ( travelling, shopping etc) and we didn’t have to dive deep into the grammar concepts. Others needed support with academic writing and I didn’t feel comfortable helping them as I wasn’t ( and still isn’t ) an expert.
One of the advantages I have, I guess, is that Russian is my mother tongue and all of my students are Russian- speaking, which makes it a little easier for me to explain and for them to understand some grammar concepts, as we can always refer to how we use them in our own language.
Also, I have noticed that some teachers think that because they teach CLB 1 class, they don't need to be experts in grammar. In my own experience, I had students at lower levels of proficiency who were asking me some difficult questions, which I not always had answers to.
That made me very uncomfortable and that is exactly why I am in this course today!
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