The English Teachers. RF Duncan-Goodwillie
classes with the institutions they work for.
Satellite schools – refers to schools at locations outside city centres.
Task Based Learning (TBL) – a lesson framework which requires students to engage in tasks that resemble situations similar to those in real life. In weak-end TBL the teacher provides key language to be used in tasks, while in strong-end TBL, students are (at least initially) expected to select the language needed to complete the task.
TESOL – generally describes any non-CELTA certificate in teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages.
Trinity TESOL – an ELT qualification on a similar level to CELTA.
Test-teach-test (TTT) – a lesson framework whereby a teacher tests students, decides the areas that require improvement and teaches those specific points, and then tests again.
Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) – a standardised test to measure the English language ability of non-native speakers wishing to enrol in English-speaking universities.
Young Learners (YL) – generally students between 7—16 years old. Very Young Learners (VYL) generally refers to students less than 5—6 years old.
1
Origins and the Raison D’être
Why does anyone write a book?
Looking back, perhaps this should have been one of the questions I asked in my interviews since articulating my own answer to that question has proven difficult. I often find that discussing questions with other people helps form my own perspective, but since this really is only a question I can answer, I will muddle along with what I have.
The idea for this book did not come to me overnight in a single burst of creativity. It was a confluence of several events. One of these was my DELTA (Diploma in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) Module 3 research, during which I noticed a wealth of books and blogs about how to teach and what to teach, but very little on the teachers themselves in terms of how they felt about their work. Perhaps the closest was Peter Medgyes’ “The Non-Native Speaking Teacher” which did a very good job of capturing the thoughts and feelings of many teachers throughout the world along the divide of native and non-native speakers.
I found Medgyes’ work to be quite influential in terms of appreciating the issues facing teachers regarding this most crucial of issues and how to raise awareness in teachers and students of how to approach it. Perhaps at present a two-tier system exists between native and non-native speaking teachers in some cases, but working towards an ideal where there doesn’t have to be such a divide is something we could all benefit from.
Similarly, Kathleen Graves also recorded the thoughts and feelings of teachers as they related to course design via direct quotes from teachers in question. In turn, I would like to quote Kathleen’s insightful observation that: “Dialogue among teachers is a crucial step in giving teachers more power in their professions: it helps teachers to be more aware of their own practice and how it relates to that of their colleagues.” As with Medgyes’ awareness raising, I drew a great deal of inspiration from this when forming my ideas about how to structure this book.
One of the unfortunate aspects of the work of these two writers, however, is that the wealth of sources in Medgyes’ case had a focus on the particular native/non-native cleavage, and Graves’ focus solely on course design limited the scope of the work for my purposes. I hope to address these issues by increasing the range of issues facing teachers and changing the focus to the teachers themselves respectively. The primary aim of this book is to help current and prospective English teachers by showing them what teaching is actually like for those already working in the profession.
It seemed a common flaw in the books on how and what to teach was that they largely neglect a crucial source of information: the teachers themselves in the teaching environment. Often the reason authors seek to provide information is out of a feeling that budding professional teachers need it (and they often do in my experience!) but this has led to an imbalance in texts. Some authors have tried to address this with comments and examples from teachers and I hope to continue this.
A second origin point was my own science fiction book, “The People’s War”, published in the summer of 2019. The book was based around a series of interviews with people following the end of a galactic conflict. Of all the books I had written up to that point, it was the one I had the most fun writing and I often wondered if I could do something similar with real people. The one issue was I had no idea what I would ask them about.
That crucial gap was bridged after an unexpected question came up during a conversation I had with a colleague while I was working in Moscow. I’d just delivered a presentation for a workshop and outlined some useful sources of information. I was a regular presenter at my school and also in others, and my colleague asked me when I would be bringing out a book. I explained I had already and I was a science fiction writer, but she clarified in a straightforward manner with words to the effect of, “No Rory, I’m not interested in science fiction. I mean, when will you be writing a book about teaching?”
Afterwards, while walking to my afternoon classes, I wondered what I could actually write about teaching. It seemed that everything about teaching had been said and a lot of what I was presenting – and indeed what teachers were doing in their classes – was just the work and words of other people. And therein lay the answer: not presenting something about teaching, but presenting the voices of teachers and what they have to say about their work. There’s so much theory and so many practical ideas, but little on what people do or say or feel.
Lastly, the book aims to tackle an issue that emerges as a side effect of English Teaching and Learning as a business, summarised in the following comment: “I don’t feel listened to as a professional teacher, when I have so much important information to share.” You could perhaps replace the job title “teacher” with any role since this lack of “listening” seems a feature of many businesses. I do not believe this is because managers are evil and do not care (at the time of writing I myself am a manager and I am reasonably certain I am not evil – though others may beg to differ!). The first four letters of “business” give the problem away; in business we are all very busy and do not have the time to sit down and actively listen to every single thing people have to say. Much as I would like to in my day job, if I did this I would get nothing done and then I would really be in trouble.
So, I set out to ask questions and listen to what I heard. My aim was to listen to teachers’ answers to relevant questions about themselves. I tried not to place unnecessary limits on what participants said and allowed them to interpret questions as they saw fit. In a day and age where teachers find themselves increasingly constricted by red-tape and so-called “teacher-proof” courses (where the teacher has little control over the material and methods used), I wanted to give them as much freedom as possible. They are, or were, in public and private institutions. Newly-qualified and experienced. Teachers, academic managers and teacher trainers. While they were being interviewed as English teachers first, sometimes other roles crept in to provide some invaluable insights.
A final point about the writing of the book was one that emerged months down the line as I was writing the final draft in the spring of 2020. As I made the final edits, the world found itself in the grip of the coronavirus (Covid-19) and face-to-face contact was limited, narrowing our capacity for “real conversation” as everyone switched to digital options for interaction.
It seems we may be in this situation for some time and must remember the significance of genuine conversation with another human being. With this in mind, I hope that bringing some examples of this to people in an accessible format will