The English Teachers. RF Duncan-Goodwillie
you create things based on facts.
RFDG: What kind of journalism?
AD: Good question. I’ve never thought of it. Everything I think about now is my work and my students. I think only about them all the time. Journalism is just my ideal world. It would be about travelling and sharing impressions.
RFDG: Is it possible to combine the two?
AD: I think it is and I have thought about it. But in this case it seems to be I won’t be able to be 100% present at my current job and give what I have to give. I feel I have to do my current job very well and I can’t think about a few things at the same time.
RFDG: What contributes to that feeling of obligation?
AD: My background. My parents, my childhood. In my family there is always this idea that everyone must work very hard and everyone must do their job properly. I love my job. I just can’t imagine myself doing it 50—60%. And I’m a perfectionist. It’s important for me to do things well. I always say when I talk to my friends, “If you can’t do it then don’t do it. Do something else.” It’s like my motto.
RFDG: Do you think the feeling of needing to work hard is shared by other teachers in Moscow?
AD: Of course not.
RFDG: What’s the percentage?
AD: I feel there are very few people like me. To be honest, I rarely meet people like me. You see some hard-working teachers, but for me I live my work. It’s not like, “OK, this is the end of my working day I’m going home to relax.” When I’m going home my students text me and I am ready to help them. Even at night or one in the morning if it is necessary. In the morning I wake up and think about them. I don’t think about my private life. It’s different.
RFDG: Why can’t other people be that way?
AD: I’m not sure that it’s right to be honest. It has a negative impact since it can be like I always live for someone else, for my students, not for myself. At this stage of my life I think this is right. We are born to contribute something to society or the world and I’m not thinking about my life now.
RFDG: How long have you felt like this?
AD: Maybe the last four to five years. It became stronger in Moscow.
RFDG: Is it important to stay in Moscow now?
AD: No.
RFDG: So, if you could be somewhere else where would you go?
AD: Abroad. I want to travel. I want to see different places and societies.
RFDG: What about in terms of work?
AD: I’m quite unstable I’d say. It seems to me that everything is temporary. The city, my life… I know I’m not going to move anywhere else in Moscow. It’s boundless. I don’t see any borders here. I like freedom and it’s what I get here. I have thought about travelling and living somewhere for a year. I still feel that I haven’t found my place.
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Daniel Saraiva San Pedro (DSSP)
Setting the scene: Daniel comes across as incredibly friendly and encouraging. He is actually from Brazil despite having a slightly North American accent. But as our conversation progresses it’s clear he is very much not American. He’s very much the professional teacher and also very much the “busy teacher” (as was I on this particular day) and our interview took place at a brisk pace before our lessons.
DSSP: I started teaching in Brazil in March 2012. It wasn’t because I wanted to be an English teacher. It just kind of happened. I wanted to go back to studying English, so I went back to the English school I was at when I was a child. They did a placement test with me and at the end of the test they said they didn’t have any courses for me, but they needed English teachers and asked if I would be interested. I agreed because I was between jobs at the time and I needed the money. I went through the process of the test and orientation, and at the end we taught lessons. They were observed and they would choose teachers from the group of candidates.
RFDG: What did you want to be originally?
DSSP: My major is in Biology and I worked a little in the field, but it just happened that I wasn’t working for a while and it was hard. In Brazil, being a biologist you either have to be a teacher or a researcher. It’s hard to make enough money and you have to choose a specific area. I wasn’t sure that’s what I wanted and I started college when I was 17 and left at 21. It was a big decision then.
RFDG: Why Moscow?
DSSP: I taught in Brazil for five years without any certificates or diploma and I felt I needed to get some knowledge and theory. So, I decided to do the CELTA in Boston, in the USA, in 2014. I also started thinking about working abroad. The CELTA helps you do that. I finished CELTA and went back to Brazil. When I went back I was very enthused after that CELTA. I wanted to go abroad, but when I got back to my old job I kind of lost my enthusiasm and went back to the same old routine.
Then in 2016, again in that period of teaching English, I also stopped teaching for a while because I wasn’t sure. Then I went back again and I thought I had to make up my mind and did I want to be an English teacher and progress in this career or change? I just decided to invest in this. I thought I should use my CELTA and looked for jobs aboard. I looked for jobs in Europe but I didn’t have a European passport. I even got some interviews, but as soon as they found out I was Brazilian they said there was nothing they could do.
I also decided to work for IH. I was applying for IH schools. I saw BKC in Moscow and they provided the visa and everything went so smoothly. I thought I would give it a try, but it took six months from applying and thinking if it was the best decision.
RFDG: What influenced your decision to focus on ELT?
DSSP: I got advice from some wise people, but also I was happy with what I was doing despite some hard times. Deep down it went naturally that way. I think most important decisions should be made this way. They shouldn’t be manufactured. You need to feel it and let things flow.
*
Heather Belgorodtseva (HB)
Setting the scene: In terms of disposition, Heather is the primary school teacher every student and parent would like to have. Cheerful but firm, enthusiastic in presentation but reasonable in ideas. Her jovial English tone carries across the room and down the hallway, even although I am sitting right in front of her in an otherwise empty room. It isn’t a problem. I quickly find myself caught up in the fun.
Heather’s interview also taught me a valuable lesson about technology. Halfway through, I got a phone call from a certain British car insurance firm (which shall remain nameless!) which paused the recording application I was using. I only realised this at the end of the interview. Mercifully, both Heather and myself have very good memories and managed to reconstruct the script. If there are other budding authors reading this, perhaps this incident is something to keep in mind. If there are any insurance sales people reading, please find other jobs and never call me again!
She pauses for a long time after I ask my first question.
HB: Sorry, I’m just trying to summarise 20 years. I first came to Moscow in 1996 and discovered I quite liked teaching and quite liked Moscow. I ended up going home and doing