2 Whatis a teacher? 2 Whatis a teacher? Language learners don’t always need teachers. They can set about learning ina variety of ways. Some learn by studying on their own at home with books, CDs, DVDs, e-workbooks, computer programs and so on; others seem to ‘pick up’a language just by living and communicating in a place where the language is used (this is known as immersion). Of course, many students do learn in classes with other students and a teacher— whether that’s a class they chose to come to (for example, at a language school) or maybe a class they were required to attend (such as ina high school). And much language learning will involve elements of all three ways: self-study, ‘picking it up’ and classroom work. But, if it’s possible to learn successfully without a teacher, then what difference does having a teacher make to the learning process? Why do some people pay to have a teacher? What do students expect from them? To put it bluntly, what on earth are teachers for? If you are (or are planning to be) a teacher, it’s important to consider such basic questions. Gaski3> Remembering teachers you have known 4. Think back to some teachers (of any subject) you have had in your life. What do you remember about them and their lessons? The teacher’s manner? How you felt in their presence? Can you recall any specific lessons? Specific teaching techniques? What it was like to be a student in that room? What words or phrases characterise the atmosphere of the classes (eg positive, encouraging, boring, friendly, like an interrogation, sarcastic, humorous, respectful, scary, quiet)? 2 To what extent do you think your personal style as a teacher is based to some degree on these role models? ‘When I started teaching, I found that my basic image of what a teacher’s job was and how a teacher should behave were drawn largely from what I had seen my own teachers doing. These internal images were quite deeply held and quite hard to challenge. Any teacher starting out needs to check if they have inbuilt assumptions about teaching from this exposure to hours and hours of observing your own teachers at work. If you think about it, you have watched and experienced an awful lot of teaching being done to you — and this can often remain a subtle and deep-seated influence. Whether we acknowledge it or not, much of our view of what a teacher is and what ateacher should do can often be traced back to these many years of lesson observation from the pupil’s seat. Sadly, a lot of the teaching that has lefta deep impression on us was not necessarily very good teaching. As well as some excellent teachers, most of us have probably seen examples of teachers who were boring, unkind, incompetent, sarcastic or inept.Chapter 1 Starting out ‘Entertainer’ teaching Learners come to class to learn a language rather than to be amused by a great show. Certainly no one would wish their lessons to be boring, butit’s important to check out if the classes of an ‘entertainer’ style of teacher are genuinely leading to any real learning. It’s easy to get swept up in the sheer panache of one’s own performance; the teacher who constantly talks a lot, tells stories and jokes, amuses the class with their antics, etc can provide a diverting hour, but it may simply cover up the fact that very little has been taken in and used by the students. The monologue may provide useful exposure to one way of using language, but this isn’t sufficient to justify regular lessons of this kind. I’ve found that quite a number of teachers suspect that this ‘performer’ style is a goal they should aim for, partly maybe because of an influence from Hollywood films about teaching. But there is a fine line between creating a good atmosphere and good rapport in class and becoming an entertainer. I hope that I can persuade you that rapport is crucial but entertainment is much less so. Traditional teaching For many of us, school teaching was in a style we could characterise as ‘traditional’. While the details may vary considerably from school to school and between different countries and cultures, there will still be many aspects of ‘traditional’ teaching that are familiar to many. -) Traditional teaching List some of these characteristic features of traditional teaching (eg Where does the teacher stand / sit? How are students seated? How is the class managed?). What do you think are the disadvantages of a traditional teaching approach for language teaching and learning? “Commentary ‘Traditional’ teaching comes in many varieties, but is often characterised by the teacher spending quite a lot of class time using the board to explain things —as if ‘transmitting’ knowledge to the class — with occasional questions to or from the learners. After these explanations, the students will often do some practice exercises to test whether they have understood what they have been told. i ‘Throughout the lesson, the teacher keeps control of the subject matter, makes decisions about what work is needed and orchestrates what the students do. In this classroom, the teacher probably does most of the talking and is by far the most active person. The students’ role is primarily to listen and concentrate and, perhaps, take notes with a view to taking in the information. Often the teacher takes as if by right (usually, but not always, benignly) permission to direct, give orders, tell off, rebuke, criticise, etc, possibly with limited or no consultation. ‘This ‘transmission’ view of the role of a teacher is relatively widespread, and in many cultures represents the predominant mode of education. Students will expect that a teacher will teach in this way, and fellow teachers may be critical or suspicious of teachers who do not. In such cases, it’s important to remember that2 Whatis a teacher? your choice of methodology is not simply a matter of what you believe to be best, imposed at any cost, but it is also about what is appropriate in a particular place with particular people. What you do in any school or with any learner will often represent your best compromise between what you believe and what seems right in the local context. You then have the interesting possibility of starting to persuade your colleagues and students to your ideas . . .or maybe learning from them about why their approaches work better. ‘The process by which traditional teaching is imagined as working is sometimes characterised as ‘jug and mug’ - the knowledge being poured from one receptacle into an empty one. It is often based on an assumption that the teacher is the ‘knower’ and has the task of passing over knowledge to the students, and that having something explained or demonstrated to you will lead to learning —and if it doesn’t, it is because the teacher has done this job badly or the student is lazy or incompetent. In many circumstances, lecture or explanation by a teacher may be an efficient method of informing a large number of people about a topic. However, if our own educational experience has mainly been of this approach, then itis worth pausing for a minute and questioning whether this is indeed the most effective or efficient teaching method. Whereas most teachers will need to be good ‘explainers’ at various points in their lessons, a teaching approach based solely or mainly on this technique can be problematic. The importance ofrapport Interestingly, when I recall my own teachers at school, I find it quite hard to recall details of any specific individual lessons, but I can recall - quite strongly — the way that the teacher related to the class and how I felt in this teacher’s presence. I think of some whose lessons were bright and enjoyable, some whose lessons were frightening and tense, some who seemed to bring out the best in me and some who closed me up. The way the teacher related to the learners — and consequently how learners related to each other — was significantly different in different classrooms. ‘What creates this distinctive atmosphere of each teacher's class? What makes the difference between a room where people are defensive and anxious, and a room where people feel able to be honest and take risks? Teachers and trainers often comment on the importance of ‘rapport’ between teachers and students. The problem is that, whereas rapport is clearly important, itis also notoriously difficult to-define or quantify. Sometimes people equate it with ‘being generally friendly to your students’. While this is a reasonable starting point, I think we need to finda wider definition, involving many more aspects to do with the quality of how teacher and learners relate. This does raise a problem, though. If a significant part of a class’s success is down to-how well the teacher and students relate, does that suggest that successful teachers are born, and if they don’t naturally relate well to people, then they are a write-off? Is your ‘rapport’ 100% natural or is it something that can be worked on and improved?Chapter 4 Starting out SESS Creating a positive teaming atmosphere Figure 1.1 lists some features that may be important in creating a positive relationship and a positive learning atmosphere. Decide which items are inborn and which could be worked on and improved. In a positive learning atmosphere the teacher ... shows respect really listens to his/her students gives clear and ay ositive feedback has a good-sense Reon of humour is, by and large, authentically her/ himself 7 inspires confidence 7 is non-judgemental empathises with students’ problems pe eaoa does not.complicate things unneccessarily is well organised is approachable is enthusiastic and inspires enthusiasm can be authoritative without being distant Figure 1.1 Features which create a positive relationship and atmosphere Arguable maybe, but I would say that all of these are things that can be studied and improved on. Some are more difficult than others. Of course, although it’s a good start, a positive learning atmosphere isn’t everything. Being jokey, chatty and easygoing doesn’t necessarily lead to good teaching — one of my teachers was very friendly and funny, but his lessons ended up in confusion. Contrastingly, lessons from one of the quieter, more serious teachers were often very memorable. This is simply the first building block of teaching, but it’s an important one. Respect, empathy and authenticity Carl Rogers, the American psychologist, suggested that there are three core teacher characteristics that help to create an effective learning environment. These are respect (a positive and non-judgemental regard for another person), empathy (being able to see things from the other person’s perspective, as if looking through2 What is ateacher? their eyes) and authenticity (being oneself without hiding behind job titles, roles or masks). When a teacher has these three qualities, the relationships within the classroom are likely to be stronger and deeper, and communication between people much more open and honest. The educational climate becomes positive, forward- looking and supportive. The learners are able to work with less fear of taking risks or facing challenges. In doing this, they increase their own self-esteem and self-understanding, gradually taking more and more of the responsibility for their own learning themselves rather than assuming that it is someone else’s job. Rogers and Frelberg (1994) considered that, out of these three teacher characteristics, authenticity was the most important. To be yourself. Not to play the role of a teacher, but to take the risk of being vulnerable and human and honest. Gaie Houston (1990) has written that “The foundation of rapport is to learn yourself enough that you know what style you have and when you are being truthful to yourself” Although there are some practical techniques you can learn to improve your communication with others, real rapport is something more substantial than a technique that you can mimic. It is not something you do to other people. Itis you and your moment-by-moment relationship with other human beings. Similarly, respect or empathy or authenticity are not clothes to put on as you walk into the classroom, not temporary characteristics that you take on for the duration of your lesson. You cannot role play ‘respect’ — or any of the other qualities. On the contrary, they are rooted at the level of your genuine intentions. In order to improve the quality of our own relationship in the classroom, we do not need to learn new techniques; we need to look closely at what we really want for our students, how we really feel about them. It is our attitude and intentions rather than our methodology that we may need to work on. Having said all that, it also suggests that I can’t teach you how to do this in a book. For this reason, the main subject matter of the book concerns the more technical aspects of creating a successful class. Three kinds of teacher ‘There are obviously many ways of teaching, and part of the enjoyment of being a student in a good classroom is in sharing the unique personal identity, style, skills and techniques that a teacher brings to a lesson. Having said that, it sometimes gives things a clearer perspective if we simplify rather than complicate. Adrian Underhill has suggested that there may be three broad categories of teaching styles (summarised in Figure 1.2). The explainer Many teachers know their subject matter very well, but have limited knowledge of teaching methodology. This kind of teacher relies mainly on ‘explaining’ or ‘lecturing’ as a way of conveying information to the students. Done with style or enthusiasm or wit or imagination, this teacher’s lessons can be very entertaining, interesting and informative. The students are listening, perhaps occasionally answering questions and perhaps making notes, but are mostly not beingChapter 4. Starting out personally involved or challenged. The learners often get practice by doing individual exercises after one phase of the lecture has finished. The involver ‘This teacher also knows the subject matter that is being dealt with. (In our case, this is essentially the English language and how it works.) However, she is also familiar with teaching methodology; she is able to use appropriate teaching and organisational procedures and techniques to help her students learn about the subject matter. “Teacher explanations’ may be one of these techniques, but in her case, it is only one option among many that she has ather disposal. This teacher is trying to involve the students actively and puts a great deal of effort into finding appropriate and interesting activities that will do this, while still retaining clear control over the classroom and what happens in it. The enabler ‘The third kind of teacher is confident enough to share control with the learners,.or perhaps to hand it over to them entirely. Decisions made in her classroom may often be shared or negotiated. In many cases, she takes her lead from the students, seeing herself as someone whose job is to create the conditions that enable the students to learn for themselves. Sometimes this will involve her in less traditional ‘teaching’; she may become a ‘guide’ or a ‘counsellor’ or a ‘resource of information when needed’. Sometimes, when the class is working well under its own steam, when a lot of autonomous learning is going on, she may be hardly visible. This teacher knows about the subject matter and about methodology, but also has an awareness of how individuals and groups are thinking and feeling within her class. She actively responds to this in her planning and methods and in building effective working relationships and a good classroom atmosphere. Her own personality and attitude are an active encouragement to this learning. Subject matter Methodology People Explainer we Involver v v Enabler v v v Figure1.2 Three kinds of teacher ‘These three descriptions of teachers are, of course, very broadly painted. There is no way to categorise all teaching under three headings; many teachers will find elements of each category that are true for them, or that they move between categories depending on the day, the class and the aims of a lesson. However, this simple categorisation may help you to reflect on what kind of teaching you have mostly experienced in your life so far and may also help you to clarify what kind of teacher you see yourself as being now or in the future. On teacher-training courses, I have come across many participants whose initial internal image of a teacher is based on the ‘explainer’, but who are keen to move to becoming an ‘involver’ in their own teaching. Such a move may be your aim in3 Teaching and learning reading this book —and the book is mainly geared towards giving you information, ideas, options and starting points that may help you reach that goal. Essentially, therefore, this is a book about methodology. Throughout the book, I have also tried to keep in mind the important skills, qualities, values and techniques associated with the ‘enabling’ teacher and to give guidance and information that may influence your role and relationships in the classroom. When I think back on my own experiences of being taught, it is the teaching techniques that I remember least. I certainly remember teachers who made subject matter come alive, through their great knowledge and enthusiasm. But the teacher I recall with most pleasure and respect was the one who listened to me, who encouraged me, who respected my own views and decisions. Curiously, this teacher who helped me most was the one who actually did least ‘teaching’ of the subject matter and was, seemingly, technique-free, being basically ‘himself’ in class. My memories of his lessons are of what I did, rather than what he did, of my learning rather than his teaching. Explainer, involver, enabler Think of some people you have been taught by in the past. Which of the three descriptions above best suits each one? This may give you some idea about which images of teaching you have been exposed to and influenced by.