de

What does a teacher

number of b · do? What 1s"
rief answer Tour Persona, 1
/' s. mage or .
d l1ke to return to the 8oocs teacnlne,·1 L
se quest,ons and t is, e
Task 2 o Your own answers lat
er on in lh
Decide INhat assumpt,ons is aect,o,n.
teaching ªPProach rn the cl:~~ut the roles ot teacher and 1
room P•cture below. earners underhe \he
~===========/!.

· Fig. 1.1

Commentary ■ ■ ■ 1 •
Formany people this is the conventional image of a schoolroom th • h din
ch fi f , . , - e ~eac er stan g
at e ront o the class teaching and the students sitting in rows listening.
This teaching style is often based on the assumption that the teacher is the 'knower'
and has che task ofpassing o ver this knowledge to the students. lt is sometimes
characterized as 'jug and mug' - the knowledge being poured from one receptacle into
another empty one. This is probably done mainly by teacher explanations with
occasional questions to or from the learners. There seems to be an assumption that
having something explaioed or demonstrated to you will lead to leaming. After these
explanations the srudenrs will often do sorne practice exercises to test whether they
have undersr~od \\ hat the,,- have been told. Throughout the lesson the teacher keeps
1

•
Cha peer I Working wiú, peopk

control ofthe subject mattcr, makcs decisions about "hat v;ork is needed and
orehes mues what the students do. Jn this classroom the teae her probably docs most oí
the talking and is by far tJ,e most active person . •

.1\!tany of usare familiar wit.J1 lhis kind of sítuacjon, having seen it from the scudent's
poim ohicw ovcr many years whcn wc were schoolchildren in school classrooms._We
havc nll been through hundreds of hours of observation oftcachers at work and this
has probably left a strong imagc of what teachin~ is and how it should be done.
In many circumstances teacher lecture or explanation may be an efficient method of •
infonning a large number of people about a copie. However, if our own educational
experiencc has mainly been r'f tlus approach then it is v.·orth pausing for a minute and
questioning whether this is indeed the most effecóve or efficient teaching method.
~'hcreas most ceachers will need to be good ·explainers' at various points in their
lessons, a teaching approach based solely or mainl}· on chis technique can be
problematic.
In Fig 1.1, che teacher is ·ceaching', bue it is unclear how much 'leaming' is caking
plac_e. le is cempting to imagine chat if one happens then che other must also happen -
bue in fact 'ceaching' and 'learrung' need to be clearly distinguished. lt is quite possible
for .ª teacher to be putting great effort into his or her teachmg and for no learning to be
taking p~ace; similarly a teacher could apparently be doing nothing, bue the srudents
be learrung a great deal.
In_ the a~ove c!ass of si.xteen scudents one lesson is being •caughe'. Bue we could equally
think of 1t as sixteen lessons being received.
l'm noc involved ac ali.
l'm tired of siccing on chis chair.
I haven 'c said anything for hours.
Long explanations are so dull- Jjusc turn off
I didn 'c underscand- ami now he's calking abouc something else
I 'd raclzer do something differenc. ·
He's going too fas t.
He's going too slow.
lt's noc an incerescing sub¡ecc.
l'm nol daing anything myself.
Five scudents are listeoing and trymg to follow th 1 .
mak:ing detailed notes bue not really thinkin aboe exp ana~ons; three others are
and not really understanding anything· one ~ _ut ~ subJect; one person is listening
th
that the teacher is tallcing aboue sornethina avi.nlg nussed the previous lesson) thinks
d dr . . .. º comp etely differ . thr
ay eammg; one 1s \\nong a tener; etc. ent, ee students are

• Here, the teaching is only one factor in what is 1

rather less import.ant than one might suppo ~amed. Indeed teachlng is acrually
srudents. Only they can do that. What I cans~ .. : teacher I cannot leam for my
they might be able to leam. This could be b o is elp_ create the conditions in which
complaints above-perhaps by involving rhy responding_to sorne of the student
~peed, by not giving long explanations by e:m, by e~bling them to work at their own
mteract, do things, etc. ■ , couragmg them to participate, talk,

Let's look outside the classroom fo

everyday life? Maybe by erial and r a moMament. How do people leam things.
ti U . th . error. ybe by ding m
o ow1ng e mstructions. Maybe b si .
do and give feedback on whether yo~'rettmdomg ~
next
rea a DIY manual
to someone who can tell and
OK. you what to
 The pro·cess o f learni
f " 'hat hu¡1p cncd · (3 ng oftc,, invotv • , Tt4C.la1111
co n clttsio n s to i~f ) reílcc1jng on thne~ ,hvc atcps. (1) d .
orm nncl p1 c¡)ar . t; (4) drawin o1ng aomcthm .
ª"" úanr111e
e lor futu rc Prncg·conclusions· (S) g, (2) rcc:alltng
• l1ca1cxpc • u 1ng lh~
_Jr~=-- ncncc (S ,.,,.e
7' Do ] ccF'ag 1.2)

r.:;P:-re-!.p_a_re-
• Rcca11

Conclude Renect

Fig. 1.2: An experiential learru·

I · ng cycle
t is unportant to di . .
and St.mgwsh betw
su~port from other peo l een learning and tcachin
shown m Fig 1.3, but the es~e::~~e=e in at any of the f~~: ~;~~;n, gu1dancc
ng expencncc is in do·mg thcthing
e cydc, as 13
0

•
ve
rr,.~
\(\ D
\otrnat1on Co
l.J,.,.s-19,,,
Í/,,
Y unclf.

~
&:~
-~
1
~ "-;) l'_ ____.
1
Do
V1 ~\JI

~ 1Prepare I Recall ~
i=-t ~ Conclude
r---L.-
Reflect
!J
~~~~ ~ ---
~i'
q)
o
~ .s- vº~
t!}¡CI S
i.Uex 110 óó{\
3
Fig. 1.3: Teaching and the experiential learning cycle
This cycle, known as an experiencia[ learning cycle, suggests a number of conclusions
for English language teaching in the classroom. For example:
• If this cycle does represent how people learn, then thc 'jug and mug· approach may
be largely inappropriate if it dominates classroom orne. Giving people
opporrunities to do things themselves may be much more tmportant.
• I may become a better teacher if I worry less about teaching techniqucs a.nd tr)' lO
make the enabling of leaming my main cancero - te the inner cu-ele oi th~ ~agram
rather than the outer one. . .111
• I need to ensure thatl allow my students pracricol expenence in doing lhiflSS (eg
using Janguage rather than simply,listening hto lectures •~"' ¡anguog<) · . 1
Id get m the ,,-ay of learrun&·
• It may be that being 'over-helpful as a teac er cou th ill be for
canRot leam for my students. The more I do myself, thel<ss spnc< ere "
the learners to do things. ,....,ut hott' t]le,· n~ teaming,
become more aware al/v •
• It may be useful to help stud ents aterinls, ccchniques or
to reflect on this and to explore what proccdur~s, m
re effei.:uvel)', . d
approacbes would help thern 1e~rn mo things out and get th1ng ,,TOng an
• It's OK for srudents to rnake nuScakes, to trY
• •
leam from that. • . ceai.:her' as "·ell.
• ... and that's troe forme as 3 learnmg 3
 •

Th'O assuniptlons
Onc fundomcntnl n111sun1ption hchind 1h1s bookond 1hc tcncl11ng ttpproo..:\,cs b .
!lllggcstcd 111 it ,, ihu t ~p/1 ¡~41 "' morci by ,to,ng d11ngs tMms•ltlfl nathcr than by c,ngu
rold ahout ihcrn . "fhis 1s 1n1c both for 1he s1uden1s in your classcs ond for you, as yo
lcun1 ,,, be u bcucr tcu..:her.
,\ sccond nssun,p1jnn is thut lcar,il!rs are i,itelli'ge,it, f~lly:fu11ctio_n111g hun1ans, not
simply rc-ccpUlclcs for passcd -on knowlcdgc. Learn1ng 1s not s1mply a one-
Jin,ensional intellcctual activity, but involvcs thc wh olc pcrson.
Recent approachcs in EFL havc ,ncreasingly aclcnowlcdged the importancc of the
'wholc person' m the leamer (as opposed to only theu- mental processes _such a~
dunking remembering, analyzing, etc). Wc can no longer be content w1th the unagc
of che s~dent as a blank slate. Srudents may bring pen and paper to ~e lesson. ~ut
they also bring a whole range of other, less visible things t~ class: ~err nee~s, the~r
wishes, their life experience, their home background, theu m ~mo n es, the_cr wo m es,
their day so far, their clreams, their anger, their toothache, therr f~a:s, thell' moods, etc .
Given the oppommities, they will be able to make important dec1s1ons for ~ems~lves,
to cake resp onsibilicy for their learning and to move forward (al~ough thecr preV1ous
educacional experience may iniciaJJy predispose them to expectmg that you, the
teacher, need to do ali that for them).
N ew learning is constrUcted over the f oundations of our own earli~r leaming. We
malee use of whatever knowledge and experience we already have m order to help us
learn and understand new things. Thus the message taken away from any_one l~sson
is quite different fer dífferent people. The new leaming has been planted m_qwte
different seed beds. This is true both f or your leamers meeting a new tense m class
and for you reading chis paragraph and reviewing it in the light of your own previous
experience and knowledge.

Task3
You are working with this book now - but consider what else is a part of your life at the
moment. How many other things are going through your head while you are reading
these words? Make a note of a few of these things - previous experiences,
knowledge, tt,oughts, feelings, pains, pleasures, worries, etc. When you've done that
selectjust one ítem from your list and consider its involvement with the \earning
process you are currently going through. Is it helping, or is it distracting you?

The two assumptions listed above inform my teaching. They remind me that my
'performance' as a teacher is only one, possibly rninor, factor in the learning that
might occur. They remind me that sorne oftb.e teaching Ido might actually prevent
leaming. They remind me that teaching is, fundamentally, about working with peo1
- and about remaining alive to the many different things that go on when people ha•
their own path through the jungle towards new learning.

•
Although tbis book concentrates mainly on teaching techniques, it is important to
bear in mind that knowledge of subject matter and methodology are, on their own:
insufficient. A great deal of teaching can be done with those two, but 1 would susp
that the total learning would not be as great as it could be. However, an aware and
sensitive teacher, who respects and listens to her students, and who concentrates 1

fmding ways of enabling learning rather than on performing as a teacher, goes a \1

way to crearing cond.itions in which a great deal oflearning is likely to tak.e place.

4
 Task4
In the crassrooni piclvres betow decide what assumpuo
,, lesn,ers underhe the teach1ng approaches. ns ~ 1...__
er1,, ~11,

'w

[C.

•
Fig. 1.4
•
•
••
:9
•:9
, _.
Fig. 1.5
\ ,.

Commentary ■ ■ ■ '·-·-
\ J
Compared with the picture at the beginoing of this section, it is much hardcrbcrc
guess ,vhich person is the teacher. This ~ Ys~ggest a somewhat differemrc~ '•
between teacl1er and students and, poss1bly, different assumptions about\\'bat '•
-
,...,,..
leaming is and how it can be helped. Toe teacher is no longerthecentralfocusoí!li
class. The activities and the speaking are being done by everyone, rathcr~oolyb! '•
the person at the front of the room. Without more evidence, it is difficult rodiaw~
definite conclusions, but my initial impression is that in these picrurestbelcamcn"
',\ •
not simply receiving passed-on wisdom, but are actively involved in th~ own
learning. It seems possible, therefore, that more learning is acrually taking place-1 1
TaskS
1 J
· k back at your ()'#11 1 1
Look back through the pages you have just been read1ng. Loo h rbetore~
answers to Task 1 on p 1. What was your personal ·1mage Of a teac e
. th text ornol:
.,, HCJIW 1
started reading? Has that changed at all in response to .Ide~s ,n haveyoureJect
e ' . ed or
have any new concepts been slotted in with the old? Which ideas
postponed consideration of? 5
't ~
•
 This. secoon
· ~ontmues
· che cliscussion of different teachm 2 n,,.. lund, of"4dln
Thcse lhrcc dc:,c · •
prevtous secoon. It starts with a descripóon of three broa~! s~\~ begun in the wa . nptions of t h
teacher. · Y u.uLerent catego nesof
· y to catcgonzc all tea . cae ~ are, of coune
of cach catcgory th ching undcr lhrce hcaciJ.n 'vcry bro~c!ly pam1cd Thcre is
dcpen~ng on thc ;,:ya:~~ fo; thcrn, or that th:•:~\:chcrs WiU fmd cierne~~
Teacber A : the e xplaioer categ~nz.ation may hcl e e ass and thc ªllt\S of a I twccn cate¡on~
l!Xpcncnccd in your lií~ you to rcllcq on wha1 ltind o~:n Howevcr' üus simple
Man~ teachers know theír subject matter very well, bue have · • You see your<;clf as be. so far and may also hclp yo lching you havc mO"ltly
teaching methoclology. This kmd ofteacher relies main!y o ~ce~ ~owledge of O ing now or in thc futur u lo e aníy wha1 lund of tcachcr
as a way of conveying informaóoo to the srudents Do ~expla1rung' oc 'lecturing• n teaeher trairun cou e.
5ty1 interna! . g rscs I havc come acrou
wit or im~ginaóon this teacher's lessons can be ve~ en~=~ ~ or en~usiasm or becommunag7.of a tea eher is bascd on thc 'cxpl ~)· Pamcipan~ whosc minal
mformaove. The_srudents are listening, perhaps occasionall ~:t~resong ª'?d bo . g ~ tnvolvcr'. Such a movc ma ainer' bu1 who are: kccn to movc to
~k IS mainly geared towards givin oJ _be your aun in readiog this boo\: - and lhc
and perhaps making notes, but are mostly nor being person1 . enng quesnons
challenged. The learners often get practice by d oing inclivid . ~ Lnvol~ed or POmlS that may hclp you reach that !~. ;:orm2t1on, ideas, options and ~tarung
m~thodotogy. Throughout the book ¡ havc scntially, lhcrcforc:, üus is a bookabout
phase of the Jecrure has finished. u exerc1ses after one
s~, qualioes, values and techni ues also me~ to kccp m ll\llld lhc llnponan1
T eacber B: the involv er g¡ve gu1dance and information ~ l asso:tcd wnh lhc 'cnabhng' teachcr and lO
classroom. may I ucncc your role and rc:llltion.~hips in me
This t~cher also ~ows the subject marrer that is being dealt with . .
essenoally the Eoglish Janguage and how it works ) H : (In our case this 1s Task1
· · owever, she 1s also familia 'th
teac hin g methodology; she is able to use appropriate ceachin d r wt
l
procedures and techniques to hclp he r srudencs leam about an b~rganizational Write down the names of sorne people you ha11e been
'Teacher explanacions' may be one of these techniques but inehseur Jecc ~-attenlr.
· t:h h ' case 1t 1s o y one
opoon amo~g many at s e has at her disposal. This teacher is trying to involve the
involver, enable~) best su1ts each one. This may g¡ve y:::::;~
have a list. go through it and decide wh1ch of \he \hreetaugl\t by m\lle past. When you

lmages of teaoh1ng you have been exposed to and inftuence<l by

1
~:saª!:;~t:~~~iner

~tudeot~ acnv:i~ ~nd pues~ great deal of effon into fi.nding appropriate and
wteresong acnVInes that will do this, while still retaining clear control over th Commentary ■ ■ ■
classroom aod what happens in it. e
When I think back on my own experiences ofbeing taught, 11 IS thc teaclung techruqu05
T eacher C : the eoabler th~t l remember 1:ast. l certa1nly remember teachers who made sub1cct maw ~
alivc, through the1r great knowledgc and enthusiasm. ~ l f f l l l l..-"'-lii-.__. t
Essencially teaching is about working with other human beings. T his ceacher knows
about the subjecr matter aod about methodology, but also has an awareness of ho,v ª
PISNMES nd P?i:PS&UYªS lb$ OPEA\Wfufi'IW FO IPC wbe 585WIW21i W ::te
rPu>"EEF,1 ~ ui~i;sili'>Q§:: (1N:w ~•*Nlscd rasr =
individuals and groups are thinking and feeling within her c lass. She actively responds VJii Ule.pq¡ wbn..¡¡¡:ually @1.Ja¡~ 'rnshiafl::e[tbuubila.YFw h■ 1 ,11 eaa', 1
,

ro this in her planning and working m ethods and in building effective working
11'.i~~ ~fe}}¡¡; 'trareif iudens My mcmones oíros lessons are o{
relationships aud a good c lassroom atmosphere. Her own personaliry aod artitude are what l did, rathcr than what he did, of my \eaming rather than lus tcaching.
an active encouragemen c to learning. Teachen; and crainers often comment on the imponance of'rappon' betwccn
This kind of ceacher is con.fident enoug h to share control with the leamers, orto band ccachers and srudencs. Toe problem whh rappon is that, whctcas it clcar\y is
it over encirely co them. D ecisions made in her classroom rnay often be shared or imponant, it is also notorious\y difficult to define or quantify It 0[1.en sccms to be lht
magical ingredient that makcs a teacher a teachcr - or noL l lhinkrappon IS (Q do with
negotiated. In many cases she cakes her lead f rom che studen t.s; seeing herself as
the personal armosphere a teacher creates in thc classroom; e. , say,
someone whose job is to create the c ondicions that enable che srudents to learn for between a room where eo le ar, defcnsiv, and anxious ora .
themselves. Som etimes this will involve her in less tradicional ' teaching'; she rnay the foUowing hst l'vc noted a oumber of factors in
become a 'guide' or a 'counsello r' or a ' resource o~information when needed'. tcacher that might posirively affect the learrung aanospherc lll 3 classroom.
S ometimes when che c lass is wo rlcing well under ns own steam, whe n a lot of
a uto nomo ~s leaming is go ing o n, she may be hardly visible. Toe ctiectivc teacber ...
• really listens to his students;
Methodology People • shows respect;
Subject matter
• gives clear, positivc feedback;
Explainer ✓ • has a good sense ofhwnour;
✓
lnvolver ✓ • is patient;
✓
✓ • knows bis subjcct;
Enabler ✓
• inspires confidcocc;
• uusts people;
~ - 1.6: Toree kinds of teacher

-
Chap1er I WorAing with p~opk •

• empathizes with srudents' problcms; Chapter 2 A

• is weU-organizcd;
• paces lessons wcll; . \
• does not cornplicate things unnecessanly; l
• is enthusíastic and inspires enthusiasm; 3
• can be authoritative without being distant;
• is honest; 1
• is approachable.
. . u ested that there are three core teacher
Carl Rogers, an Amencan psychologiS t, s . gg • g eovironment. These are
characreristics tbat belp to cr~ate an effecnve 1~~another person), empathy (being
respect (a positive and non-¡udgmencal regar tive as iflooking th.rough their eyes)
able to see tbin~s fro~ the other pe~son's fu~~:e~ehhld job titles, roles or masks) .
and authentic1ty (bemg oneselfWJthout g
. . th relationships within the classroom are
Wben a ceacher has these three qualines, e . •on between people rnuch more open
likely to be stronger and deeper and commurucao . . lcin and
and honest. Toe educational climate becomes posiove, forw~d-l?°ics g f .
supportive. Toe learners are a ble to work with less fear of takingdr1slf or dac~;ndin
· tbi che increase their own self-esteem an se -un ers g,
d
cballenges. In omg s Y "bili ~ their own learning themselves
gradually taking more and more of the respon_s1 ty or
rather than assumingthat it is som eone else's Job.
Carl Rogers 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 ~e
che risk ofbeing vulnerable and human and honest. Gaie Houston ( 1990) has wntten
that 'The foundation of rapport is to leam yourself enough that you know what style
you have and when you are being truthful to yourself.'
Rapport is nota skill ora techoique that you can mimic. lt is not something you do to
E l.
other people. l t is you and your moment'--=by-moment relationship , raiother h,1man
beings. Similarly, 'respect' o r 'emp athy' or 'authenticity' are n ot l lbu1es to put on as
you walk into the classroom, not te mporary characteristics that yo~"take on for the
duration of your lesson. You cannC>t roleplay 'respect' - or any offfl~ other qualities.
On the contrary, they are rooted at the level of your genuine intentions.
In o rder to improve the quality of our own relationship in the classroom we do not
need to leam new techniques; we need to look closely at what we really want for our
srudents, how we really feel about them. It is our attitude and intentions rather than
our methodology that we may need to work on. ■

Task2
• ..
'
Write a brief statement outlining your own assessment of yourself as a teacher (or
future teacher). Which kind of teacher do you feel you most resemble? Which would
you most like to be? Which of the factors that help effective learning do you think are
already present in you? Which are not? Which would you like to work on?