Humanising Language Teaching
Year 4; Issue 3; May 02

Trading Places – A student trains his teacher

by Martin Spiller and Pete Gibson

( This article is republished from the EF Gazette, May 2002, with their kind permission)

After 27 years as a school teacher in Bristol, Martin Spiller took a sabbatical year and spent the first five weeks of his new life taking the Trinity certificate at The Language Project in Bristol, only to find himself being taught by a former pupil. Pete Gibson, now 28, had meanwhile got his degree, travelled and taught in Greece, and returned to take up work as an EFL teacher and teacher trainer. On the first day of the Trinity course, he recognised one of the faces, and shortly after found himself teaching his teacher.

Pete :

I can honestly say that in terms of sheer pressure the first lesson with Martin – Mr Spiller to you please – was the most intense of my teaching career. That's not an exaggeration, partly because of my memories of him as a teacher, but also because it was a mere three minutes before the first session that my former English teacher strode into the staffroom to drop his bombshell. I had no idea he was about to be my student. As Martin returned to the training room I took a few deep breaths and I realised that I was a couple of stages short of a fully prepared lesson. This was NOT the time to wing it! Somehow, and to the sound of some rather imaginative swearing, I managed to concentrate on the task in hand and pulled the lesson – and myself – together. Actually I thought it went remarkably well, probably because I hadn't been so focused on anything for a long time.

As the course went on, I did occasionally find myself secretly planning to put chewing gum on his seat, but then I'd reflect that teachers aren't supposed to do that! I suppose the really weird times were when there was a question about grammar and Martin would answer, in a very comprehensive way, then usually explain to the rest of the group as well. This was fine and helpful, but I'd find myself nodding along in understanding with the rest of the group and the 'I'm the teacher/you're the student' distinction would warp once again.

I genuinely remember Martin – Mr Spiller – as a good teacher; strict, but someone who got work done. Students were usually well-behaved because of this, and perhaps also on account of the fact that he is a large and solid man even the most troublesome students would think twice about crossing.

But that aside, I think he did have a real passion for English, which would rub off on the students. My clearest memory is of studying 'The Seven Ages of Man' by Shakespeare. Our homework was to write 'The Seven Ages of Woman' and I was then asked to read mine out to the class. I can still remember feeling proud of what I'd done and I'm sure the experience has fuelled my love of English ever since.

Undoubtedly the thing I found hardest and strangest was having to observe Martin teach, then give feedback on how he was getting on and where he was going wrong.

Picture the scene with one of your old English teachers and you might get an idea of how I felt. Also, as luck would have it, I was randomly chosen to be his first observer, the one thing I had prayed would not happen. Of course it went fine, but it was still very disconcerting to praise, criticise and give pointers to my former teacher, who now has as many years' teaching experience as I have on this planet.

By the way, he passed!

Martin:

It wasn't strange bumping into a former pupil – it happens all the time if you stay in the same city for 27 years – though this was a working relationship for six weeks' intensive Tefl training so I couldn't just nod and move on to the cheese counter. Pete, however, is much less used to this sort of thing and did look a bit shocked. We each struggled for a moment with names, but soon I found I could also name his sisters and even his mother. Pete the pupil was a quiet conscientious lad – and yes, he did a nice job of the Shakespeare! Being taught by him was fine for me, though it must have been pretty weird for him. I've had ex-pupils adjust my car's brakes, so this felt quite safe. I take absolutely no credit for the fact that he turned out to be a patient thorough teacher and teacher trainer.

I admit it was tricky having Pete observe my lessons. He has kept tactfully quiet about the fact that the EFL lessons he observed were not brilliantly successful. I gained low pass marks, floundering through a simple elementary lesson with assorted Koreans and Italians. I forgot everything we'd been told about concept-checking and eliciting target language; I was embarrassed to find that my years of experience were little help.

Pete was kind and encouraging, but it must have been fascinating to watch me mess up something he could do so professionally.

For me the hardest thing was having to unlearn so much about how to teach; I coped with the grammar and phonology, and I found advanced lessons similar to sixth-form teaching, but EFL methodology was very different. I found myself marked down, and not just by Pete, for practices I've used successfully for years in the classroom. It would be interesting to see a teacher from, say, a very multicultural school in Tower Hamlets, used to pupils from 20 different home languages, in the same situation. That's a good idea for an exchange visit.

The most crushing and valuable sessions were not the teaching practice, though. In the Japanese lessons, taught by a native speaker, I found myself utterly humbled, speechless, unable to retain the simplest words. I have good French and a smattering of other European languages, but I was lost here. Age (almost 50) may be a factor but as a reminder of what EFL beginners feel like the experience was invaluable. I took away a lot from the experience, including those new classroom skills. Since the course, I've done supply work in school and successfully transferred techniques; a week's EFL would be hugely valuable for any mainstream English teacher. Above all, though, I now know how hard it can be to learn, and what a crazy language English is.

Pete, it was a pleasure being taught by you. So long, and thanks for all the phonemes.