A Tale of Many Journeys
The Teacher As Train Manager: Attempting to deal with classes which change all the time.

John Feakings

John Feakings grew up in London and trained as a Primary Teacher but switched to EFL . DOS and Teacher Trainer in Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Estonia and the UK. Currently teaching Business English and Proficiency in Devon.
E-mail johnfeakins@hotmail.com

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The train
The Manager
On-board procedures

a) This is a long distance train stopping at a lot of stations.

b) I am responsible for seeing the passengers off and on. .

c) for checking their tickets and .

d) answering their inquiries, questions, concerns. .

e) I welcome them to their first class compartments where they have roomier and more comfortable quarters (they have paid more after all) and .

f) to the more crowded second class compartments which they share with a broader mix of travellers (either a variety of ages and backgrounds or a noisier, wider and therefore more demanding cross-section of the travelling public). .

g) Length of journey is varied - some passengers (railway companies call them customers) get on at the point of departure and travel all the way to the final destination. .

h) Others get on some way along the route and get off before the last station-stop. .

i) I welcome all and keep them regularly informed of changes of timetable, reasons for hold ups, connections to other routes etc. .

j) Other facilities exist to provide refreshments as a relief from the routine of the journey. .

k) As a well-qualified, .

l) trained and .

m) experienced professional I know the towns and the stations where the train stops, the countryside through which the train travels. .

n) I have an instantly recognisable appearance, voice and manner, authority and expectations. .

o) The language I use for greeting, .

p) checking, .

q) agreeing, .

r) correcting and .

s) explaining, .

t) re-assuring and .

u) thanking is understood by everyone. .

v) Once my job of overseeing the journey with its tasks of providing information, .

w) comfort and safety is over and, .

x) I have finally checked the passengers off the train with all their belongings, .

y) the travellers are free to leave the station and .

z) enter the world beyond the ticket barrier.

a) I learnt French, German and Spanish at school. .

b) I worked as a trainee translator for a year before moving to Germany to work for two years in a language school. .

c) I came back to the U.K. and studied German and trained as a primary school teacher and taught children for 3 years. .

d) I returned to Germany and taught 10-16 year olds in a German state school. And I also taught at the local adult education centre (Volkshochschule). .

f) After two years I got a job as assistant editor with an educational publisher's.Here I worked with a team of British and German editors producing a series of school books. .

g) After a four-week IH course in TEFL a change of direction took me to Saudi Arabia; .

h) My experience included school administration tasks and language laboratory testing on a regular basis. .

i) On my return to the U.K. I worked on the south coast where I taught over 60 different nationalities, all ages and all levels, everything from Business to songs, English through drama to English through photography, examination courses; Bulgarian teachers, Jordanian policemen, an Icelandic textile engineer, a German Banker, Spanish naval officers, an Israeli bus-driver, a Turkish doctor, a Vietnamese sea-captain, and a Ugandan bishop. .

j) I ran residential courses for all ages.I attended seminars and book launches. .

k) I studied the Diploma and obtained an Open University degree. .

l) I helped to organise trips, social events and parties. .

m) I performed songs to the guitar . .

n) For seven years I was a Director of Studies, a Cambridge examiner and a teacher trainer. .

o) In 1994 I became DOS of a large school in Prague. I was responsible for training, and development, hiring and firing. .

p) I taught hotel managers, civil servants, army officers, accountants, publishers, lift engineers, chambermaids, computer experts, people in a chocolate factory and a security firm. .

q) I oversaw the design and production of, and taught on, intensive courses in banks. I also taught exams and children. .

r) For a year in another huge school with over 150 teachers I concentrated on teacher development and teacher training and wrote teaching syllabuses and gave regular advice on Business English and ESP courses. .

s) I took six months off to recharge my batteries. .

t) I spent 18 months back in the classroom in Estonia.I taught all levels, business skills to civil servants, grammar to the head of an insurance company and writing to the press officer of the State Chancellery. .

u) I did the LCCI Further Certificate in the Teaching of Business English. .

v) I taught policemen, an artist, an archaeologist; lawyers, builders and the managers of a cement factory. .

w) I did teacher development sessions for my colleagues at school and for local teachers at conferences in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. .

x) Now possibly at the final destination of my teaching career, I am in Devon.So far I have taught young learners,beginners to advanced adults, German "Abitur" students in groups and individually and Business English. The students come for a week, two weeks, eight weeks, eight months. .

y) German speakers, Arabic speakers, Czechs and Slovaks, Estonians,Latvians and Lithuanians, Koreans and Chinese.Doctors and nurses, teachers and students, accountants and tax advisers, hotel managers and tobacco salesmen. .

z) The ages, the backgrounds, the lists, the timetables, the arrivals and destinations, the journeys are endless.

a) Lead, accompany, follow.

b) Know the country, the places, the habits and customs,
Teaching is about sharing common experience and common knowledge. .

c) Be aware as far as you can of the difficulties, differences and similarities in language and culture. .

d) Show me where you live. I always have maps of The World, Europe, Britain, Now, too, a map of Germany ( I have lots of Germans). .

e) Share your knowledge of Britain with them- Maps, brochures, postcards (numbers, prices, pronunciation, sightseeing recommendations for longer term students). I look at the newspaper briefly everyday (adverts,weather etc) .

f) Involve them in your life -my mother lives here, I went to school here, I have a house here. I like……I do…….My favourite…….I hate…. I never……….

g) do what is useful for those staying 2 weeks and revise regularly what has been learnt by the long-termers. .

h) Use the students already there to help and guide the others, make them feel like competent veterans; rely on them in the class; get them to conduct a quiz round the school, (they soon get to know each other and meet up at the popular haunts (do you know them-even if you don't go often yourself ?) Living in the town helps. .

i) Do what helps individuals and what helps language groups ( practising " th " sounds with Germans may involve telling a Libyan how good he is at the pronunciation -he smiles with satisfaction. .

j) Once you get to know the students - are there any class jokes you can exploit ? My baldness, my grey hair, a student's favourite word, the weather etc. .

k) Teaching from the book is all part of a journey which individuals savour for a long time or enjoy for a short time, relishing the journey,the time together on a train, the moment's company, the relationships, the friendships. .

l) Left alone (if you are late or out for moment) they communicate, however low their level. Whatever their background. .

m) Once you have introduced your working practices - they will imitate it. .

n) if you have a trouble-maker in your class, a misfit, an unsettled or disgruntled student, get the others on your side. A simple question to the unhappy one- is there a problem ? They will go to the office if there really is.If not, don't be angry, be cool,if you give others lots of attention and involve them, the misfit may want to join in, you could always take them aside discreetly and have a quiet word. .

o) Being a beginner with "great pronunciation problems" is not an obstacle, a handicap, a bore or a nuisance. It's what you're paid to embrace and refine. .

p) Be prepared, be flexible be friendly, be on time.

q) Be organised, be confident, be persuasive.

r) Offer solutions.

s) Try different things- don't let yourself get bored .

t) Surprise, intrigue, keep them guessing.

u) Sprinkle your lessons with anecdotes and make them laugh .

v) Change the focus and "switch the sensory channel" (Robert O'Neill) .

w) Be close without being instrusive.

x) Have an informative and attractive room (where possible) .

y) Always have time for the students in the corridor.

z) Begin and end the lesson as old friends

Please check the Humanising Large Classes course at Pilgrims website.
Please check the Skills of Teacher Training course at Pilgrims website.