Teach English in Zongxi Zhen - Ankang Shi

Teaching a lifelong process involving new techniques and flexibility to facilitate learning. A teacher is a nation builder (- Socrates) and is remembered by the footprints and fingerprints of knowledge he leaves in the mind of those he taught (-Atud ). It is an activity that warrants the exchange and circulation of ideas between the parents (1st teacher), the environment (2nd teacher) and the educator (main teacher) who directs the flow of these ideas by introducing techniques that awakens curiosity in the guise to guide the learners towards a successful career. Teaching for the past years in different schools, teaching students from different socio-cultural backgrounds, with diverse philosophies about learning; has empowered me with a high sense of humility, adaptability and flexibility. The respect for work ethics as well, has been the key to cultivating and maintaining a strong teacher-student, teacher-parent and teacher-teacher relationship that I have kept through out the years. My personal experience as a teacher might not differ from what other teachers have had, but the fact that I taught students of different ages as well as different levels makes me standout from others. In Cameroon, I thought social studies for three years. Teaching at that time was not so challenging as students depended solely on the teacher for knowledge. The only challenge was to read widely and have a deep mastery of the subject matter so that students can feel the reality of the lesson. Only the very smart students would notice if the teacher has made an error. Students were being taught in accordance with the national examination curriculum. Hence we say taught “to pass’ and “not to know.” its is then the personal initiative of the students to request for additional know should the students feels a sense of specialization in that domain. In Thailand, I taught English as a Second Language (ESL). The challenges were just too numerous to count. Unlike in Cameroon where students looked up to the teacher as a “semi god” in Thailand, especially my first school, its was the direct opposite. Students didn’t even care if I was there or not. They had a fulfilled mindset, like they’ve got all they needed and so English was just a waste of time. They have never thought of going to another country or even talking to an English speaking foreigner. My flexibility in method of teaching was a way of new syllabus design. I embarked on a research on what they like best and to use those things to be able to get their attention The good of it was that, I was instructed to teach only Conversational English (Situational conversation). Though it took me quite a lot of time to get them interested in English, I was happy my new technique produced great results. I was moved to another school, where I simply adopted what I had learned from the previous position. In this new school, I taught a special English Program and I felt really accomplished. In Japan, I’m currently teaching as ALT (Assistant Language Teacher). This position is near to doing nothing as it it so relaxed. The challenge here is that it turns out to be very boring as ALT’s are simply considered as “human tape recorders” Reading practice, pronunciation practice and sometimes correcting scripts are the main tasks here. Having gathered a lot of experiences from other schools and countries, I was hopping to be in full control of my lesson and my students this time but it seems untrue. I’m currently working as ALT and taking ITTT online Masters Course for upgrade so that I can move up to a better position in the near future. Generally speaking, I might not have had sufficient experience to take home given the fact that I’m only seven years old into the profession; the one thing that is certain is that, I have taught at different levels (kindergarten, elementary, Junior High School and High School), across different cultures (Japanese, Thai and Cameroonian) as well as learners from different upbringings (wealthy and underprivileged).