Return of the peripatetic preceptor and the languid language learners

@wwaycorrigan

[Listen to an audio version of this blog entry here.]

As the old adage goes, 'never say never.'

So while I have let it be known that over the years I've grown quite tired of freelance English teaching since I first started such work in 2012, I don't think I actually ever said that I would never return to it.

A fresher-faced Wrong Way, um, spreading knowledge back in 2012. 

Face time

Nonetheless, having, since 2018, largely left behind the travelling teacher gig — travelling from class to class across Bogotá that is, and usually spending more time getting to classes than giving them — the thoughts of going back to that lifestyle are anathema to me.

OK, those in the Teaching-English-as-a-foreign-language (Tefl) industry will point to the fact that the pandemic has largely eliminated the need for the peripatetic preceptor. Online sessions now appear to have become the norm.

From the perspective of a teacher with multiple clients/students in different companies — the market I'm specifically referring to here — why rush around Bogotá or wherever when classes can be conducted from a fixed point, staring into a computer screen?

'I want virtual sessions to end as soon as they begin.'

Virtual classes allow for far more teaching time as there's no travel involved. With that, potentially anyway, there's more scope to earn money.

I, however, prefer the face-to-face approach. I've found giving lessons over the internet to be more draining than the traditional method. I generally want virtual sessions to end as soon as they begin. (A strong dislike of working from home — I've yet to have accommodation in Bogotá that I'd truly call my "home" — does play a part in this mindset.)

Call me, um, old-school if you like, but I enjoy being able to stand up, walk around the class, nay meeting room, and make use of a whiteboard.

Putting all that together, and barring a complete collapse in my personal finances, the only way I could return with a degree of enthusiasm to teaching English is with a well-remunerated, fixed-term, part-time deal (Wrong Way does need time to nourish his own brand), preferably with a reputable company.

That is to say, an arrangement where a price for the service is agreed on before commencement. The pay-per-class model, particularly when it's the student forking out and not his/her company, is usually not a steady source of income.

'Qualification is a result, education a process.'

This, what I consider a more attractive teaching proposition — in-person, relatively well-paid and "guaranteed" by a company — is what I've recently signed up to. The first payment date has yet to pass, so until the money is firmly in my account I'll hold off on congratulating myself for my negotiating skills.

Yet, somewhat nervously, I have already started. So after over four years, I'm back giving in-person classes to business professionals.

The difference now is that it's mainly on my terms. There's no intermediary institute or the like cashing in on my endeavours. (To repeat, the first payment is pending, so I write cautiously here.)

Now, lest I be accused of adopting nothing more than mercenary methods for work that requires plenty of enthusiasm and passion, not to mention know-how, I'm not merely in it for the money, just going through the motions.

For one, it's a 20-kilometre round-trip from my apartment to the office. That's a bit outside my comfortable walking zone, especially when one has to lug a laptop around. Once I've received the first payment, the plan is to buy a decent bike. (I do have access to one but it's not the most efficient of two-wheelers. Put it this way, it doesn't entice one to ride it.)

The new part-time office. It's due to pay off a bit better that the panadería.

Logistics aside, the fact that two of the three students are little better than beginners means these are far from my favoured form of classes. Moreover, that one of those two has been trying — with little success, evidently — to learn English for years, gives an idea of the task at hand.

Educational excellence

In a more general sense, it does beg the question, are some people just ill-equipped to learn a foreign language? Most cognitive experts would answer that in the negative.

It isn't that there are those who simply can't acquire another tongue because their brains are "wired differently". In many instances, it comes down to the learner's desire. If there is a real need then most likely he/she will learn. Necessity is the mother of invention, after all.

For sure, teachers — or as I like to call them, facilitators/guides — play an important role in this, too. They have to know their "brief" for starters.

Creating the right pedagogical environment and following a method that best suits the student's learning capacities are other factors. One-to-one instruction allows for greater flexibility for both of these compared to classes in big groups.

For me, that's the key. Flexibility. What works for one student may not work for another. I like to think that I do have this adaptability.

I do, however, sometimes receive criticism from qualified English teachers because I'm not 'a real one.' My retort: What is a "real" teacher?

In my school-going days, I had numerous "qualified" teachers who appeared quite inept at imparting the knowledge that they had learned. They certainly weren't figures of inspiration.

Again, one does have to know the nuts and bolts of the subject in question before he/she can teach it but simply having this knowledge doesn't mean one can easily pass it on to others. Not all gifted sports stars go on to become great coaches, after all.

This is a danger with qualifications and the weight they often carry. One feels one has "made it", so to put it, on receiving the piece of paper to hang on the wall.

Yet, qualification is a result, education a process. Learning, after all, only ends at death.
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The money tongue

“Those who can do, those who can’t teach.” Needless to say, that’s quite an arrogant, dismissive saying for all those honest, hard-working teachers who enter the profession, not as a fall-back, but for a genuine love of teaching. 

It’s also probably a safe bet that the person who first uttered those words never engaged in teaching him/herself. Just because you might be skilled at something does not necessarily mean you can pass those same skills on to others. 

Getting somebody to learn something generally requires completely different attributes than doing it yourself. As we often see, many of the best sports players don’t make good coaches. Roy Keane could tell you all about that, for one.

'What? You're saying I can't teach?'

 This whole teaching world was something that never really interested us, to be honest. But needs must and all that, so when you’re in a country – a continent even – where there is a massive, by and large misplaced demand for native English speakers to teach the language, it would be foolish not to ‘ride the wave’, for a time at least. Easy money, relatively speaking.

 

Not only that but since we’ve got into it, it has been pretty enjoyable. Being a facilitator for those who really want to learn (teaching English to business professionals is our primary work) is much different, we imagine, from teaching school kids, many of whom feel they’re in your company by force. 

Plus, when you get clients who have a fairly high level of English already and are just looking to brush up or have a regular conversation, it almost doesn’t seem like work – bar the early morning starts that is. 

In fact, with private students it can even become a little uncomfortable – sitting down having a loosely structured chat for about two hours or whatever and then taking their money at the end. 

So while there’s potentially more loot to be made directly from private tuition, going through a company/institute hides the mercenary element to all of this somewhat.

'Help! I said I didn't want to teach kids!'

Other advantages of teaching through a company or a school/university – the latter being even better for stability, pay and regular classes, if that’s your want – is that they will usually provide you with the material and obviously source the students/clients for you. 

Now, while having the teaching material provided may not be seen as a major bonus for many (although, we do like it), having the students sourced for you can take a lot of hassle and frustration out of your life. 

We have dipped our toes into the world of private lessons but getting consistent students is a problem. 

Mention that you teach English to many Colombians and they’ll practically jump all over you wanting to take classes. 

However, as is the case in most areas of life here, promises don’t count for much. So much so that we’re considering charging a consultation fee to anyone who even just casually broaches the idea of us teaching them. In this business, we can’t allow talk to be cheap. 

Having said that, and at the risk of writing ourselves out of work, we do believe, as mentioned in passing above, that the demand for native English speakers from many Colombians is, at times, misplaced. 

An unqualified native teacher is perhaps – this is, of course, all case dependent – not the best person to explain all the various rules of the language. 

For such types, speaking their native tongue comes naturally. 

So when faced with questions as to why we say things one way over another, the ‘official’ terminology or whatever, a native speaker is often dumbstruck. In such scenarios, a non-native teacher may be better equipped to explain the idiosyncrasies of the tongue in question. 

Essential English — no need or time for 'manure' talk.

Put it this way, if you decided to start taking lessons in Mandarin, it might be more prudent to initially have a teacher from your own country who never spoke the language and now speaks it well. 

He/she is generally best placed to know the potential pitfalls in learning and what the most confusing aspects of the language are – at least in the initial stages.

From our own perspective, however, we must be doing something right in this English teaching game – we still seem to be wanted anyway. 

At times, though, we feel we could – should even – be doing more and teaching less.