“In many parts of the world, it’s still the case that anyone who speaks English as a native can get a job teaching the language, despite the efforts of professional organizations like TESOL and university departments of Applied Linguistics. I hope that the chapters so far will have convinced you that this is almost as daft as employing someone as a human biology teacher because they have a healthy working body.”
Now that “Paul Lowe” and “Windsor TEFL” are so many places on the web he can hardly have time to write threatening emails to them all let alone sue them, I can strike up my pipe, put on my tweed jacket with the leather elbow patches, gaze at my navel and get back to considering “What is the meaning of TEFL?”
In todays episode, Uncle Alex will consider “Why don’t my students (especially the adults) pull their socks up and do their homework?” It could be because they are trying to drive me to such fits of disbeliving fury that I keel over from a heart attack and they get a teacher who isn’t so keen. It could be because they are M* and hoping I will introduce corporal punishment. Alternatively, it could be because:
1. It’s boring
2. They don’t understand the instructions/ what to do
3. It’s too difficult
4. It’s too easy
5. They could understand the language, but couldn’t think of any ideas (e.g. arguments for and against or a storyline)
6. It’s not their priority, e.g. because it doesn’t involve speaking
7. They just forgot/ forgot exactly what they had to do
8. They don’t find time/ have bad time management
9. It’s a minor rebellion
10. They don’t see the point/ don’t think it will improve their English
11. Doing homework seems childish
12. They lack a place where they can do it in peace and quiet
13. They lack equipment (e.g. a CD player)
14. They have their own self-study materials or habits which they prefer
And here’s what you can do about it/ do about some of those points:
“alex,
read your fantastic blog on tefl.net. brilliant stuff and i wondered if you had any advice on setting up a blog like yours..
Mike Long
S. Korea” (more…)
‘to me, “distance learning” means an unusually long classroom’
With my recent troubles with Mr Paul Lowe (see below), there were moments when I wondered who I or other troubled TEFLers could turn to for help. The UK government aren’t interested unless it touches on immigration, and the TEFL celebs seem to think a new warmer is more important than job security. It seems our only hope is investigative journalism. And it is being done, and being done well- by the EL Gazette. I don’t know how a trade journal became our last line of defense (I can’t imagine Double Glazing Monthly does many exposes), but I am very glad they have at least partly taken on that role.
Meanwhile, what has everyone’s favourite you-couldn’t-be-as-radical-as-us-if-you-tried left wing “quality paper” The Guardian been up to? (more…)
“In spite of the fact that these recent arrivals spoke ‘almost no English,’ Holly noted emphatically that she ‘was NOT teaching these students English. We focused on phonics.’”
You’ll need to click on this one quick, because BBC radio programmes are usually only available for a week, but a really nice little programme on “Teacher Flower“, an early 1980s Chinese English language television programme.
Reminds me a lot of a fabulous (and fabulously light) book I am reading at the mo’, Foreign Babes in Beijing.
I would be grateful if you could help me and TEFLers everywhere by sparing ten minutes to read this and do one of the actions suggested below
Some background: 2 weeks ago a certain Paul Lowe of Windsor Schools/Windsor TEFL came out of nowhere and into my life by threatening to sue me and the owner of the site my blog,TEFLtastic, is on. Obviously boosted by the success this effortless method had in shutting down Sandy McManus’s TEFLtrade blog and Wally Windsor’s site, he didn’t even think it was worth spending a few minutes checking what TEFLtastic had to say about him before firing off a threatening email. I can say that with full confidence because before I reprinted his email mentioning legal action there was not one reference to Paul Lowe or Windsor Schools on my blog.
So, why should you care? (more…)
Thanks to all the people who have supported me in my fight (and the losing fights of Sandy McManus at TEFLtrade and Wally Windsor) against the vague threats and other bullying tactics of Mr Paul Lowe of Windsor Schools/ Windsor TEFL. The best way to tackle this man until he learns some basic manners seems to be to make sure that threatening legal action for no reason is the surest way to ensure that all the top Google searches for “Paul Lowe” and “Windsor Schools/Windsor TEFL” continue to be from victims of his unpleasant manner and worse. It will also make sure that the voices that are heard are those of his teachers, trainees and students rather than himself.
To achieve that I humbly ask anyone who has a blog- TEFL related or otherwise, even just your Facebook page, a specially started blog,or MSN profile- to give Paul Lowe and his school a mention. If you don’t have time to write an entry explaining your feelings about this person, copying and pasting this message will do the job just fine. Just pasting this into an email and sending it to everyone you know in TEFL would also be a great help.
If you know as little about his business as I do, a few words about him threatening to sue before there was any mention of him on TEFLtastic blog should suffice, and quoting his own words should show his personality better than our comments ever could (see Letter from a Reader post below for some prime examples). When he offers a full apology for his threats etc I will be more than happy to let him have his say on TEFLtastic.
Thanks in advance for any help you can offer
Alex
You really do learn new stuff in TEFL all the time. Only a week ago I wrote an article on The Advantages and Disadvantages of Setting Up a TEFL Course (something I did twice back when I was ambitious), and it never occured to me that one of the disadvantages might be having to spend hours on the internet every day defending your reputation until it drives you nuts (see recent comments on the right for an example).
Should that not have put you off, I have written another one on How to Set Up a TEFL Certificate Course as well.