Pre-Teaching experiences with Language Teachers

– Strong role models at secondary school: my Latin teacher and all of my French teachers

– NNFS teacher encouraged me to carry our my third year (of a four year ‘sandwich’ degree) industry placement in Paris.

Pre-Teaching experience with TEFL

– Weekend TEFL taster: the young, back backers didn’t seem to be serious about teaching. I decided this was not for me…

– CELTA training: a decade later, I am attracted by the apparent renewed professionalism

Teaching experience in China

– in school: novice teacher identity, unprepared for dealing with managements decisions, parents expectations, students lack of creativity and imagination and lack of resources

– outside of school: conflicting identity as foreigner (social) foreigner-teacher (economic) foreign expert (political)

– among peers: lower ranking, not at an international brand (Wall St, English First or Disney English), nor a university, nor an international school.