[etni] Re: Native Speaker Teacher
- From: "Bari Nirenberg" <nirenber@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <deegee@xxxxxxxxxxxx>, <etni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 22 Jul 2004 10:32:26 +0200
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> The English head of department of the school where I will be
> teaching next year told me that she wanted a teacher for the
> 'Fast Track' (mainly Russian olim) classes. Their English is so
> good they pick mistakes and publicly correct them.
I think maybe these kids need to be taught manners and respect. I had a kid
laugh at something I said in Hebrew this past year and although I rarely
make mistakes in Hebrew and this wasn't a serious (or funny) one, I was very
insulted and furious. Believe me -- I made sure that it wouldn't happen
again.
> Also, although that is rarely acknowledged, the native speaker
> becomes a valuable school resource for the other teachers.
I believe this as well, although on several occasions, I've been told by
non-native speakers that I'm wrong about a particular word or phrase.
Fortunately, I'm not the only native speaker on our staff ;-)
>
> I sincerely hope that being a Native Speaker gives me some sort
> of edge in a tight job market. It's not the only factor in
> whether I am a 'good' teacher or not but I find it hard to accept
> that it doesn't give me some kind of advantage in the classroom.
No, it definitely isn't a measure of how good a teacher you are and, in
fact, I believe that at least some native speakers have one disadvantage in
the classroom: Most of us come from places where classroom discipline is
much stricter, classes are smaller and students are more respectful.
Getting used to the reality of the Israeli classroom can be much more
difficult for a teacher who didn't actually go to school in Israel. For
this reason, I've seen native speakers who might have made wonderful
teachers if they had been able to control a class. I think maybe in my
first year of teaching, I was one of them! (I don't know if I'm a
"wonderful teacher" now, but I've figured out how to deal with 40 rowdy
Israeli teenagers, at least most of the time).
>
> Let's not be too politically correct. Schools ask for experienced
> teachers. They ask for Native speakers. They frequently take what
> they can get, particularly away from the center.
Another good point. Maybe some non-native speakers in the Jerusalem area
feel threatened by the fact that some schools prefer native speaker
teachers -- I don't know. Most of my colleagues down here in the Negev are
probably laughing at this entire thread, as we native speakers are a
definite minority here and we're pretty hard to come by!
Bari
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