{"id":6447,"date":"2018-05-27T08:25:44","date_gmt":"2018-05-27T08:25:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/blog\/?p=6447"},"modified":"2018-05-27T08:25:44","modified_gmt":"2018-05-27T08:25:44","slug":"ideas-and-emotions-finding-a-space-for-sharing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/blog\/2018\/05\/27\/ideas-and-emotions-finding-a-space-for-sharing\/","title":{"rendered":"Ideas and emotions: Finding a space for sharing"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\"StewartIdeas and emotions: Finding a space for sharing<\/h3>\n

by Stewart Gray.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

If you ask me, I\u2019ll tell you: the other teachers working at my current school are seasoned professionals. I believe this is true, but I must admit, I\u2019ve intuited their professionalism from somewhat limited observations and interactions. The unfortunate reality is that the other teachers at my school teach the same chapters of the same books as I do in the classrooms next to mine, and I have\u00a0no idea<\/i>\u00a0what they do in their classes. How do they structure their lessons? Do they have any favorite activities? You\u2019d have to ask them. I haven\u2019t.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve heard teaching described as the \u201cegg-carton profession,\u201d meaning each teacher works alone in their own niche unaware of the doings of others and not sharing what they themselves are doing. Often enough, this description has been about right for my own teaching. In retrospect, I\u2019m horrified by the number of hours I\u2019ve sat pondering a lesson plan in a lonely agony when someone else agonizing over the same material at the same time was a text message away.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s not that my colleagues and I would necessarily refuse to discuss teaching practice with each other. It\u2019s rather that, mostly, we just don\u2019t. Why not? Well, on the one hand, I have to acknowledge the role of my own shyness \u2013 I\u2019m sure I\u2019m not the only one who finds it hard to reach out. On the other hand, we aren\u2019t encouraged to discuss. At no point in the teaching semester does our employer invite us to share ideas. Indeed, I\u2019ve worked at a few schools, but so far never at one that provided\u00a0a dedicated space\u00a0for teachers to express themselves, to advise and support each other. It\u2019s a shame, really, because whenever I\u00a0have found<\/i>\u00a0such a space outside of work, I\u2019ve profited tremendously by it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Ideas over coffee<\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A good example of a space I\u2019ve found is the Seoul reflective practice group \u2013 a small band of teachers that meets on a monthly basis. What\u2019s wonderful about this group is that it exists for the express purpose of sharing. It represents a private space to hash out our individual professional concerns together, over coffee. We listen to each other and we share our ideas. And it\u2019s really helpful! Over the past few years, my teaching has been shaped and reshaped by discussions I\u2019ve had in those meetings.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I recall, for example, talking with one of the group\u2019s regular attendees, Brian, about difficulties I was having in teaching pronunciation. Brian possesses certain\u00a0marvellous\u00a0qualities: he\u2019ll listen attentively to what you have to say, take it all in, then offer his considerable wisdom in a non-forceful manner.* On this occasion, he listened as I\u00a0vocalised\u00a0my vexation. I was struggling to come up with any sort of novel, engaging ways to approach pronunciation practice in my classes. As far as I could see, I\u2019d tried everything. Brian calmly absorbed my words and then said, \u201cYou know, what I do in my class is I get my students to practice reciting dialogues from short, funny commercials.\u201d And just like that, with that one idea, Brian kick-started a complete rethink of the way I taught pronunciation. It was a good idea. It was a simple idea. I never would have thought of it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

*When it comes to reflective practice, people like Brian are brilliant \u2013 find them, if you haven\u2019t already.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Journaling together online, emotionally<\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For sure, in-person discussion groups can be great. However, they aren\u2019t always possible. Some people might have (or be able to find) compatriots willing to discuss teaching, but they live too far away to meet regularly. For people in such a position, I have a recommendation: create a shared, online Google document in which you and others can all write together. Such a document can be a shared teaching journal, in which everyone can express themselves and offer help to others. This combines the benefits of a private, purposeful, interactive discussion space with the bonus of being largely free of geographic constraints.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I kept such a shared journal once myself with two friends, both teachers, over a period of several months. Each of us would open the journal document each week and write about our \u201ccritical incidents\u201d for the week. Naturally, these stand-out incidents would often be challenging and distressing experiences \u2013 a conflict with students, feelings of failure at a lesson gone badly, frustration with management, and the like. I remember once after a particularly difficult week, I found myself pouring anxiety out into the journal. I had become angry in class, and though I had tried to hide it, I was certain the students had noticed. I wrote of my crushing embarrassment \u2013 I felt painfully unprofessional.\u00a0And how did my two friends respond to my anxious writings?\u00a0They wrote back telling me that they understood; that they\u2019d had the same feelings and faced similar situations in their practice; and that I shouldn\u2019t be too hard on myself. Reading their comments, I immediately felt profoundly relieved. I felt supported, not alone. Their empathy, it turns out, was powerful stuff, and it was just what I needed.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The need for sharing<\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As teachers, we all face challenges. Some of those challenges are practical and might be tackled with some timely advice and inspiration from a peer. Other challenges are emotional. We may experience frustration, self-doubt, fear, and embarrassment in the course of our practice. In such cases, caring responses might be just the remedy. Whatever the nature of the issues at hand, talking things out with other teachers can be helpful and healthy. The alternative, the \u201cegg carton\u201d approach, may mean struggling alone and suffering in silence. It would be lovely if more employers would take it on themselves to provide a space for teachers to talk, share, and support each other. In the meantime, to teachers, I recommend finding or creating such a space wherever, however possible.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ideas and emotions: Finding a space for sharing by Stewart Gray.   If you ask me, I\u2019ll tell you: the other teachers working at my current school are seasoned professionals. I believe this is true, but I must admit, I\u2019ve intuited their professionalism from somewhat limited observations and interactions. The unfortunate reality is that the … Continue reading Ideas and emotions: Finding a space for sharing<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":97,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[124],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6447","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-teachers-talking-to-teachers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6447","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/97"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6447"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6447\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6447"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6447"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6447"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}