The English Teachers

John Shaw (JS)

JS: I work at a language school in Moscow. People can probably work out where.

RFDG: Why did you choose this one?

JS: It’s where I started and I’ve developed here. Every year I get more and more responsibility and I feel like I’m part of the project. I also work at a summer camp and that’s my main project. I’ve a wide variety of things that I do and I still feel like I’m developing here.

RFDG: How long have you been here?

JS: Six years.

RFDG: But you didn’t initially become involved in having greater responsibility.

JS: No. That’s happened in the last two or three years.

RFDG: What influenced that?

JS: When I started my career I don’t think I was particularly good. It took me a long time to develop. I took plenty of courses when I started but I needed that experience. I guess I’m the kind of person who needs a bit of time to adapt, but once I do I think I do a pretty good job. The increase in responsibility came slowly and it suited me. I feel fine about it.

RFDG: Why do you keep working where you do?

JS: Like I said earlier, I feel like I’m part of things and that I’m developing. The school definitely puts an emphasis on development as a teacher and as a manager.

RFDG: How have you developed?

JS: I understand methodology a lot better now and my language awareness has increased a lot. Also managerial responsibility. I’m learning how to deal with people. I’ve always been kind and considerate, but I’ve learned how to motivate people and show leadership.

RFDG: Has it always been possible to be kind and considerate to people?

He sighs like someone whose kindness and consideration may have been tested by reality.

JS: I think it’s always possible, but it’s not always the most effective way of working with people. You always need to try, but it doesn’t always work with everyone. Sometimes people push their luck or take it as weakness and you need to remain polite and calm. But you need to tell people that they have responsibilities and to keep them.

RFDG: Is that a feature of working in Russia?

JS: No, I think that’s a feature of life. No matter how kind and non-confrontational you are, you need to stand up for yourself and complete your duties. If you’re a manager you need to fulfil what’s expected and keep people in line to get the best from them.

RFDG: Why is that the best description of being a manager?

JS: It’s probably not the best one, it’s just one aspect of it. The main role is to motivate and guide people, but it’s a key part of the contract to meet targets and part of that is up to you and part of that is up to them. Basically, you have to be as supportive and helpful as possible, but there’s another side where you have to remind people that they have a responsibility to meet their targets, too. And even though you’ll help, they signed a contract to meet that responsibility.

RFDG: How much has your execution of your duties influenced your personal beliefs about how things should work, and how things are described in contracts, etc?

JS: I think in many ways they are both compatible, but if something was really against my beliefs I wouldn’t sign to begin with. So, my beliefs are probably the primary thing. I just wouldn’t sign something where I felt uncomfortable about doing something.

RFDG: Could you summarise your beliefs about work?

JS: First, it’s important to help people achieve what they want to achieve while at the same time helping the company achieve its aims. To give advice, to always be able to listen. It’s just to try and meet a common goal with the employee and the company at the same time.

RFDG: What are the good things about where you work?

JS: One of the best things is that the school trusts the teacher a lot. They aren’t tied to any coursebook or anything very strict. There is a pacing schedule* but the teacher has the freedom to use their judgment and the student’s needs and personality to execute the course. Also, there’s a wide variety of classes. There’s very young learners, adults, exams, business, summer camp, so there’s a big set of opportunities to develop and try new things. It’s not always successful, but it’s great for development.

*Note: pacing schedules map out what pages from certain textbooks should be covered per lesson. Some pacings are more flexible than others and teachers can be permitted to choose materials that best meet the needs of their students.

RFDG: Do other places have less academic freedom?

JS: I’ve heard other schools have their own coursebook and the teachers aren’t allowed to supplement. There’s a wide variety of schools. Some schools just want a native speaker and they can do what they like but that’s not really teaching, that’s more like being a babysitter. Out of the “real” schools I think some will have a similar level of freedom, others are stricter. Regarding observations, new teachers here are observed at least three times a year. After that you’re given one formal observation and as long as there are no complaints you’re free to teach how you like and try out new ideas. There are lots of seminars and workshops to try out these new ideas, so I’d say here is definitely a place you can develop.

RFDG: Are there any bad things about where you work?

JS: As a teacher, maybe the size of the company can lead to difficulties. There are so many locations and employees that communication can get lost down the lines. So, sometimes different managers are on different levels, projects sometimes work in some schools and not in others. Communication is the most difficult thing as a teacher.

RFDG: How do you compensate for that?

JS: I try to keep in contact with as many managers from as many different schools and areas as possible so I have an idea of what’s going on in different parts of the school. Not just the teaching side, but also the other administrative side. That helps me have a wider understanding of the company, even though it’s big. And it helps with teaching as well because I know what’s going on in the background.

RFDG: Your status as a manager might give you some privileges. Is the same approach possible for other teachers?

JS: It’s harder, but if they have a good manager that manager would pass on the information and always be there to support them. They are kind of dependent on how active and proactive their manager is.

RFDG: On balance, do most people have access to good managers?

JS: I think yes. Every manager has strengths and weaknesses, and that’s where I come back to the biggest issue: the size of the company. Maybe one mentee has certain needs and their manager can’t meet them because they specialise in something else. And the bigger the company is, the greater the chance of someone falling through the cracks.

RFDG: What advice would you give to teachers who are just starting to teach?

JS: My first piece of advice would be to research the school very well, especially what times the school teaches at because you have to organise your work-life balance. Secondly, does your school offer any development? Are there opportunities for promotion or transfers? It really depends on your purpose for becoming an English teacher.

Do you want to travel or become a career teacher? So, it comes back to research. Does the school meet your needs? And the third one is to treat it like it’s a “real” job. If you come in with the attitude that it’s just a job, basically you’re likely to fail because it is a demanding job and it has the potential to lead into many areas of education like material design, teaching at state schools… So, really treat it like a real job and it can lead to many opportunities.

RFDG: What would improve your workplace?

JS: I guess I’d go back to better communication. That’s always going to be the issue. The bigger the school, the harder it is to keep everybody on the same wavelength. I’m not sure how to achieve that, but personally I try my best to talk to as many people as possible and keep them informed of my decisions and my plans.

I think if everyone took a similar tack communication would improve, but again it’s not just the teaching side it’s all departments. Sometimes there is a communication barrier between different departments. I’m lucky in that I can speak Russian. They don’t understand me at Starbucks, but I can speak to everyone at the school I work at. So, yeah, overcoming the language barrier and finding enough time to keep in touch with everybody.

*

Ninha (N)

N: It’s a branch of an international company. We’re a language school with many departments doing many different things, which is what makes it interesting for me because I can be involved in a lot of different things. I guess every year has a specific focus, so I’m always trying something new.

RFDG: Are there other good things?

N: There is never a boring day, which is sometimes good and sometimes not. Since I came here I have developed a lot in many different areas which wouldn’t have been possible in many other places. Schools are smaller and more specialised elsewhere. I got my current job almost by accident.

I was thinking about what to do but I didn’t want to leave and there was a job opening so I applied. It was funny because it’s teacher training in some ways, which I never thought I’d do because I hate being in front of people. I’m an introvert. I could never have imagined doing what I do now. But once my first presentation was done, I realised that I survived and actually I quite like it and I’m good at it.

RFDG: What about the bad things?

She sighs in a manner similar to John. Another person who has had their patience tested.

N: A lack of communication between different departments. Things are improving and we are working on it, but this is what gets me down the most. Sometimes I wish some people would just do their jobs. Of course, we are a team and we need to realise that one department’s actions do have an impact on my part of the school.

RFDG: Is this lack of communication a feature of your workplace or Russia in general?

N: I don’t like generalisations, so no, I don’t think it reflects the country or the city. I think it depends on who you work with. I don’t know much about managing people or the corporate culture. I’ve seen similar things elsewhere.

RFDG: How about the people you like to work with – what are they like?

N: They are dedicated to what they do. To their students or subordinates. I like to work with people who care and there are enthusiastic people here, which is good to see. It’s not only experienced teachers, every year we have different people and you can see everyone’s progress. Also, when you meet a person who knows what they are doing or who is dedicated to it, it’s always fun to talk with them.

*

ID

ID: It’s a state university. The same one I graduated from. I teach students aged 18—20 something part-time. In my free time I teach privately.

RFDG: What are the good things about where you work?

ID: The schedule. I’m free to decide when and how many classes I’d like to have. It does have disadvantages, too, but I’m happy being in control of my time and this is the major advantage.

RFDG: Are there minor advantages?

ID: Yes. First of all, I really enjoy the academic environment I’m in. Working in private language centres, courses, schools – I did that but I was a bit bored. With students you are supposed to push for some sort of achievement, a higher level, and I can’t do that anywhere else. I don’t teach kids. I don’t teach teens. I mostly teach adults, but with adults it’s hard because you can’t impose your own agenda on them because they know very well what they want.

With students I’m sort of in more control. Of course, I should comply with the government requirements and they are quite rigid. I have to deliver the programme in accordance with everything those in the Ministry of Education implemented in the programme. But I think I am more free to do what I want and there is less control compared to private language schools.

RFDG: Do you think the imposition of an agenda happens more frequently elsewhere?

ID: I would say this is a special trait of those public education establishments. When you are a teacher, just teaching groups or individuals, there isn’t much that depends on you. You can’t even choose your own coursebooks if you aren’t happy. But in this environment, while I can’t do exactly what I want, I am more independent in my choices as long as I have this agreement with the head of our department. She gives me the room for decisions, room for initiative, so I am quite independent in my choices and it’s something I enjoy.

RFDG: Are there any bad things about where you work?

ID: Basically, I work at a state university and the state pays us to implement the programme to give the students the state diploma – the official paper that shows the standard set by the government. If you graduate from an unlicensed university, the diploma is considered to be less valuable.

The government knows this very well and they use this to implement their own agenda in their programmes. Right now our university is going though this accreditation process where the people from the Ministry of Education come to the university and check all the documents, check the teachers, check the classes and whether they really do what the government wants them to do. I found that they sometimes want really strange things.

For example, I teach a course of simple English language practice. It’s not translation, it’s not something more academic. It’s something like a general English course you would find in every school and they want us to teach students the etiquette of the country they are studying the language of. They want us to teach them some other things which I think are unrelated to language, like tolerance, cooperation and problem solving. Negotiation.

I could say, “Yes, of course I am teaching them the proper way to talk to English language partners” but I’m supposed to show that these competencies are being checked in the exams. So, I have to include a question or a task in the final exam so they can show they have mastered etiquette.

From my point of view I’m supposed to be testing skills and use of English, but “Etiquette”? “Tolerance?” How do I teach that? And this is really a problem and I don’t find it convincing. So, when I’m considering whether I should make a new move next year this is really the point which concerns me the most. I don’t really enjoy this idea that we have to teach something non-language related in classes.

RFDG: Some people would argue that language is bound in its context and culture. Would you disagree?

ID: I don’t disagree with that. The problem is, how will you test it? How will you develop an exam to test these points reliably? Would I give them a situation and ask how they will react and give them marks in accordance to what they choose? It doesn’t really make that much sense to me. This is what the government wants… at least this year, because the standards keep being reviewed and developed and changed almost every year. So, this year I teach them one thing, next year maybe something different.

RFDG: What do you think has caused this policy?

ID: There is this trend of the government taking more and more control of whatever is being done at schools – the public ones, of course. It’s very evident they really want to make sure they know exactly what’s happening and they don’t allow ANYTHING which is not in the programme into the classrooms. So, they have some rules about not bringing any literature which is not included in the programme. It mustn’t be inside the university.

I was considering starting a book club because I have lots of literature I don’t really need. I thought maybe we could put a bookcase in there with whatever books I like for the students to take on their own initiative. The department said I wasn’t allowed to do that because it is something officially not allowed. As you know, Russia is a multinational country, hence this idea of tolerance; that you have to tolerate different nationalities. It’s about nationalities and religion, it’s not about… let’s just say “sexual orientation”. This is a problem and something I disagree with.

So, yes, they really want us to teach them how to behave “properly” with a person from another country. Etiquette. This it odd because we are supposed to prepare future diplomats and if you’re a diplomat and you don’t know how to shake hands properly, or speak politely with someone, this cancels the whole point of this education. I don’t think it contradicts the policy of the Russian government because we have the policy and we have other actions which don’t correspond.

The problem I have is that the government wants to control EVERYTHING.

RFDG: Would you say this push for having these things in the curriculum is actually less about promoting the values and actually about controlling things?

ID: Exactly.

*

Nadezhda Boguk (NB)

NB: I would say it’s a company that’s passionate about teaching, about motivating and getting the results.

RFDG: So, it’s like a private language school? Is that the best way to describe it?

NB: I would say “language centre”.

RFDG: What’s the difference between a language school and a language centre?

NB: For me, a language centre includes more opportunities. School is when you come and get the language, but in a centre you have different options. You learn the language and you can take exams and develop further. It’s for students and for teachers, that’s why it’s not just a language school. I see it as an organisation that works for different groups of people. School is more for students.

RFDG: Why did you choose this specific language centre?

NB: I was looking for a job and I got an invitation.

RFDG: Why do you continue to work there?

NB: Because there are many options for me. Firstly, because I finally got the opportunity to work with the language properly. My previous experience in teaching was based a lot on subjects that are connected to English, but are not purely language teaching. For example, I taught IT in Linguistics. That was about how we use IT to teach and learn English.

There was also one on British Literature and English, so we discussed different authors and their books but it was not purely language. Or, Country Studies where we discussed different aspects of countries like their system of government. We did it in English but it wasn’t about explaining the vocabulary. Here I finally came to the language itself. That is what my diploma says: that I am a teacher of English.

Secondly, because there is a great variety of contexts, from little kids to adults, and different levels of languages, which is also good for teachers so they aren’t stuck only at the school level. We can also work in companies and discuss absolutely different topics.

RFDG: Are there other good things about where you work?

NB: Basically, it comes from the students who are from different backgrounds with different aims and different motivations. We tailor the classes to fit their interests, to fit their needs and this is also interesting. What I like about English teaching here in general is that we don’t talk about grammar or vocabulary.

If I talk to a person who works in accounting we discuss talking about accounting, but the next day the same person can tell a story about travelling and we start talking about travelling and architecture. This variety is what appeals to me. We speak about absolutely different topics, from business to culture and personal things.

RFDG: What about the bad sides of where you work?

NB: Intensive weeks and late classes.

RFDG: What is an intensive week for you?

NB: For example, I have a day where there are four groups in a row. Three children’s groups and one adult group and there are only 10-minute breaks in between. That is intensive.

RFDG: How do you cope with that?

NB: I start planning in advance and make sure I have the materials ready at the beginning of the week. So, for example, I don’t have to think about copies and the breaks are not spent preparing for the next class but are spent relaxing.

RFDG: How much time do you spend preparing for each class?

NB: It depends on the groups, the course or topics. I can sometimes use materials I’ve used with other groups. If it is Intermediate and we are studying future tenses I already have some games. I have to modify them for different ages. If it’s a new topic or we start something new or have new vocabulary, then it will take me more time.

RFDG: If you could think of ways to make your workplace better, what would be your top three?

NB: Speaking about the room, the availability of a screen could be nice but it is not a must. It’s good to have it there but we can live without it. Another important thing is to have desks. It helps to discipline students. If we speak about a conversational group then chairs like these…

She gestures to the desk chairs arranged around the room.

NB: …they’re fine. But for school children it is not appropriate because they feel too relaxed. For school ages it would be better to have desks.

As for other things, I am pretty happy with what the school is doing for us, like the whiteboards, the markers, the magnets, everything is there. It’s all organised.

As for the centre, I’d say that everything is done so the teacher is comfortable. You can copy books in every school and all the materials are provided.

RFDG: If you could make suggestions for improvement what would they be?

NB: It’s really hard to say on the spot because I don’t feel the need for anything else.

*

Anastasia Dereviankina (AD)

RFDG: Why do you work where you do?

AD: At first it was just due to the position. Here I’m an ADOS. I’ve always wanted to be a manager. I like this, I like responsibility. I like the pressure, stress, making decisions and being in charge and helping people. I used to do the same job in another language school but I quit due to the working environment.

It contradicted my ideas about the world. So, I quit, did my DELTA and after that I was thinking of teaching. But it was not enough. Then I saw the job here being advertised and I thought, “Why not?” I can’t say the school was super attractive but the position was.

RFDG: So, teaching and wanting to be a manager overlapped?

AD: Yeah. To be honest, when I moved to Moscow I applied here to be a teacher but the rate was low and they disregarded my years of previous experience. But then the ADOS position came up and I went for it. I like it because I have plenty of opportunities for professional development. I do what I like and I love it.