Research  studies into the circumstances of FLA has suggested it is generalizable to both a classroom form, sometime referred to Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety (FLCA). As form of performance anxiety, it is also often linked general exam anxiety.

Following the conclusion of this specific research, a series of articles will be published on this website presenting both the findings of the study. It is hoped that the conclusions of this research will shed light on and yield practical suggestions for helping teachers help their students overcome FLA.

You can participate in this research project by conducting an online survey at the link below. Agreeing to participate in this study will give you the opportunity to contribute to the understanding of FLA in the field of TESOL.

You can access and complete the survey by clicking here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dERxYUpWWGtOM2U2X0ZSbl9VblREeUE6MQ

Please be assured that strict anonymity will be followed and names of participants will not be connected to any publications of the findings.  Thank you in advance for your participation.

The following are some related links to FLA, FLCA and Test Anxiety we hope you will find interesting.

Article: ‘Words Fail Me’: http://www.utexas.edu/features/2007/language/

Wikipeidia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_language_anxiety

Article: ‘Anxiety and Foreign Language Learning”: http://www.foreignlanguagelearningdifficulties.com/2011/11/there-are-articles-on-subject-of.html

Humanising Language Teaching: http://hltmag.co.uk/jul07/sart05.htm

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Suggested Reading:

Illustration by Georgia Stylou

Ho, Ho, No!

It’s the holidays again, a time when EFL teachers go scrambling for holiday flavored gift ideas. Well, in the spirit of the season of giving, here’s an emotional intelligence laced speaking task that will also appeal to students with visual and kinesthetic learning styles.

Cracked Gift Exchange: Garbage Gifts

AIMS: Expressing gratitude, adjectives, modals (ex: can, could)
LEVEL: Elementary – Advanced
TIME: 15 minutes
MATERIALS / PREPARATION: Paper

Procedure:

Instruct students to tear a piece of notebook paper in half. These two pieces of paper are then folded in half to create two greeting card like forms. (tip: when giving instructions stress imperative structures: example: “fold the paper”, “tear the paper”, etc.). Tell the students to make 2 cards.

Students are asked to think of 2 things they possess that are old, useless, broken or that really should be thrown out (examples: socks, fruit, shoes, coffee mug, notebooks, etc).

Students are then asked to brainstorm adjectives to describe the condition of the objects they have written on the card. These adjectives can be written up on the board. Examples: rotten, broken, stinky, torn, slimy, disgusting, etc. The more extreme the adjective, the funnier the task will be.

Have the students write the name of their objects, along with a corresponding adjective on the inside flap of each card (1 item per card). Example: stinky socks, rotten fruit, etc. Have them draw a picture of the offensive item, as well.

Important! Students should be advised NOT to disclose the contents of their cards to other students while they are making their cards.

Tell the students to fold their cards over covering the cards’ contents and then to write on the outside

“Happy Holidays! A Gift for You!”

Now the fun begins! Announce to the class that there was a mix-up at the North Pole and some of Santa Claus’s Garbage was accidentally distributed as gifts.

In pairs, students then exchange their ‘gifts’ with each other. Idea: play some holiday music such as “Here Comes Santa Claus” or “Santa Claus is coming to town” during this stage.

Instruct students that when opening their ‘presents’ they should politely thank the giver for the gift so as not to embarrass them and then suggest some useful purpose for the gift. Model the following example for them: “Oh! Stinky Socks, just what I always wanted, my cat will love playing with them” or “Oh! Some rotten fruit, how lovely! This will come in handy when I need to throw something at my enemies.”

Students should then report back to the class, what ‘Santa’ had brought them and what they will do with their lovely ‘gifts’.

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Holiday Bonus Idea: More ‘expressing gratitude’ content for advanced students!

Tip: Here’s something to think twice about before teaching to your students!

HO HO NO! A Scrooge’s guide to what to say for gifts you don’t like:

(For unwanted clothing)

• This will be great for wearing around the basement!
• Boy if I had not recently gained/lost 3 kilos this would’ve fit!
• And to think, the “retro baggy” look is “IN” this year!

(For unwanted foods items)

• What’s a little lactose intolerance between friends?
• Oh Happy Day! It’s truly a gift that will keep giving…indigestion.
• It’s truly gastronomical!

(Thanks but…)

• I really don’t deserve this.
• Sadly, tomorrow I’ll be giving away all my personal belongings to charity.

(General Sarcasm)

• Hey! There’s a gift I never would have thought of!
• Well, well, well … it IS the thought that counts, isn’t it?
• I appreciate the lack of thought that went into this gift.
• Wow, this must have set you back a few cents.
• Oh! How thoughtless of you.
• If the dog buries it, I’ll be furious!
• Gosh, I hope this never catches fire. It is fire season though and there are lots of unexplained fires.
• I love it, but I fear the jealousy it will inspire in others.
• Oh! I got one for you too! Um … I’ll bring it around tomorrow.
• It’s just what I never wanted.

Art Credit: Top illustration created by Georgia Stylou, orginally for the Winter-2005 version of ELT Vista periodical. You can find Georgia’s talented work at: http://www.keepmesweet.blogspot.com/

Happy Holidays to you and yours from ELT Vista!

Suggested Reading:

Consider the following quotes and decide which statement is more aligned with your views of learning:

(A) “Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.” – Napoleon Bonaparte

(B) “Competition has been shown to be useful up to a certain point and no further, but cooperation, which is the thing we must strive for today, begins where competition leaves off.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt

Suffice it to say that I guess you all know where I’m going with this post! To what extent would you agree that competition is ‘healthy’ in the classroom?

The Nature Of The Game:

There are many reasons to consider using games in the language classroom. They are motivating, attention sustaining and certainly very useful for breaking the monotony of a long line of traditional practice tasks. They also contribute to the pace of the lesson. In some forms they offer opportunities for collaboration, and in other forms, with respects to learning styles, they may also support students with kinesthetic and interpersonal learning styles. Of course, any student will just flat-out tell you “they are fun”.

Indeed, everyone loves games and everyone loves winning. The only problem is that … everyone also happens to hate losing. This last point actually proves very problematic, and to be honest, should give many educators pause for consideration.

Competition: A builder of character?

It’s all too easy to figure out how you will reward the ‘winners’ of a competition. the real question is what do you do with the ‘losers’? In fact, I’d ask you to question what constitutes a ‘loser’ in your classroom? Do you define someone who answers a question wrongly – a ‘loser’?

It should go without saying that no student should ever be labeled ‘loser’ in our classrooms. Yet, that is exactly how anyone feels when losing a competition. In fact, in team competitions, the ‘goat’ not only has to take personal responsibility for his team mates, but also suffer the ire of their wrath. I think you would agree that this is not a ‘healthy’ situation anyone would want to experience, nor does it contribute to ones ‘character development’. Nevertheless, it happens everyday in classes across the globe.

When it comes to students we must take into account individual differences in terms of learning styles, interests, levels, personal and educational backgrounds, and personality. Psychologically speaking, there will always be ‘less competitive’ students in our classes, and we really can’t blame them for being who they are. In fact, students do not come to class to compete; they are there to learn.

As such, the aim of a game, if used as a task, must be getting students to practice or produce the ‘forms’ they are there to learn. Yet, all too often some students ‘shut down’ or ‘fold’ in competition. Moreover, those that don’t most likely make more mistakes in the chaotic rush to compete without really thinking. Since there can only be one winner, the end result is that most students’ ‘self esteem’ suffer, and accuracy, along with any real fluency practice, goes right out the window. I’m sure you will agree that this conclusion is not exactly what we bargain for when plan our lessons.

Win, Lose Or Draw?

What happens when you call on a student in class to answer a question, and he or she answers incorrectly? Your dismissively grimacing and turning to the next student in line is never indicated. When students don’t have the right answers, they should be led to them, so that they can master the point and feel good for their efforts, even when they start off on the side of error.

In fact, we often talk about the idea that errors are actually learning opportunities. Unfortunately, the nature of competition (in real-time) does not support this aim. If it did, there would be no such thing as ‘winners’. In terms of competitions, this sad fact just reflects the nature of the beast – and it’s often been said that competition does bring out ‘the beast’ in some.

To me, games in which students are eliminated are the worst form of tasks. Not only do the ‘losers’ experience the ‘agony of defeat’, but they also sit non-productively until a winner is found. I’d suggest that being told to “sit down” is offensive enough, even if the words “and shut up!” are only implied.

Too Much Of A Good Thing?

Once we start making every task a game complete with winners and losers, we will eventually find some students getting bored and discouraged for their lack of ‘succeeding’. In fact, even in the best of cases, I would argue that too much of a good thing … is a bad thing. I mean, we can’t really expect students to be ‘up’ and excited all through a lesson. It’s tiring for anyone to maintain such a high level of excitement for long expanses of time. This leads to high stress levels and eventual burnout.

Wake Up! It’s Time To Play A Game!

In the best situation, a game is played, as I mentioned above, to address the practice or production of a language target. In the worst case, a teacher desiring to wake his class up will use a game as a respite from the lesson grind to compensate for his own lack of classroom management skills. In doing so he is actually rewarding ‘undesired behavior‘ with an activity that is unrelated to the aims of the lesson. In other words, such a practice is really nothing more than a waste of time; when the game is over, students quickly revert to negative form and have learned nothing.

In worse cases, students refuse to participate in regular tasks unless the teacher promises them a game ‘afterward’ or ‘soon’. Drones of “can we play a game now?” are heard every ten minutes.

The above point also speaks volumes concerning the topic of behavior management in the classroom, and especially the efficacy of poor ‘positive reinforcement’ practices. Constantly offering students rewards for good behavior is a matter for another post, but for the time being please consider that we should never force students to compete for rewards, be they something tangible (candy) or intangible (your respect). ‘Losing’ is one thing, but ‘losing out on something’ is ten times worse! It not only breeds low self-esteem and envy, but even hostility in some.

It’s therefore extremely important we make all students feel like winners for their efforts. It’s one thing to end the class with a game as a production task, but during the lesson, emphasis should be placed on ensuring that all students are able to produce the language targets and feel good about their participation. Not all games need to be competitions where there are winners and losers.

The Spirit of Competition of Cooperation?

It’s true to some extent that we live in a competitive world. Still the extent to which we compete in real life is usually a matter of choice. Yes, sometimes competition is thrust upon us, but what matters most, in my opinion, is how we respond to it and to the ‘others’ involved. So don’t get me wrong: I do advocate the use of games in the classroom when they serve the aims of the lesson. In this sense, the old saying, ‘It’s not whether you win or lose, it’s how you play the game’, certainly rings true.

Perhaps it’s utopian to think that fostering cooperation and collaboration is a better exercise than fostering competition. To some, the concept that competition actually does not enhance cooperation is radical, if not blasphemous – despite it being borne out in research, as well as in practice in the business arena many times over.

As teachers, even foreign language teachers, we like to think that our efforts in the classroom will also contribute to our students’ overall growth as individuals. And, that in turn such growth will help to influence and shape our societies, even the world, for the better. However, it begs the question of what kind of world we would like to contribute to; a more competitive one, or a more cooperative one? Ultimately, our contributions, in this sense, come back to the decisions we make in the classroom.

Lastly, ‘communication’ suggests at least two people cooperating towards a single aim. Competition, on the other hand, suggests two people talking over or at each other. One of these ideas is consummate with our aims in the classroom. The other is just plain stupid.

Further Reading:

• http://www.hltmag.co.uk/apr11/mart02.htm
• http://www.calstatela.edu/faculty/jshindl/cm/competition.htm
• http://www.alfiekohn.org/parenting/tcac.htm

Suggested Reading:

This post is part of an ongoing series on Quality Management for language schools.

In my last post on quality management for language schools, I put forward some ideas on how to address a school staff when undertaking the development of a ‘home grown’ quality management scheme. I also covered questions aimed at teachers that should be included on a survey with a focus on the academic administration of a school. In this post I will continue to discuss such a survey and questions that relate to all employees concerning the school’s administrative and marketing operations.

To be honest, these two points may raise some hairs on the heads of school owners, specifically because they cut right to the core of a school’s management in terms of control and honesty, otherwise known as fair dealing. It’s true that leaders don’t normally like their authority or ethics questioned. Nonetheless, in relationship to ensuring quality no one is above reproach.

It should go without saying that the ability to delegate tasks and even authority is vital to efficient leadership. Yet, in a similar vein, some leaders are all too quick to cast blame on their underlings, never really questioning their own actions or roles in the operational inefficiency of their organizations. It’s a shame but I’ve had the experience of speaking with school owners who are seemingly interested in ‘whipping their troops’ into shape, but who balk at the prospect of changing their views on who they manage the school and its affairs. In worst cases, there are school owners whose only desire to establish a quality management scheme is to further tighten the noose around their staff, especially with a view towards rooting out inefficient employees. Indeed, there is no place for witch hunts in quality management initiatives.

Successful schools practice what they preach and actually take pride in what they stand for. In the best cases, such schools have ‘bona fide’ reasons, ideally based on experience and research, for the way they operate … and not just because someone at the top thinks “it’s a good idea”.

It’s often all too easy to speak of ‘best practices in the field’. Moreover, in regards to teaching practice, mention is made of teaching mainstream and modern methodologies. Regardless, such idealism does not suggest there aren’t alternatives, even if they are not commonly accepted or endorsed. For example, as a teacher, if you stand by the use of ‘grammar translation’ tasks and have good reasons to do so, it doesn’t matter what the ‘experts’ say. On the other hand, if your only reason for mercilessly pushing grammar translation is that “it was good enough for me when I was a young leaner!”, then a ‘rethink’ is in order.

In continuing my discussion on survey questions, I’ll begin with the area of marketing and then move onto to administration.

Marketing: The whole truth and nothing but the truth!

The issue concerning marketing basically comes down to truth in advertising. Taking this road might cause more than a few ‘marketing experts’ heads to spin, but let’s be honest … honesty is the best policy. Students, like any clients or customers in the business arena, have a right to expect what they pay for.

Now, I don’t want to hijack this post into a discussion on unethical marketing practices, but some of the issues this might relate to are engaging in puffery, bending the truth or withholding details about services and curriculum your school provides. Suffice it to say that if you or your school is engaging in any of these poor practices, you are only hurting your reputation and the ‘word of mouth’ advertising your school really thrives on. Tons of money can be spent on clever advertising campaigns, but ‘the word’ on the street about your school negative, then its just money down the drain.

Making false or dubious claims about your school’s offerings may help beat your competition in the short-term, but long-term sustainability and profit is what your objective should be. There are good reasons why most new businesses fail during their first two years of operation. If its not due to operational issues and mismanagement, it’s due to poor or unscrupulous marketing efforts. The ‘word of mouth’ reputation of any business travels very quickly. Moreover, if you are school owner you really do need to ask yourself what you want to your school to be identified with, a provider of quality education or a schlocky used car dealer?

So, the main question is: does your school provide what it says it provides? The accuracy of the following material should be considered when drawing up questions for the staff to respond to. Here are some suggested questions. In some cases, I’d suggest providing a ranking of 1 to 5 (1 for excellent and 5 for poor). It should also be noted that while I’m making suggestions for survey questions here, the areas covered below should also give school owners pause for thought concerning their own knowledge on these issues or items.

How accessible is information concerning offered courses?

How accurate is the school’s print advertising material pertaining:

• Course descriptions
• Course dates and lengths
• The size of classes (number of students)
• Student demographics of courses (example: are adult learners put into classes with young learners?)
• Living accommodations

With regards to in-house marketing material given to students before and during enrollment, are students given written notice of:

• Tuition fees and payment policies
• Methods of course delivery
• School Facilities (example: a computer lab … suggesting more than the school secretary’s computer)
• Extra-curricular activities
• Trips
• Student health insurance

It’s also good to elicit feedback concerning the perceived efficacy of the school’s marketing material or campaigns. Allow the staff offer their opinion as to what they believe are the strengths and weaknesses in this regard. Ask them to comment briefly on how realistic the school’s programs or courses are.

For example, I’ve worked with schools that advertise a wide range of courses for every conceivable proficiency or academic type certificate examination under the sun. However, no actual syllabuses had ever been written to reflect that any real effort has been made to construct such an offering. Ideally, a school owner advertising a short term preparation course for IELTS should not have to run out at the last moment to quickly hire a teacher with IELTS experience just because a few students decided to enroll for such a course.

The same thing applies to offering courses for other foreign languages. Advertising courses for Japanese or Italian, for example, actually suggests that some effort was put into establishing such programs, and that they are complete with relevant syllabuses and designated teachers. Again, if running a French class only means advertising it and then at the last minute hiring a local French teacher whose only real teaching experience is tutoring private students in their homes then … well I think you all get the picture.

School Administration: Your place in and knowledge of the scheme of things

The topic of administration is a vast one. It relates not only to things like record keeping and accounting, but also to following up with student inquiries and staff related issues. It could be said that this area concerns administrative policies for dealing with all things non-academic related. However, there are certainly areas that overlap. For example, is there a policy and system in place to ensure that if a teacher calls in sick, a suitable substitute is on call? For that matter, does the school even have a policy for sic days. These are just some examples.

Here are some suggested question that may be included for all staff to respond to. These questions gauge both employees’ perception of the school, as well as an understanding of the nature of their employment. Again, in some cases a ranking of 1 to 5 should be given to express satisfaction.

Student Follow Up Related Issues:

Where do students go to get help about administrative or academic problems?

How do students know with whom to speak?

Are there regular hours in which students can speak with with dedicated staff to help them with their issues? Are these hours posted?

How and when is student feedback taken?

Are records kept of such student feedback and actually reviewed by anyone … at anytime?

What happens when a student complains about a teacher?

What is the school’s policy concerning the following student related issues:

• tardiness
• absences
• misbehavior

How would you rate student satisfaction is with the school?

How would you rate the school’s overall reputation?

Knowledge of Administration:

Are all academic and administrative policies written down?

Does the school have a policy on employee sick days?

Does the school have a policy concerning sexual misconduct in the workplace?

What is the policy for dealing with staff grievances?

Have you ever been asked to participate in mock exams, trips or other school related activities without pay?

Which of the following does the school publish?

• A student handbook
• An employee handbook
• A school calendar

How would you rate the communication between management and staff?

How confidential is communication between you and members of the administrative staff?

Who is responsible for maintaining personnel files at the school?

Who do you speak with concerning payroll questions or errors?

Upon employment, were you provided with :

• A valid employment contract
• A written ‘job description’
• A schedule or details of any regular payroll deductions (health, pension, etc.)

How accurate is your job description?

When was the last time you reviewed your job description?

Have you provided to the school:

• A current and valid teaching license
• A current CV / Resume
• A valid proof of identification
• Copies of your degrees and relevant professional qualifications
• Emergency contact information

Are there opportunities for advancement in the school?

When was the last time you received a performance review?

How does your role figure in the school’s long-term plans?

How informed are you concerning the school operations, policies and plans?

When problems arise, who can you speak to with actual authority?

Does the school have a written grievance policy? If not, how are your complaints or complaints against you handled?

How valued do you feel your input and ideas are to school management?

Is there is a system for collecting school suggestions (anonymous or otherwise)?

General Beliefs:

Why do you believe students choose this school?

How competitive do you feel the school is in the local market?

How accurate do you feel the school’s marketing efforts are?

How effective do you feel the school’s marketing efforts are?

How likely are you to recommend the school to students?

How likely are you to recommend the school to a colleague seeking employment?

How confident are you that the school is an ‘equal opportunity’ employer?

Does the school have a ‘mission statement’? Do you know what it is or where it is written?

To what extent to believe you are a factor in the school’s success?

Do you feel the school is in need a quality management scheme?

I hope the above gives both school owners and teachers some insight into issues relating to the school administration. As I mentioned above, what’s important at this early stage of establishing a quality management scheme is the collection of data in terms of opinion, perception and to some extent sentiment. In this sense, knowledge is power, and the more employers and employees alike know and share, the greater the motivation and sense of worth all stakeholders will have in ensuring quality in the school. In the next post on quality management, I will take a closer look at the social dynamics of creating an quality management team.

Suggested Reading:

A Duck!

Do you tend to talk with your hands? It’s often been said that after our faces, our hands are the next most expressive feature of our bodies. They often play a leading role in our body language, and even work in concert with our faces to convery an endless range of expression. For example, telling someone to be quiet or expressing that you’re not listening requires our hands. Of course, the modern expression ‘talk to the hand’ speaks volumes of a person’s demeanor … but it also involves the thrusting of said appendage in someone’s face, which of course also has other connotations from culture to culture.

The following are some drama based ideas that incorporate the use of hand gestures for communication purposes. There are probably a zillion reasons to try some of the following activities, but some of major ones include:

• Pair or group work.
• Students get to be creative and use their imaginations.
• Students will personalize their contributions (give them some contexts to work with to make things more achievable, and keep their more attentive.
• The tasks support varying learning styles: visual, kinesthetic, tactile.
• The tasks support the Total Physical Response (TPR) approach.
• They’re fun!

For Younger Learners (but not limited to)
Level: beginner, elementary
Language targets: animal vocabulary, present continuous

Ask students to study their hands. Instruct them to wriggle their fingers, open and close their hands, and try to move them in all ways possible. This warm up task helps get their imaginations going, while at the same time locks their attention levels on target.

Prompt your students to make animal or other creature figures with their hands and then ask a partner what they are making. You might want to demonstrate a few first, though. Start with a rabbit or a spider. I usually begin with a spider and then make it crawl up my arm, shoulder and eventually stopping it on my head. I not only ask students what it is, but also what it’s doing. Hopefully, “It’s sitting on your head!” is the reply! Make sure students answer at sentence level.

If you’ve never made animal shadows on a wall when you were young (or old!) here’s a video to give you some ideas. You can even use that old overhead transparency projector to follow suit:

You can also ask students, in pairs, to create a new animal or creature. They can come up to the class and not only demonstrate it, but also instruct the other students how to make it.

Standby tasks for all learners
Level: Intermediate and above

What I’m suggesting here is basically a form of charades or miming tasks. All levels and ages tend to enjoy such activities. The focus here is on hand gestures and on trying to express ideas with one’s hands, or at least mainly with one’s hands. It’s not the end of the world if you incorporate facial or other body parts. Afterall, it’s only natural to do so in real life!

To get you started, study the following images. Some are naughty and some are nice. I leave it up to your discretion as to which you might ultimately use with your students!

Photo Source: http://information2share.wordpress.com/2010/11/14/hand-gestures/

The following photos reflect movements that stem from the dances of various cultures. Try some of these hand gestures and see if you can relate the gesture to some form of English expression. This is also something I’ve tried to do with my students, in a sort of free association type task.

At some point, what I try to do is get students to combine various hand gestures to express a statement, hopefully not a rude one! To a certain extent this may seem like mimicking ‘sign language’ for the deaf, which is another source that can be exploited, while at the same time fostering a greater appreciation for the hearing challenged.

Here are some basic example sentences I’ve used in the past:

• How much does it cost?
• It’s in the back.
• I don’t hear you!
• Stop, look and listen.
• This stinks.
• Watch the time!
• What time is it?
• I’m not listening.
• Be Quiet!
• Oww! That hurts!
• Wait a minute!
• Just a bit.
• You’re crazy!
• What were you thinking?
• I should have known better.
• I’m waiting.
• I can’t wait!
• Forget about it.
• We’re number one!
• Bring him/her/it over here.
• I said, ‘here’!
• No, not here, there!
• Come on! Let’s pray together.
• Please sir, may have some more?
• Shame on you!
• You’re in trouble!

Here is a video to also give you some ideas. This was produced by an organization teaching American Sign Language. Note here that the emphasis is on communicating at sentence level, which is really what we should be occupied with for the most part:

Lastly, try to incorporate music into the mix! Take a lesson from the following video. Go for more than just the title. Try incorporating the lyrics! Turn down the sound and see how many statements the mime is making. Try giving students the lyrics to a song and see if they can mime them.

These are just a few ideas you can do that involve hand gestures to get students involved using their bodies, while at the same time taking into account varying learning styles. It’s important to have fun with such tasks, but to also put the emphasis on communication and to manage the time appropriately. Charades, for example, is great fun. However, much non-productive time can ensue from students ‘performing’ and ’observing’ as opposed to actually ‘speaking’. Therefore, it’s important to keep the balance time and fun wise. I hope these ideas work for you. If you have any related suggestions, please comment below.

Photo Sources:

• http://information2share.wordpress.com/2010/11/14/hand-gestures/
• http://www.kathakschool.com/english/kathak_gestures.html
• http://thegreatindianperformance.wordpress.com/tag/india/

Suggested Reading:

This post is part of an ongoing series on Quality Management for language schools.

So, you’ve decided to jump into the ‘quality’ pool. Your reasons for doing so may be varied, but most likely, if you are a school owner or have been charged with the task of establishing a system of quality management at the behest of the school owner, you are probably wondering where to start. Answering this question is what this post is about.

A good place to begin is by asking both yourself and your staff questions of both. This suggests creating a survey and, obviously, calling for a staff meeting to discuss your intentions, as well as to carry out the survey. In this post, I’ll begin to discuss the composition of  the survey (below) and continue on in my next post. However, before that let’s start with ‘you’ and how ‘you’ approach such a staff meeting.

Make time to fo the following task before calling for your staff meeting. Write down 3 to 5 strengths you believe your school possesses in the category of teaching, administration and successful student enrollment. Then, write down at least 3 areas for improvement in these categories. You can also ask yourself why the establishment a quality scheme is important to you, and what you hope to gain from its implementation. Ask yourself what the word ‘quality’ means to you, and to what extent your school has or doesn’t have it. Once you’ve done this, it’s time for your meeting with the staff.

It’s been my opinion over the years that fostering quality is something that involves all members of the staff. Others have varying opinions, suggesting that a survey should be given only to members of a select quality management team, representing all departments within the organization. I disagree, and standby the success I’ve experienced doing it my way, by including everyone. For me, it’s important to have the input of as many members of staff as possible, and to be honest, concerning a language school, even getting feedback from a sampling of students will speak volumes of your operation and give you more food for thought.

A quality management scheme requires a team effort. It’s not something that 1, 2 or 5 people establish and then force and enforce on others. Success follows when all concerned are contributing to the flow of information (observation and feedback) and feel that their input and contributions are not only valued by the school, but also by themselves. In other words, each individual in the school should feel as motivation that he or she personally reaps some benefit at the personal and professional level from contributing to quality circle.

Time For A Staff Meeting!

At the meeting, I would keep things simple to start with by just stating your intention to establish a scheme of quality in the school. Invite feedback. Don’t be surprised if different people have different ideas of what ‘quality’ means, not so much in general as a concept, but in terms of how it is applied in practice. As I mentioned in my previous post, you may find that some don’t even want to be bothered with a quality scheme and see ‘change’ with disdain because they see it as a threat.

You should express your reasons for wanting a quality management scheme, but bear in mind that those listening to you may be critical, skeptical and certainly judgmental. Hopefully, some will embrace your vision, but you do need to be careful not alienate anyone at this early stage. Proceed with caution and be prepared to face adversity. It’s OK to say that you may not have all the answers at present, but that you will find them together down the road. Explain that the effort will grow from the bottom up, at the ‘grass roots level’. Embrace those who express anxiety.

It should go without saying that you want to avoid expressions that might be taken as personally offensive to staff members. You’re not there to point the finger of blame at anyone for the school’s short comings, or to assert your authority in an effort to ‘take control’ of problems. Talk about improving the schools strengths, don’t harp on the school’s weakness.

Keep in mind that an expression like “to improve school efficiency and productivity” can also imply to individuals that they are deficient in some way at their jobs. So you do want to be sensitive in how you approach expressing your desire for positive change. Once the discussion is over, it’s time for questions in the form of a survey.

What The Survey Should Cover

Generally speaking, most quality schemes I’ve had some involvement with tend to focus on 3 areas: academic management, administration management and marketing and promotions. These main areas may include many and varied sub-areas, as well, such as procedures governing business operations, record keeping, syllabus creation, teacher training, or even routines for assuring truth in advertising. In another other post, I’ll elaborate more on why these 3 main areas are usually targeted and why each is important to the success of the school in their own right.

What you are after in this meeting are the feelings and knowledge the staff has regarding the school and their place in it. Note that it’s not just about gauging how teachers, for example, feel about their job satisfaction or how they are treated as employees. It’s about finding out how well the teachers know the school and their place in it, as well as their perceptions thereof. The latter is important in gaining valuable insight that an owner or manager does not necessarily have because of their position in authority.

Conducting The Survey

It’s important to make the staff feel secure that the survey is being conducted under anonymity and that the school administration is not out on a witch hunt to identify disgruntled employees. On the survey form, the option should be left for employees to leave their names, if they so wish. And, if they have no problem doing so, they should be told nonetheless that their names and opinions will be kept confidential.

The survey should, however, include a place for the staff member to enter their position. This will help qualify the insight they provide to different ares. While the survey can be broken up into sections, I’d like to suggest that there be one uniform survey for all employees regardless of their position. This promotes a feeling of equality among employees, and also fosters the sentiment that the school is open to anyone’s opinions regardless of their job description.

As I mentioned above, the survey can be designed in sections, each devoted to specific employee types. Obviously, a janitor would not be in a position to answer questions on syllabus design, so labeling each section separately would help (example: ‘This section is for teachers’). Staff members can be told to skip sections that do not relate to their jobs, but also that they are open to respond if they so wish. Reassure them that all responses are welcome.

It’s also vital that the staff understand that there are no correct answers to the questions being asked. You should encourage them to be open and honest, and to include any positive or negative points they see fit to mention.

Ideally, all schools should have a marketing prospectus and staff handbook (more on this in another post). This material could be made available to the staff during the survey for reference. Doing so helps allays fears some employees might have concerning answering incorrectly to questions. Yes, stress levels always decline when the teacher announces an ‘open book test’.

The question types should elicit short answers. However, in some cases a range of numbers from 1 for poor to 5 for excellent can be given to be circled. Lines or space can be provided for elaboration. Leave space under each section for extra comments or suggestions, and mark the area as such.

Lastly, enough time should be allotted for the staff to complete the survey. In my opinion, its best to get this task over and done with, and not to allow the staff to take the survey home to be submitted later. The survey, therefore, should not be designed too comprehensively as it’s purpose is to provide a general overview, and not a detailed analysis. Personally, I would suggest including approximately no more than 50 questions per section and that the survey take no more than 20 to 30 minutes to complete.

Suggested Survey Questions:

The following are some suggested questions and areas to further elaborate on. These questions are aimed for teachers. In my next post on this subject, I’ll include suggested questions for all employees (general) as well as those concerning the administrative and marketing functions of the school.

Keep in mind that the questions below do not necessary comprise a complete survey. I feel that surveys should be customized to some extent. I don’t believe per se’ that ‘one size fits all’. However, I have tried to ‘cover the bases’ below to give you a broad overview of some important areas for discussion. Hopefully, the following questions should give you an idea of what items your school may need be lacking, or what issues might need addressing.

I also want to mention that some of the questions below are loosely based on, but not limited to, my experience working as a consultant and director of studies for schools undertaking an ‘Eaquals‘ inspections to become full members of this quality association of language schools.

School Premises:

Are the premises suitable for you to do your job? How do you feel about …..

• … the size of the classrooms
• … furniture and fixtures (desks, chairs, black / white boards)
• … presence of and quality of resources (audio/visual equipment, computers or computer lab, etc.)
• … facilities (staff room, kitchen, bathrooms, etc.)
• … the school library (for students and teachers)
• … the availability of chalk, board markers, etc.

Do you feel the classroom is laid out in such a way to facilitate pair and group work?
Is there sufficient room for tasks which require students to get up and move around?

Safety

• Do you feel your working environment is safe?
• Does your school have an emergency evacuation plan for fire or earthquakes?
• How often does you school run fire drills? Is there a record of this?
• Are fire alarms, exit routes and exits clearly marked?
• Do you have smoke detectors and fire extinguishers in your classrooms or work area?
• Comment on any safety hazards or areas for improvement

Academic Program and Support:

Teaching Related:

• Do you believe the school has an overall syllabus for all levels and courses?
• If the above is true, do you have any input into the creation of such a syllabus?
•  Are you familiar with any specific methodology or teaching approach taken by the school?
• Are you expected to conform with any of the above?

At the beginning of the term were you given:

• - a course syllabus and description of the classes and levels you teach
• - teacher editions of all texts (coursebooks, workbooks, companions, etc.
• - marking book for exams, quizzes and class or homework
• - a book list
• - a school calendar

Materials:

• Do you make reference to a course syllabus during the year for lesson planning purposes? Are the course syllabuses you receive realistic and achievable?
• Do you have any input into the selection of materials chosen for the courses you teach?
• Do you feel the materials you work with are efficient?
• Are you allowed to design additional material or use supplemental material?
• If you answered ‘yes’ to the above question, does the school provide you with supplemental or resources to design material (example: computers, transparencies for OHP).
• If you answered ‘no’ to the above question, are you expected to created material at your expense?
• Does the school have a teaching resource library you can use?
• What is the school policy on photocopying course books or other material?

Lesson Planning:

• Are you required to complete lesson plans for each lesson?
• Do you feel a need for lesson planning? Please explain.
• Were you given a lesson plan format to follow?
• Does the school make available blank lesson plan forms for you to use?
• If you answered ‘yes’ to the above question, do you where they are located?
• Are your lesson plans kept on file at the school?
• If you answered ‘yes’ to the above question, do you know where they are located and do you have access to them?
• Do you believe your lesson plans are reviewed by management at any time?
• Is there a system in place for substitute teachers to be informed of what to teach (are previous lesson plans available for review)?

Student Related:

• Do you receive any information in advance about the students you will be teaching in each class?
• Do you feel they have realistic expectations of the education they will receive?
• For placement purposes, how are student levels assessed in your school?
• Do you feel students are placed in appropriate level classes?
• What happens when students are misplaced?
• Does the school have a policy for tardy or absent students?
• Does the school have a policy for disciplining students?
• Do you believe that students understand how their progress is assessed during the year?
• How often are students offered feedback on their progress?

Academic Support:

•  How often are you observed teaching by a superior (school owner or director of studies)?
• Why were you observed?
• Did you receive any feedback following your observations?
• How often do you engage in peer observations?
• Are peer observations encouraged in your school?
• How often do you meet with your immediate supervisor (director of studies, school owner, etc.)?
• Do you feel you meet with the above individual too often or too little?
• Do you feel these meetings are constructive? Why or why not?
• How available is this individual for non-scheduled meetings?
• Does this person have regular office hours to provide support?
• Are you encouraged to participate in staff meetings by contributing your ideas and suggestions?
• Do you find staff meetings useful? Please explain.

Teaching Training:

•  Do you feel the school places value on teacher training (methodology, etc.)?
• Does the school arrange in-house seminars that support you in your job as a teacher?
• Do in-house seminars only concern how to use an adopted commercial coursebook series? Are such seminars organized by publishers and delivered by marketing personnel, rather than by credible teacher trainers?
• How strongly do you feel about continuing your teacher training?
• Does the school offer you any schemes for further teacher training?
• Are you provided with any information about local teacher training opportunities or local TESOL type organizations?
• How often does your school have staff meetings?

Administration:

• At the beginning of the term were you given:
  - a legal work contract specifying the terms and conditions of your employment?
  - an employee handbook
  - a clear and accurate job description
  - information about pension and health insurance deductions
• Do you feel that your job description is valid?
• Do you know who you report to?
• Do you feel there are opportunities for you to advance?
• At the end of the year, are you given any form of performance review?
• At the end of the year, are you given an opportunity to complete any form of school or job evaluation?

As I mentioned above, my next post on this subject will continue this look at a survey of this nature and include suggested questions for all employees (general) as well as those concerning the administrative and marketing functions of the school. I hope the question above will get you thinking about your own school. And, if you are a teacher, I hope these questions help shed some light on the quality of your own employment. I welcome your comments below on this.

Suggested Reading:

It’s been argued that almost 30 percent of class time is spent on discipline. In a 60-minute lesson, that represents 18 minutes. If you are constantly fretting about how little time there is for you to accomplish your aims, then you should understand where you are losing precious time.

It’s also important to consider the emotional impact all that struggling with discipline has on you, as well on your students. It’s unfortunate when you reach the point where you dread walking into your classroom. And obviously, if this is the case, you really aren’t doing your students, let alone yourself, a service. Retaking control of class (and your sanity!) is one thing, but as they say ‘an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure’. So, I want to share with you a few ways that will help you stave off classroom discipline problems.

Keep Walking

A teacher should not be chained to his desk or the front of the class  so much so that he or she begins to grow roots there. This should be a given, but to many it’s not. Walking around amongst the students, or even giving task instructions from the back of the classroom requires students to expend a bit of energy tracking your presence as you move around. This means the students have to focus their attentions on what’s going on around them, as opposed to a single solitary object … or even though their own distracting thoughts. This is also one of the reasons why using video and electronic white boards garner more attention that a static blackboard or coursebook does. After all, staring at a non-moving object too long is boring. Moreover, young learners, especially, need visual stimulation that keep them focused and their interest levels high.

Keep Things Social

In EFL lessons, the need for pair and group work cannot be overstated enough. You need to find as many opportunities as possible to get students working together. In fact, there’s really no reason that any practice or production task can’t integrate pair work just to foster some meaningful discussion between students. At the very least, we’re talking about including some peer editing. Tacking on an extra 2 minutes of having students review each other’s work will pay dividends down the line, and not just in terms of discipline, but also in terms of increased ‘student talking time’. This advice also relates to maintaining the pace of the lesson. If students are actively involved with each other, they have less time to goof off. If you are concerned about finding an extra 2 minutes per task, well how about tapping into that 18 minutes you lost trying to control thing? Yes, fostering more language use is where that lost time is supposed to be spent.

Keep Smiling (and the world will smile with you):

Having a sense of humor will make you more endearing to your students. Laughter and warmth is infectious. I’m not suggesting you be a clown, but I am suggesting you remember that to some extent you need to be engaging. There is no better way to warm people to your cause than by smiling and letting them know you are someone getting to know. Being genuine and having a sense of humor will help students lower their ‘defensive shields’. This approach also suggests that they will have more fun in class. It’s wrong to think that being an authoritative asshole will earn your students’ respect.

Keep Remembering It’s Not Personal

There are things you can control in life, and there are things you can’t control. Stop taking ownership of problems that aren’t yours. In psychology, this is referred to emotional detachment, and it is also related to ‘emotional intelligence’. Distancing yourself emotionally from student misbehavior will help you to think clearly during times of stress. This is important because lashing out at students really only fans the flames of discord.

There are many reasons why students in engage in disruptive behavior in class. The reasons don’t necessarily include you, so don’t take everything personally. Your students are most likely not trying to ‘piss you off’ on purpose, so don’t give them good them reason to. If you are having a bad day before you step into your classroom, don’t take it out on your students. They’re not responsible for your problems, and you are most certainly not responsible for theirs. Bearing this in mind and staying emotionally detached will help you regroup and spin things to both your and your students’ liking.

Keep Searching: Identify The Causes of Disruptive Behavior

It goes without saying that problems require solutions. Before a solution is found, a good understanding of the problem must be facilitated. Reacting to a behavior problem while you’re teaching may prove temporarily effective or ineffective, but it does not guarantee that the problem won’t arise again in the next lesson, or even 10 minutes later.  Talk ‘one on one’ with students and ask questions that get them to open up to you. This can also be done via a class level group discussion. Sometimes students just need a friendly and non-judgemental ear, as well as an opportunity for them to air their grievances in a non-threatening environment.

In this vein, it’s also important you identify why at times things go right in your classroom, as opposed to only analyzing why things go wrong. Increasing the time spent on doing what works is more highly advised than constantly trying to experiment with new approaches you may be unsure of. Afer all, if it works, don’t fix it.

Keep Students Responsible

Learning occurs when there is a good partnership between teacher and students. the latter need to take responsibility for their own learning experiences and behavior, and they need to be reminded of this. One suggestion is to draw up a ‘contract’ with the students that lists classroom rules you have pre-agreed on by discussing things together. The contract should list student responsibilities and even teacher responsibilities. The contract should also be displayed in the classroom so when significant problems arise, it may be referred to. I’ll write more in detail in a future post about developing such a contract, and also include some ideas for creating tasks for when you need to refer to it.

Remember that part of what helps stem the tide of misbehavior is making sure that students are involved and participating. It’s vital, therefore, to make sure that students understand the importance of contributing back to the class. Some students need to be reminded of this, and encouraged to do so on a regular basis.

Keep The Pace

As I mentioned before, maintaining a good pace of the lesson is vital. Keeping students busy at all times will help prevent boredom and distraction. The way to do this is simply by planning your lessons and actually writing down how much time each task should take on a lesson plan. Tasks that are too long need to be pared down to an acceptable time frame. Also, having a variety of tasks that support varying learning styles is crucial, as well. Having students getting up and moving around will help them expend all that pent-up restless energy. This is especially true for young learners who are very kinesthetic in terms of their learning styles. This is also why ‘play’ is important to children, and sometimes even adults! Moreover, younger students are just naturally restless, so tasks should never last more than 5 minutes. You can’t really blame a child for being a child, can you?

When using video or audio, pause from time to time to check comprehension and give students something to do ‘while’ they are listening/watching. This helps with their attention. Why would you expect students to devote 5 to 10 minutes of their attention to something they might find boring?

Keep Perspective

Lastly, I want to mention that tomorrows teachers are students today. It is quite possible that you might inspire some of your students to follow in your professional footsteps. In this respect, I find it interesting how some teachers are very motivated by their own learning experiences, especially if there was a teacher who was a good role model. What’s funny is that I also have some colleagues that are very dedicated teachers … specifically because their own learning experiences were terrible! They therefore vowed that no student of theirs should have to suffer the same fate as they did! Keep that mind!

Related Posts:

• Taking Control: Classroom Management
• Classroom Dismanagement
• What You Think Of Me: An ‘Emotional Intelligence’ Lesson Task

Suggested Reading:

Reference:
Henley, Martin. “Six Surefire Strategies to Improve Classroom Discipline.” Learning. August 1997, p.43-45.

Quality Circle

What Is Quality Management? Do you really need it? Some claim to have it, others want it. Some offer it for a price, and others will ‘run for the hills’ if they hear word of it.

If you work in an organization long enough, eventually you will hear the terms ‘quality management’, ’quality circle’ or ‘quality control’, as surely as you would hear the word ‘trendy’ if worked in the fashion industry. In fact, go to any bookstore, and you’ll find tons of books espousing all manners of theory and practice for business concerns.

If you own or work at a language school, you may very well have heard or read about quality schemes or quality affiliations. The notion of adopting a ‘quality’ scheme may trigger various ideas or objections in your mind. Here are a few I’ve come across in my consulting experience:

• “Quality?! Of course, I have quality! Are you suggesting I don’t?”
• “Nobody knows more about my business than me.”
• “All my students passed last year. If that’s not quality, I don’t know what is!”
• “Quality management has nothing to do with education. Teaching is an art, not a product.”
• “Sure, quality is important, but that’s something large institutions.”
• “Quality means control and I’m not interested in anyone telling me how to do my job better than I already do it.”
• “I’m a teacher. I have nothing to do with the operation of the school, and I’m certainly not paid to.”
• “Schools that are members of quality associations are elitists.”
• “Quality is something we all strive for in all parts of life. We don’t need to be told what quality is.”
• “Quality management is like that ISO-9000 thing. It’s for manufacturers, not educators.”
• “What the heck is a quality inspection? Who are the inspectors? Do you think they know more about my business than I do?”
• “Quality assurance via accreditation? Right! And I want to know is who accredits the accreditors?”
• “Quality is certainly a worth aim, but is it realistic?”
• “!$#! I’m a teacher! Not a !$#! business executive.”

So as you can see there is a lot of speculation, as well as confusion over what quality management is all about, and how establishing a quality scheme might affect a school and its stakeholders. Nevertheless, since it’s a given that the term ‘quality’ is universally understood as something positive and beneficial, I think we can all agree that it’s something to strive for. The real questions is how you get the ball rolling in your school without losing your sanity, staff or students.

To begin with I think it’s important to dispel some popular misconceptions about what establishing a quality management scheme entails:

• You don’t need to any specialized business knowledge or hold a Master’s Of Business Administration (MBA) degree.
• You don’t need to hire a special business consultant or marketing manager.
• You don’t need to affiliate yourself or your school to any exiting quality association for which you pay for the nose to join.
• You don’t need to have some external ‘seal or approval’ to claim quality.
• You don’t need to be inspected by an external body to claim quaility.

Moreover, bear in the mind the following misconceptions:

• If adopting a quality management scheme means that half your staff will go running for the ‘exit’ the following year, then you obviously have it all wrong.
• If adopting a quality scheme does not eventually translate into greater academic success for your students, greater staff satisfaction with their jobs, and greater earning potential for your school, then you have it all wrong.
• If adopting an external quality management scheme demands making a prohibitive financial investment in your school, then you have it all wrong.
• If adopting a quality management scheme means redefining your teachers as ‘service providers’ and your students as ‘customers’, then you have it all wrong., at least in my opinion.
• If the adoption of a quality scheme assumes a ‘one size fits all’ approach to quality assurance, then you have it all wrong.

A good quality scheme will certainly take into account the role of the teacher and the efficiency at which he or she facilitates learning. Moreover, a good scheme will also assess to what extent a student is actually getting what he or she paid for. A good scheme will not dehumanize these individuals for the sake of slavishly adhering to some doctrine of ‘good business’ or ‘best business practices’. In fact, a good quality scheme tends to evolve holistically from within the organization. It is not an external scheme that places a stranglehold on your staff, finances and operations.

It’s a shame that all too often I’ve seen the application of quality management theories, designed to bolster school efficiency and staff morale, supplanted with authoritarian and draconian measures of ‘quality control’. Such measures create job dissatisfaction, promote disenfranchisement, and ultimately encourage a lack of productivity. It’s safe to say that such consequences do not reflect quality, and certainly not ‘quality of life’.

Bear in mind that quality is not an absolute requirement. In fact, it’s false to think that there is such a thing as ‘maximum’ quality. The needs of individual language schools differ as much as those of its students. Therefore, attempts to measure ‘quality’ in educational systems according to a ‘one size fits all’ benchmarking system is not only unproductive, but also dehumanizing.

I hope you will agree that education, for the most part, is not a ‘product’. School owners, like any business owners, must certainly watch their financial ‘bottom-line’, but not to the exclusion of other more humanistic measure of success. Certainly a school offers courses as ‘products’, but the teaching of those courses, the imparting of knowledge and facilitation of learning, is still an art.

For a long time, I’ve had in mind to create an easy to follow guide for private language school owners, together with their personnel, to establish and implement their own internal quality management scheme. Such a scheme would be highly personalized to the needs of the school, its staff and its students. It would facilitate teamwork and reflect a humanistic ‘people first’ approach. It would give emphasis to designing systems of operational efficiency, while at the same time support communication amongst peers. Lastly, it would instill a sense of pride and professionalism that most certainly will be noticed by potential students, and thus increase revenue. I hope you will follow this series as I lay out step by step what establishing your own quality scheme entails, and ultimately find reward for your efforts.

To wrap up this first installment, I’d like to leave you with the following task, until my next post on this subject. First, write down a few ideas on what ‘quality’ means to you. Then, go back and take a look at the quotes I listed above regarding people’s perception of quality schemes. Also, reread the misconceptions I listed above. Do you agree or disagree with any of these ideas or statements? Lastly, make a comment below on how you feel about ‘quality’ and how it relates to your experience. If you have ever been a part of school that adopted or established a quality scheme, please share your experience, for better or worse, with us.

Suggested Reading:

External Article Links:

In Search of Quality: Teachers as Service Providers and other Tales of Conspiracy
- (Jay Schwartz, Humanising Language Teaching, Year 9; Issue 1; January 07)

In terms of teaching students, I have often experienced, as I am sure you have too, a sense that you can actually feel the learning process taking place when you have given your students a task that interests and motivates them. The question is, however, does it always have to be like this? Also, can it always be like this? More fundamentally, is it wise, educationally speaking, to put so much emphasis on creating entertaining lessons, and at the end of the day, will our students truly benefit from adopting this kind of approach

Obviously, it is impossible for mortals like ourselves to provide an action packed, fun-filled lesson every time we step into the classroom, and to be realistic, even to provide such lessons as a staple diet. The preparation required would be extremely taxing for the majority of working teachers who have a full program. The other danger would be that ‘fun’ lessons would lose their impact if they came to be considered as being taken for granted.

I have heard teachers say when they do an activity that is billed as being fun, students would reply “We know this just a lesson, you’re tricking us!” For them obviously, a fun activity is one that has nothing to do with learning English.

This leads us to the issue of whether entertainment does indeed have a place in the learning process as far as EFL is concerned. As a teacher trainer and director of studies, I have made numerous observations of both experienced and novice teachers and a conclusion that I have come to is that lessons that were composed of over 90% ‘teacher talking time’ (TTT), while no activities that included any element of fun, were often successful and well received by the students.

Moreover, teachers who conducted such lessons were able to command respect and instilled a sense of responsibility in their students in terms of learning and knowing what they had to know for their next lesson. Such teachers relied mostly on the set course or activity book and only occasionally brought in extra material. What they managed to do was put the emphasis on the students in terms of their being responsible for learning to take place, and they were able to do this by building a rapport which included evoking a feeling of both respect and approachability on the part of the students.

Having said that, there were many more lessons I observed with similar characteristics (lessons consisting of mostly TTT and no fun activities) that were far from successful. Nevertheless, there is food for thought here as concerns the ‘no nonsense’, no-frills approach to EFL teaching when it comes to students both learning effectively and good rapport being built. As one very experienced, successful and popular EFL teacher told me “All this humanistic approach to teaching is a load of crap. What you really have to do is get the kids serious about doing their work and listening to you when you talk to them.”

One final issue that needs addressing is why a fun lesson in English is considered necessary when it is not found in many other types of lessons. For example, if one were to begin a course of driving lessons, one would not have the expectation for the lesson to be entertaining. The necessity of having to learn would be enough motivation and our expectation would be for the instructor to be competent and thorough. It might be that as EFL teachers, our aim should be to do a thorough and competent job of teaching our course of studies and for our students to have a need and desire to learn what we are teaching them.

To a great extent, a lot of what I am saying here runs counter to what I have written in the past and does not reflect in some part what I DO as a teacher. The truth is I do introduce elements of fun into my lessons. I do try to be creative and encourage my students to be creative as well, but I also expect my students to work and produce. I use a balance of hard work (back to the grindstone ‘Presentation, Practice, Production’ activities) and fun and creative stuff.

But before YOU start trying to use the hippest new approaches, keep in mind in mind the ‘prime directive’, that your students are with you to learn English.

The link to the article maybe found here: http://www.alternet.org/story/49547

Lesson Plan

1. Write the word ‘freegan’ on the board and ask students to come up with a definition. Make sure they understand that any definition is acceptable and that there are no wrong answers. E.g “A freegan is a person who rides a bus without paying.” [or] “Freegan is a organic compound found in inactive volcanoes.”
2. Students share their answers with each other.
3. Now write the headline on the board (and explain what a dumpster/diner is): “One Person’s Dumpster Is Another’s Diner”
4. Student then speculate on what the article is about and what a freegan might be.
5. Hand out the article and ask students to answer the following questions:
   a.) What is a freegan?
   b.) Why do some people do this? Support answers with examples from the text).
   c.) What is the writer’s opinion of freeganism?
   d.) Would you ever try freeganism? Why/why not?
6. Students first find the answers on their own and then get into groups of three/four to discuss their answers.
7. Elicit answers from the class.
8. Would freeganism ever become acceptable in students’ home country? Why/why not?
9. Ask students to watch the following video on freegan eating and if it changes their mind. The video can be found on “YouTube” at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4n35pS13rs - You can also watch the video below.
10. Students post the video along with a response (in written or video form on their blog). Alternatively, they could post a response on the original YouTube video. [Note: Special video equipment is not needed! Students can record their video on their mobile/cell phones or digital cameras and then upload them.]

Background Reading:

http://freegan.info/ - Strategies for sustainalbe living beyond captilaism

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freeganism – Freeganism on Wikipedia