Hi there! Most of you know quite a bit about me, but for Sarah's sake I'm the one on the left. I don't have many photos of myself, but this is the most recent with my twin sister. My working life seems scarily long now as I try to write a potted history! I started out as a primary school teacher with responsibility for music, having studied geography. When I got married and moved to Scotland I did various jobs (and got some training) in outdoor education - from countryside ranger to outdoor pursuits instructor - before moving into TEFL in 1991.
Most of my life since then has been spent in China (13 years) teaching and working with Chinese teachers in teacher training colleges and I returned from there just one year ago to start working at CELE on presessional courses where I've taught a variety of modules at 3 different levels in an attempt to get a feel for the whole scope of EAP input here. I've also taught in Thailand, Macedonia, Edinburgh and Hastings for a range of organisations.
Much of my work in China was focussed on modelling good practice to Chinese colleagues for whom the communicative approach was new and thought to be unworkable in classes of 30 to 60 students, and where integration of skills and language knowledge was rare. Equally important was building confidence and self-esteem amongst students and teachers working in very difficult circumstances.
The longer I teach, the more I realise there is to learn about language teaching and learning, and the last year has proved to be a particularly steep learning curve - one which I'm still on! I am particularly interested in pronunciation, teacher development and teacher training; I'm terrified of technology, and scared of academic study after years away from it, but determined to face my fears. I hope to reach the end of the PGCTEAP able to say, "It was tough, but well worth the effort."
Interests outside work: I enjoy photography, music, badminton and swimming, and most things Chinese (especially the food and the language). As a Christian, living out my faith is very important to me. I hope that doesn't put you all off and promise not to ram it down your throats.
1 comment:
Hi Anne,
thanks for posting. Quite a varied career indeed! Don't panic about the technology ... I hope the module is more about understanding the technology than training you to be a technician!
As for your faith ... well, I'm sure we all have different views on the world and have students with a wide variety of views too ... so I can't see that being a problem.
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