Recently I recalled an experience I had in high school. My teacher for French was going to be absent for the first time in the history of her teaching career. She asked me if I would teach the class the new vocabulary if she taught it to me ahead of time. At first I said no! I was terrified to teach my peers. I still wanted to be a midwife, and being a teacher had never crossed my mind. Eventually, she persuaded me with extra credit and the general fact that she was nice.
It wasn't a great experience on the enjoyment level. I was shaking, I was nervous and even though I had dressed up nicely, I knew my peers would not take me seriously. I spoke too quietly when introducing the vocab, I didn't know where to stand, and I could hear some girls whispering about how I was the teacher's pet.
I did not choose to teach, and I wouldn't teach in a high school classroom (as a high schooler!) again. But, it taught me something valuable. It is much more difficult to teach one's peers. I've never had a 4 year old tell me that I was teaching because my boss liked me more than the other teachers.
So how does one teach one's peers? If I someday end up teaching students who are even older than I...what will I do? How does this make a teacher act differently?
These are questions that I, or my colleagues, may someday have to face. I think I would be much more prepared now than I was as a first semester, second year french student.
Interesting question, Sam! And one that I struggled with a lot too when I first started teaching grad students (as a grad student myself). Not sure if I have the perfect answer yet, but I've found that when working with adults/peers, showing that you respect their life/educational experiences is important. The fact that they're your peers can sometimes even become an advantage when you're able to relate to them and understand where they're coming from. At the same time, you'd have to have a good grasp of the content you're teaching as well as the way you deliver that knowledge (remember what we talked about in terms of teachers serving as "bridge people"?)in order to gain their respect. I can imagine your experience would have been different and much more difficult than mine, as a high school student! Food for thought -- how do you think ESL teachers who are non-native speakers of English themselves cope with being a learner and teacher at the same time? How do you think ESL students react to this?
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