[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
281
It is clear that the Method should be accepted "warts and all" as it
gets the desired results, which shows that the warts are not
important, nor detrimental to the general workings of the Method.
Two things the teacher should never be heard to say
The teacher should never come out of a classroom and be heard to
say "My God, that class is thick!". It simply means that he has
carried the class out of its depth. In the learning of English by the
Callan Method there is no such thing as a "thick" class or a "thick"
student. There are only "fast" classes or "fast" students and "slow"
classes or slow students. Some students need more revision than
others, that is all.
The other comment the teacher should never be heard to make is
"My God, what a boring lesson!" What this means is that he is
boring, not the lesson, the Method, or the students. He is using the
Method in a boring manner, and consequently boring the students.
He is lacking pace and dynamism. The students might also appear
bored because they have been taken out of their depth, and so cannot
understand the lesson.
If you cannot get a result in 160 hours, do not blame the Method
If the teacher finds he cannot get results in the number of hours
stated in the Student's Book, he should not blame his students or the
Callan Method; he should examine his way of teaching. Almost
certainly he has tampered with the workings of the Method and
adapted it to his own style of teaching. It is, therefore, no longer the
Callan Method, and consequently will not obtain Callan Method
results.
An apology for questions that may give offence
The Callan Method is sorry if any of its questions offend the teacher.
The offence is quite unintentional. As elsewhere explained, all the
questions in the Method have been composed in the most innocent
and innocuous manner possible. The Method has no axe to grind
282
and no political, religious, racist or sexist views to put across. It has,
in fact, bent over backwards to avoid all contentious issues. If,
therefore, the teacher sees offence where none is intended, it
probably says more about the teacher than it does about the
apparently offensive questions.
Removing words from the language
The attitude that some highly-politically-motivated teachers have to
some of the Callan Method questions sometimes gives the
impression that they would like to remove certain words from the
language altogether, as Victorians removed certain words from the
dictionary, or as Dr. Bowdler removed certain unsavoury words
from the works of Shakespeare. A language reflects the world as it
is, not solely as we would like it to be.
The Callan Method does not determine which words are to be
taught, or even with what meaning they are to be taught. This is
determined by the frequency of their use in everyday writing and
conversation.
The teacher is not being asked his opinions
Because some of the questions in the Callan Method ask the student for
his personal opinion on various matters, the teacher should not, as
elsewhere explained, understand by this that he too is being asked for
his own personal opinions, or asked to put them forward in any way,
even if he disagrees violently with the opinions expressed by the
student.
Examples of tampering with the questions
Whilst the Callan Method was in the process of being developed,
copies of the manuscript where being used by the teachers. Despite a
fairly thorough training, some of the teachers began to play around
with the questions and alter them to suit their own tastes and ideas.
The following examples from Stages 9 and 10 of the Method serve to
show why it is necessary for the teachers to leave the questions alone.
283
Only a small minority of teachers, of a certain type, tampers with the
questions, but that is enough to cause confusion to the students and the
other teachers, and to slow down the learning process:-
If it snowed in the middle of summer, would you say that it was on
the account of past nuclear or atomic-bomb explosions having
disturbed the upper atmosphere ?
This is a perfectly harmless question. It is the kind of thing that people
talk about when there is a season of freak weather. Some people think
such weather is due to past nuclear explosions or to the hole in the
ozone layer etc. It is the harmless sort of thing that comes up in normal
conversation.
Despite all this, one of the teachers not only crossed out the question,
but blotted it out so completely that no other teacher could see what it
had been, and wrote next to it the words "ideologically unsound". This
is a fine example of why the main problem with teaching English at a
private school is not the teaching but the teachers.
As elsewhere explained, the questions in the Method are not intended
to ask the teacher his opinion, but that of the student. If the student
himself thinks the question is ideologically unsound, he is quite entitled
to say so at the end of his answer. The teacher should not allow
himself to get involved.
What was the famous experiment that Galileo performed from the
top of the leaning tower of Pisa ?
This question was crossed out with big question marks written over it.
Does this mean that the teacher felt the question to be incorrect, and
that Galileo did not perform such an experiment from the top of the
leaning tower of Pisa ? In fact, most histories state that Galileo did
perform such an experiment from the tower, but some state that,
although he definitely performed such an experiment, it is not
absolutely certain that he did so from the top of the leaning tower.
Such equivocations or arguments do not concern the student or the
teaching of English. They are more suited to an argument over coffee.
284
Fancy
To the questions containing the word "fancy" a teacher added the
expressions "Fancy that!" and "Fancy seeing you here!" Such uses of [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl wyciskamy.pev.pl
281
It is clear that the Method should be accepted "warts and all" as it
gets the desired results, which shows that the warts are not
important, nor detrimental to the general workings of the Method.
Two things the teacher should never be heard to say
The teacher should never come out of a classroom and be heard to
say "My God, that class is thick!". It simply means that he has
carried the class out of its depth. In the learning of English by the
Callan Method there is no such thing as a "thick" class or a "thick"
student. There are only "fast" classes or "fast" students and "slow"
classes or slow students. Some students need more revision than
others, that is all.
The other comment the teacher should never be heard to make is
"My God, what a boring lesson!" What this means is that he is
boring, not the lesson, the Method, or the students. He is using the
Method in a boring manner, and consequently boring the students.
He is lacking pace and dynamism. The students might also appear
bored because they have been taken out of their depth, and so cannot
understand the lesson.
If you cannot get a result in 160 hours, do not blame the Method
If the teacher finds he cannot get results in the number of hours
stated in the Student's Book, he should not blame his students or the
Callan Method; he should examine his way of teaching. Almost
certainly he has tampered with the workings of the Method and
adapted it to his own style of teaching. It is, therefore, no longer the
Callan Method, and consequently will not obtain Callan Method
results.
An apology for questions that may give offence
The Callan Method is sorry if any of its questions offend the teacher.
The offence is quite unintentional. As elsewhere explained, all the
questions in the Method have been composed in the most innocent
and innocuous manner possible. The Method has no axe to grind
282
and no political, religious, racist or sexist views to put across. It has,
in fact, bent over backwards to avoid all contentious issues. If,
therefore, the teacher sees offence where none is intended, it
probably says more about the teacher than it does about the
apparently offensive questions.
Removing words from the language
The attitude that some highly-politically-motivated teachers have to
some of the Callan Method questions sometimes gives the
impression that they would like to remove certain words from the
language altogether, as Victorians removed certain words from the
dictionary, or as Dr. Bowdler removed certain unsavoury words
from the works of Shakespeare. A language reflects the world as it
is, not solely as we would like it to be.
The Callan Method does not determine which words are to be
taught, or even with what meaning they are to be taught. This is
determined by the frequency of their use in everyday writing and
conversation.
The teacher is not being asked his opinions
Because some of the questions in the Callan Method ask the student for
his personal opinion on various matters, the teacher should not, as
elsewhere explained, understand by this that he too is being asked for
his own personal opinions, or asked to put them forward in any way,
even if he disagrees violently with the opinions expressed by the
student.
Examples of tampering with the questions
Whilst the Callan Method was in the process of being developed,
copies of the manuscript where being used by the teachers. Despite a
fairly thorough training, some of the teachers began to play around
with the questions and alter them to suit their own tastes and ideas.
The following examples from Stages 9 and 10 of the Method serve to
show why it is necessary for the teachers to leave the questions alone.
283
Only a small minority of teachers, of a certain type, tampers with the
questions, but that is enough to cause confusion to the students and the
other teachers, and to slow down the learning process:-
If it snowed in the middle of summer, would you say that it was on
the account of past nuclear or atomic-bomb explosions having
disturbed the upper atmosphere ?
This is a perfectly harmless question. It is the kind of thing that people
talk about when there is a season of freak weather. Some people think
such weather is due to past nuclear explosions or to the hole in the
ozone layer etc. It is the harmless sort of thing that comes up in normal
conversation.
Despite all this, one of the teachers not only crossed out the question,
but blotted it out so completely that no other teacher could see what it
had been, and wrote next to it the words "ideologically unsound". This
is a fine example of why the main problem with teaching English at a
private school is not the teaching but the teachers.
As elsewhere explained, the questions in the Method are not intended
to ask the teacher his opinion, but that of the student. If the student
himself thinks the question is ideologically unsound, he is quite entitled
to say so at the end of his answer. The teacher should not allow
himself to get involved.
What was the famous experiment that Galileo performed from the
top of the leaning tower of Pisa ?
This question was crossed out with big question marks written over it.
Does this mean that the teacher felt the question to be incorrect, and
that Galileo did not perform such an experiment from the top of the
leaning tower of Pisa ? In fact, most histories state that Galileo did
perform such an experiment from the tower, but some state that,
although he definitely performed such an experiment, it is not
absolutely certain that he did so from the top of the leaning tower.
Such equivocations or arguments do not concern the student or the
teaching of English. They are more suited to an argument over coffee.
284
Fancy
To the questions containing the word "fancy" a teacher added the
expressions "Fancy that!" and "Fancy seeing you here!" Such uses of [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]