Kirsty Murray taught for a year at a collège (the French equivalent of a secondary school) in Villers-Cotterêts – a town in the north of France known for being the birthplace of Alexandre Dumas.
She taught mixed-ability groups of 11 to 16 year-olds, with classes ranging in size from 10 to a staggering 35 students. In this article, Kirsty shares five lessons she learnt from the experience…
1. Go with the flow
“I spent hours preparing materials for some classes only to feel disappointed when the students didn’t enjoy it, or when we went ‘off track’. You’ll have days that are good and others when you think you’ve failed. Sometimes you’ll spend an hour planning a lesson and at other times just two minutes – but keep trying and stay flexible in your approach.
“One of the best lessons I ever taught was on the theme of animals, with my SEN (Special Education Needs) group. I’d thrown together some flash cards at the last minute and the students spent the whole lesson learning names and making animal noises. Afterwards, they said it was the best lesson they had ever had.”
2. Appreciating English culture is a motivating factor for students learning the British curriculum
“I don’t mean afternoon tea and bowler hats (although it helps), but the important thing is to give students an idea of what it’s like to be English.
“I brought in English food and encouraged students to talk about their favourite English-language music (it was particularly enjoyable to see students singing along to The Beatles’ ‘She’s Leaving Home’), sporting heroes and even the royal family. I wanted my students to get excited about learning about our cultural background and the best way to do that was to give them a real idea of English philosophy and icons.”
3. Learn from your students
“When I started teaching, I thought I had a good idea of how students would learn from my teachings… How wrong I was! Listen to your students and you will learn how to create lessons that they will benefit from the most.”
4. Tailor to your audience
“I tried to make the lessons as relevant to the age group as possible. One of the most popular lessons I taught was on texting, as mobile phones were relatively new at the time, and students were excited to learn that ‘C U L8R’ for example meant ‘see you later’.
“Some of the teachers suggested teaching weighty topics like politics, so I made it more fun by introducing debates so that the students could learn how to express themselves – but, using our language.”
5. It is truly a life-changing experience
“Teaching can be extremely rewarding but it is also hard work. The biggest lessons I learnt were confidence and perseverance. If you can stand in front of groups of restless students every day and come through it unscathed, you can do anything! There were days when I wanted to give up, but I met many interesting people and the students taught me so much about France and French culture. I wouldn’t change the experience for the world.
“Why not give it a go?”
This article has been adapted from an original article published here.
In this article
