A Shortage of Teachers

Context Questions 1. Why do you think there is a shortage of teachers in certain countries (England, USA)? (give 5 reasons) a. ___________________ b. _____________________ c. ___________________ d. _____________________ e. ___________________ 2. What are the advantages of being a teacher? (give 5 examples) a. ___________________ b. _____________________ c. ___________________ d. _____________________ e. ___________________ 3. What are the disadvantages of being a teacher? (give 5 examples) a. ___________________ b. _____________________ c. ___________________ d. _____________________ e. ___________________ 4. How can governments get more teachers? (give 5 examples) a. ___________________ b. _____________________ c. ___________________ d. _____________________ e. ___________________ 5. Why are good teachers so important? (give 5 examples) a. ___________________ b. _____________________ c. ___________________ d. _____________________ e. ___________________ Match the words in the box to the definitions below. Then use the words to complete the sentences. Part one shortages - recruit - blame - relentless extreme - contempt - inspire - competent 1. ____________________ the skill to do something successfully. 2. ____________________ not enough of something. 3. ____________________ to hire. 4. ____________________ a high level. 5. ____________________ assign responsibility for a fault or wrong. 6. ____________________ oppressively constant.

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7. ____________________ not worth considering; worthless. 8. ____________________ to give someone enthusiasm to do or create something. Part two 1. Is it any wonder that there are teacher ____________________ ? 2. Schools are going on four-day weeks simply because they cannot _____________ enough teachers. 3. Fewer students are entering teacher-training courses, but can you _____________ young people after the bad press teachers have received. 4. The attack, __________ in the __________, has been on many fronts. 5. The governments obvious __________ for the teaching profession was recently revelled. 6. We need good teachers to ___________ students. 7. ___________ teachers are being driven out of the profession by increased pressure and stress.

Text: A Shortage of Teachers

Is it any wonder that there are teacher shortages? Daily, the press carries reports of schools going on four-day weeks simply because they cannot recruit enough teachers. But why is this the case? There is no straightforward answer. To start with, fewer students are entering teacher-training courses when they leave school. But can you blame young people after the barracking faced by the teaching profession in the UK over the last decade? The attack, relentless in the extreme, has been on several fronts. Government inspectors, by accident or design, have been feeding the media a constant stream of negative information about the teaching establishments in this country. Teachers also come in for a lot of flak from politicians. And the government wonders why there are problems in schools. The governments obvious complete contempt for the teaching profession was recently revealed by one of the most powerful people in government when she referred to schools as bog standard comprehensives. Hardly the sort of comment to inspire parents or careers advisers seeking to direct young peoples future. Would you want to spend your working life in a dead-end profession? The government doesnt seem to want you either. Teacher bashing has, unfortunately, spread to youngsters in schools as the recent catalogue of physical attacks on teachers will testify. If grown-ups have no respect for the teaching profession, young people can hardly be expected to think any differently. The circle is then squared when, as well as experienced, competent teachers being driven out of the profession by the increased pressure and stress, fewer students are applying for teacher-training courses.

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Increased salaries are certainly welcome, but they are not the complete answer to a sector in crisis. Addressing the standing of the profession in the eyes of the public is crucial to encourage experienced teachers to remain in the classroom and to make it an attractive career option for potential teachers once again. It might also be a good idea for the relevant ministers to go on a fact-finding mission and find out from teachers in schools, rather than relying overmuch on advisers, as to what changes could be brought about to improve the quality of the education service. Initiatives in the education field surprisingly come from either politicians who know little about classrooms practice or educational theorists who know even less but are more dangerous because they work in the rarefied air of universities largely ignorant of classroom practice. Making sure that nobody without relevant recent classroom experience is employed as a teacher-trainer at any tertiary institution would further enhance the teaching profession. If someone does not have practical experience in the classroom, they cannot in all seriousness propound theories about it. Instead of being given sabbaticals to write books or papers, lecturers in teacher-training establishments should be made to spend a year at the blackboard or, these days, the whiteboard. This would give them practical insights into current classroom practice. Student teachers could then be given the chance to come and watch the specialists in the classrooms: a much more worthwhile experience that the latter sitting thinking up ideas far removed from the classroom. Then we would have fewer initiatives like the recent government proposal to teach thinking in school. Prima facie, this is a laudable recommendation. But, as any practicing teacher will tell you, this is done in every class. Perhaps someone needs to point out to the academic who thought up the scheme that the wheel has been around for some time. In the education field, there is surprisingly constant and relentless tension between the educational theorists and government officials on the one hand, who would like to see teachers marching in unison to some greater Utopian abstraction and, on the other, practicing teachers. Any experienced classroom practitioner knows that the series of initiatives on teaching and learning that successive governments have tried to foist on schools and colleges do not work. Activities Section 1 Text Analysis 1. How many paragraphs does the text have? ______________________ 2. What tense is the text written in? ______________________________ 3. Who is the audience of this text? ______________________________ 4. What is the purpose of this text? ______________________________ 5. Where would you find this text? ______________________________ 6. Is this text an advertisement? _________________________________ Section 2 Language Analysis 7. Highlight all of the words that relate to education and learning. 8. Which word in the text means teacher? _________________________

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9. Which word in the text means bad? ____________________________ 10. Which word in the text means experts? ______________________ 11. Which word in the text means not the same? ______________________

Section 3 Summary Writing Task: Complete the summary with one of the words in the box. Note: There are too many words in the box so be careful. talented, shortage, growing, reasons, job, terrible, teaching, teach, shortages, grows, jobs Is it surprising that there is a _________________ of teachers? Schools do not have enough teachers, but what are the ____________ for this? To begin with, fewer students are going into _____________ courses after finishing school. But this is not young peoples fault. The _______________ of teaching has been under constant attack over the last ten years. The governments lack of respect for the profession is _____________. Even pupils in schools have no respect for those who teach them, as a ______________ series of assaults on teachers shows. The growing strain and stress means that, as well as fewer applications for teachertraining courses, teachers who have experience and are _______________ are also being driven out. Section 4 Comprehension Task: Read the following statements and write down: YES if the statement agrees with the text NO if the statement disagrees with the text NOT GIVEN if the information is not mentioned in the text 1. More students are entering teacher-training courses. 2. The government is right to be surprised that there are problems at school. 3. Teachers are too weighed down with administrative duties to stir up trouble. 4. All teachers are negative. 5. Any experienced teacher knows that government ideas do not help the development of schools and teachers. 6. The public cares about the governments attitude towards schools and teachers. 7. Teachers are only interested in getting more money. Section 5 Choosing a Title Task: Which of the following is the most suitable title for the passage? a. Politicians and Teachers b. A Profession Undervalued

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c. Recruitment Difficulties in the Teaching Profession d. Teacher-training needs Improvement

Section 6 - Speaking Task 2: Individual Long Turn (3-4 mins) Task: Read the following description that a student has written about a former teacher and underline all of the past tense forms. When I was in year 10, my favourite teacher was Mr Harris who taught history and English. I remember he always wore very bright colours, and he used to make us laugh by acting out some of the scenes from the history books. Mr. Harris didnt bore us like the other teachers because he was so entertaining. Also, you could always tell that he had done a lot of preparation before each class, which made us feel special. Since I became a teacher myself, I have thought about Mr. Harris a lot. He has left the school now and I wonder if he realises that his old students havent forgotten him! Task II: Use the following notes to write a description of Mr Finn. Note: Use the above example as a guide. Mr Finn South College Lecturer Graphics, Fine Art Least Favourite Shouted a lot, lots of homework No groupwork or personal help No previous teaching experience boring No interest in art for me since then _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________

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Task III: Watch this youtube interview. IELTS Speaking test, Part 2 Topic: A teacher who has influenced you. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGoAde0hmUQ&NR=1 Part Two of the IELTS speaking test - making notes http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvpr9USeMvA&feature=related Task IV: First take notes and then write a description of a teacher that you can remember. Note: You can make positive or negative comments. taking notes _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________

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