Hi there guys, thanks for giving my blog a read.
When I found out about Steemit, I was very excited about it all. I wanted to be part of it and contribute to what I think is the future of blogging. However, there was one thing I needed to do: Figure out what I wanted to write. It had to be something relevant, interesting, and most importantly something I felt I could write with some sort of authority.
Among other things, I teach English for a living. Not in a secondary school, but in a private school for foreigners. I have been part of the EFL world for the past 13 years and it has given me an insight into the world which I believe is only obtained in the classroom where people from everywhere come together for one single common goal: to learn English.
I have taught people from everywhere. From Argentina to Japan, Angola to Sweden. I have had students from all walks of life. I have taught people from China, Djibouti and just about every corner of the world.
With this in mind, it is perhaps obvious that as a teacher I have to manage people in a classroom environment which is, by default, filled with different opinions, experiences of the world, and outlooks on life, morality, and respect. I have rarely had any difficulty keeping the classroom a respectful and sensible space.
In a world filled with violence, misunderstanding, and competition between ideologies perhaps I can use my experiences to shed light on how easy it actually is to cooperate and work together. I have had the veil of 'ethnicity' and ' race' lifted and found that all people are exactly the same at the end of the day.
People think globalisation has turned the world on its head and ruined everyone's country. This is not the case. Yes, the challenges of globalisation have caused people to fear their replacement. However, this fear is misplaced.
Perhaps it is quite ironic that such an insight is to be found in a classroom where everyone is trying to learn English: The language of one of the most powerful colonisers in history. What can, or was, viewed as a vehicle for the supremacy of British or Anglophone power turned out to be the place where all the misconceptions Colonialisation has given the world has become the place where it has been diluted and erased.
Crowds of people from all over the non-English speaking world come together and mingle, become friends and grow together. No one fights, and no one hates. This is an experience that no English speaker ever gets.
Through this blog, I will share my thoughts and lessons I have learnt as a teacher. I hope to invite people to consider things they never considered before about others. By discussing the challenges I have faced and the problems I have solved, I hope that you, the reader, may be able to consider other aspects of the world we live in and perhaps be nicer to others.