- A Resolute Hero -
One of ECA's newest addition to the team is Mr. Francis, the English teacher. A former teacher in Seria, he now brings his teaching skills to Bandar as he tries his hand at tutoring private classes. Curious to know him better, we picked his brains for some of his methods and opinions on his years of teaching. Read on to see some of his views!
ECA : What made you want to transition from a teacher to a tuition teacher?
FRANCIS : Basically, I’m thinking of moving away from teaching. But I’m still iffy about it. That’s why I’m thinking I might as well keep my teaching in check, in the form of tuition. So in case I land a day job that doesn’t have anything to do with education, at least my teaching skills are still intact. Unless something happens, for goodness whatever, I see myself teaching indefinitely, for a really long time, actually.
ECA : What are some of the methods you use to teach?
FRANCIS : Well, let’s see... Basically, you remember when you were a student and you were given some examples of answers, right? And they would all be very plain grammar rules or something. In my experience, I found that if the example sentences are strange, but in a curious way, students will tend to remember the examples better, and, unknowingly, remember the rules on how to use this piece of grammar.
ECA : Do you enjoy teaching? What are some difficulties that you’ve faced as a teacher?
FRANCIS : I do. I enjoy it a lot, actually. I like that every student has their own difficulties and their own challenges with learning. So I like finding different ways for them to overcome obstacles in their studies, basically. As for difficulties… the main difficulties that I face are students who don’t really believe in themselves. Like, they’ve been put down, I don’t know where or when, but they just have no confidence in whatever they do. They’re too afraid to write compositions. They’re too afraid to draft. They just don’t want to put things down on paper, because, I don’t know, they’ve been conditioned to think whatever they write is not good enough. So overcoming that part, it takes a while. It takes a while.
ECA : What do you do to boost that kind of confidence?
FRANCIS : Actually do drafts with them. Or present them with borderline mediocre stuff for the given writing topic - just to show them that it’s okay to put down whatever. I mean, that’s the whole point of drafting, right? You’re basically editing for a final polished work. So, letting them see that there’s an actual process that goes on and the fact that, with time, they can actually shorten their process, so they can actually perform it under exam conditions. So, pretty much that.
ECA : In your experience as a teacher, what are your favourite kind of students to teach?
FRANCIS : Students who want to learn and who want to do better overall. It’s just, we tend to progress a lot further for them, for their sakes, if they actually show initiative to learn. Yeah.
Welcome to ECA, Francis! We're very happy to have you with us and we're sure that all your students will be so lucky to have you as their teacher. Here's to many more years of teaching under your belt!