TEACHER CASE STUDIES

Listen & Learn: Please tell us a little about what you teach, and why?
Martin: I teach Biology, Chemistry, Math, English and Italian, and do so because I am a qualified science and language teacher.

Listen & Learn: Where did you study, and how long have you been teaching, and what age group do you usually teach?
Martin: I studied at Concordia University in Montreal and at the Medical Faculty at the University of Rome. I’ve been teaching all age groups for around 37 years now!

Listen & Learn: What do you think a student should bring in to the lesson?
Martin: I think the student should be willing to learn and should also show some focus in class for his/her own benefit.

Listen & Learn: What do you think is important for the teacher to bring to the lesson?
Martin: The teacher should also be focused and adept at handling new challenges as they occur. He ought to keep aside political, religious and any other ideas that might provoke a backlash to himself. He should also impart to the student the notion that they can make a worthwhile, positive change in their language learning.

Listen & Learn: What is your favorite teaching story?
Martin: I can't think of a teaching story at the moment; there have been so many students I have taught in different countries over the past 35 years that it is difficult to choose one in particular. One challenge that sticks out is when I was teaching some Yemeni women many years ago. It came to getting them to understand certain phonetics without imposing on their cultural heritage. They kept their veils on and looked at the way I sounded the "th" (as in ‘think’ and ‘this’) and were able to successfully reproduce the two varieties, with much ado.

Listen & Learn: What are three words that describe you?
Martin: I would say ‘patient’, ‘creative’ and ‘inspiring’. ‘Humorous’ too, if there is room for an additional adjective!