After six years of teaching in the UK, I moved on. In 2003 I moved to the South of France. At the time I didn’t know what this would mean for my teaching career. I didn’t have a job to go to. I wasn’t looking for one. I was determined to give France a go. Give it at least two years. And, at the very least, learn the language.
Eleven years on, I’m still here. I’m now bilingual, have spent the last ten years working in International Schools, and my two daughters (born here and franglaise) are making their way through the French Primary School System. So why do I follow the UK “Education Debate” so closely? Why don’t I leave “all that” behind me? The sun is shining, it’s the first day of my long summer holiday, and here I am writing a blog about teaching! I’ve been away for so long that when I left Charles Clarke was still Secretary of State for Education!
I’m one of those people who only have two gears when it comes to interest levels – 1. No interest 2. Bordering on obsession. The UK Education Debate has moved me into second gear.
I’m often a little reluctant to disclose where I teach, for fear of being pigeon-holed as a teacher of the “privileged few” who knows nothing of the “real world”, and yet my teaching career has afforded me a number of valuable experiences, which will form the basis of many of my subsequent blog posts:
- 5 1/2 years teaching in North London (Cricklewood)
- 18 months in a “twee” little C of E Primary School with great SATS results!!
- One year studying French (full-time) as an adult (with very strict French teachers!!)
- Ten years working with students, teachers, and families from around the globe, within International Schools.
- 7 years of watching my daughters progress through the French Education System.
None of the above provides me with heightened powers of insight into the education debate, but when the UK Traditionalist versus Progressive debate heats up, I can at least reflect on the dangerously high doses of both, that I’ve encountered along the way…
Next post: Teacher Training (or lack of it)…coming very very soon!!
The Cart Before the Horse 