ACTIVITY 4

OBSTACLES BETWEEN ME AND TRULY DIFFERENTIATED TEACHING

2	My students taking exams at the end of each year is one important obstacle between me and truly differentiated teaching. I am considered as the teacher that takes students to final exams. I usually meet my students at the beginning of a school year and goodbye them at the end of it. In the last 15 years of my teaching career I have never taught anyone for more than a school year. This is considered a very successful feat where I come from, but for me it is an important obstacle.
1	Having to teach test curriculum. Whatever I do, I eventually have to refer to the test.
4	Class size. The classroom where I teach is very small. The desks are placed in a specific way so that the classroom fits the largest possible number of students. We can barely move in there…
3	Not enough time to prepare. I teach both one to one and language school lessons.  From September to May my only free time is usually spent on sleeping. I know this is no era to complain about overworking but I truly believe schools should pay for hours of preparation. DI takes a lot of it anyway.

B.

Obstacle marked as number one depends on the educational system as it stands today. When it comes to foreign languages they are viewed as an opportunity for the students to acquire more certificates and therefore, more points to enter the public sector once they are presented with the opportunity. Greek students do not learn the language fir the benefits they may be able to seize later in their life but because they are forced by their parents to get the highest possible certificate. 

Obstacle marked as number two is a combination of the factor I just mentioned and the policy of the school I work for. In the school I work for I only teach C2 level students. This is because of the fact that for the past 10 years I’ve been working for the school, none of the students has failed getting the C2 certificate. This has made the management insist on my working with this class and only.

Obstacle marked as number three depends on the Greek educational system and the way it has persuaded school owners that they should not spend money on their teachers. In my opinion, it is urgent that we understand that teachers should be paid for the time they spend outside the classroom preparing. The more money spent on preparation, the better the results.

Obstacle marked as number four depends on the school’s environment. Though the school I work for promotes DI, when I asked for a round table they answered they could not sacrifice a whole classroom to fit only five students. I understand their point but I think environment is really important for DI too.  

D.

Removing obstacles number one two and three is not at all easy. It asks for a change in the Greek culture which I’m not sure it can easily happen. The parent s of teenagers grew up in the 80s when getting the highest certificate was of the utmost importance. Maybe in about 20 years or so when the students of today become parents themselves there is the chance that they understand and promote languages for what they are, and that is a means of communication.

Removing obstacle number four is a matter of time. It’s been three years now I try to persuade the owners of the school to change the sitting arrangement. I believe I will succeed, any time now…