Ian Michael Robinson is a lecturer and researcher in English and applied linguistics at the University of Calabria in Italy. He has been involved in teacher training for some time and draws on his experience of teaching English in Italy, the UK and Japan to help him in this work.

 

Background

Teacher-training requires the future EFL teachers to acquire many different notions concerning English language teaching (ELT), often in quite a short time. Sometimes, this is not easy, as the students on the course do not have the experience to connect theoretical notions to the practical day-to-day reality of teaching. It is therefore necessary to find other ways to help them connect these ideas and realise them more completely. One way to do this would be to have them remember their own teachers and use this as a bridge. However, in this way, each person would have a different memory, and it would be impossible to know that everyone was thinking of something similar. Another way is to look to the world of fictional literature and find teachers there who can help us have a clear image of what teaching involves.

Popular literature allows us to have an insight into the real world via the fictional world that authors create and this can be useful in the world of ELT as well, even if the book does not deal specifically with this particular aspect of teaching. This project investigates teachers in works of fiction and aims to apply this to ELT. A variety of books was chosen in which a teacher is present, each of these books will be dealt with separately in this article.

 

Hard Times by Charles Dickens (1854)

Hard Times tells the story of the Gradgrind family in an industrial city in England. At Mr Gradgrind's school they follow his rule that is summed up by the man himself at the start of the novel.

Now, what I want is, Facts. Teach these boys and girls nothing but facts. Facts alone are wanted in life. Plant nothing else, and root out everything else. You can only form the minds of reasoning animals upon Facts: nothing else will ever be of service to them. This is the principle on which I bring up my own children, and this is the principle on which I bring up these children. Stick to Facts, sir! (1995: 9)

Such a knowledge rich approach to schooling was considered the best method of educating young people. This is also the approach that Paulo Freire (1970) referred to as the banking system of schooling. In such a system, Freire argues, the teachers rely on a form of narration that leads the students to memorise mechanically the narrated content. Worse yet, it turns them into “containers”, into “receptacles” to be “filled” by the teacher (1970; 44). His book, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, was written as an antidote to this form of teaching with the aim of replacing it with a more progressive form which taught the students in the adult literacy programmes to become critically thinking citizens, whole people ready to take their place in society rather than passive accepters of notions and facts that others want them to acquire. Dickens writes that, when observing the pupils in the school, Mr Gradgrind

… and the schoolmaster ... swept with their eyes the inclined plane of little vessels, then and there arranged in order, ready to have imperial gallons of facts poured into them until they were full to the brim. (1995: 9)

As the novel progresses, Mr Gradgrind learns to his cost that such a method was not appropriate for the formation of rational, ethical functioning members of society. By the end of the novel, he has come to rue his earlier passion for facts. This powerful novel clearly shows the dangers involved in expecting students to be seen as objects to be filled up with knowledge passed on by an expert, the teacher. Claxton (2021) stresses the difference between a traditional form of pedagogy, in line with Mr. Gradgrind at the start of Hard Times, and a progressive tone, highlighting the need for the later.

The novel allows us to become emotionally involved in this debate and see the human effects of choosing the wrong approach.

 

Villette by Charlotte Brontë (1853)

A year before Dicken's published Hard Times, Charlotte Brontë had published a novel titled Villette in which a young orphan called Lucy Snowe leaves England and becomes a governess in a school in the French town of Villette. One day, the headmistress of this exclusive school tells her that she, Miss Snowe, will be the new English teacher for the young girls at the school. Miss Snowe was aware of the pitfalls that could be waiting for her and shows that teaching is not just about what the teacher knows but is also concerned with classroom management. This is another topic that is often dealt with in ELT teacher-training courses. Brontë is keen to point out that it is not always simple to stand at the front of a class and teach and that there are many things that a new teacher must bear in mind. She starts by showing the problem of unruly students. On her first day in a classroom, Miss Snowe worried “I shall make blunders that will lay me open to their scorn. Still, I mean to give the lesson” (1999: 69).

The headmistress of the school, Mrs. Beck, is also worried about what could happen if a teacher does not demonstrate enough authority.

“They always throw over timid teachers,” said she [Mrs. Beck]

I have heard how they rebelled against and persecuted Miss Turner…

“C’est vrai,” said she, coolly. “Miss Turner had no more command over them than a servant from the kitchen would have had.

(1999: 70)

Miss Snowe’s answer to this was to enter the classroom and identify two girls whom she knew could be difficult if they were not dealt with quickly. Her method is one that we probably, i.e. certainly, cannot use in these more modem and enlightened times. She tore up one girl's essay and locked another girl in a cupboard.

However, it is not by these extreme ways that Miss Snowe could maintain an environment conducive to learning. It is necessary that she, the teacher, show no bias in the classroom and that everyone is given an equal opportunity to do their best. For this, in the school in Villette “Equality is much practiced … the young countess and the young bourgeoisie sat side by side” (1999: 73).

One thing that also must be mentioned in teacher training is that the manner in which the teacher proposes her or his self to the class is important. Once again, an image from a novel can help give a clear picture of what is asked of a teacher. Miss Snowe noticed that

it was clear as the day that this swinish multitude were not to be driven by force. They were to be humoured, borne with very patiently: a courteous though sedate manner impressed them; a very rare flash of raillery did good.

(1999: 74)

We would not refer to a class of students as a “swinish multitude” these days, but the intent is very much the same. A teacher must have the necessary patience to deal with a class

 

Anne of Green Gables by L.M Montgomery (1908)

Moving from the nineteenth into the twentieth century, another book was published that had a teacher as one of its influential characters. Anne of Green Gables was written by L.M Montgomery and published in 1908. It too tells the story of an orphan girl. Anne Shirley is adopted by a brother and sister, although they originally wanted a boy who could help them on the land. As she grew up, she had to go to the local school

In the new teacher she found another true and helpful friend. Miss Stacey was a bright, sympathetic young woman with the happy gift of winning and holding the affection of her pupils and bringing out the best that was in them mentally and morally.

(2018: 277)

Here we see how the mannerisms of the teacher in the classroom can have a positive effect on the students. Not only this, the last phrase reminds the trainees and us that teaching, EFL teaching as well, is not only concerned with the subject matter but involves the whole person: there is a moral dimension. The position of teacher is a delicate one and future teachers need to bear this in mind.

After some time off school due to health problems, when she returned Anne found that

Schoolwork was as interesting, class rivalry as absorbing ... ... much of all of this was due to Miss Stacy's tactful, careful, broad-minded guidance. She led her class to think and explore and discover for themselves and encouraged straying from the old beaten path to a degree that quite shocked Mrs. Lynde and the school trustees, who viewed all innovations on established methods rather dubiously.

(2018: 366-367)

This idea of the student exploring things for her or himself seems similar to the ideas of student-centred teaching in which the teacher facilitates the students in discovering the language for themselves.

It may seem that what we find in the book are very much modern 21st century skills, but here the ideas are being extolled at the start of the last century. Miss Stacey treats her students with respect and as thinking, rational people. She creates an environment in the classroom that allows the students to feel comfortable exploring and discovering the subject for themselves, rather than being told the entire course and accepting in a passive manner. They become active participants in the creation of knowledge. We also see here that not all stakeholders might be fully appreciative of such an approach.

Anne appreciated Miss Stacy's method and wrote that

Miss Stacy sometimes has us write a story for training in compositions, but she won't let us write anything but what might happen in Avonlea in our own lives, and she criticises it very sharply and makes us criticise our own too. I never thought my compositions had so many faults until I began to look for them myself. I felt so ashamed I wanted to give up altogether, but Miss Stacey said I could learn to write if I trained myself to be my own severest critic.

(2018: 369-370)

Here we see that the students are encouraged to become critical thinkers. This is one of the ideas and objectives that is often talked about without clearly defining what it means. In this book, we have a good example of students being asked to reflect critically on what they have produced as a means of improving their work and themselves.

 

Pnin by Vladamir Nabakov (1957)

In 1957, Vladamir Nabakov published a short book called Pnin. This describes the life of the eponymous (anti) hero of the book, a Russian émigré, who had come out of Russia with his family after the Bolshevik revolution. He later became a professor of Russian at an American university. In teacher-training courses, students are often referred to pedagogy works such as those of Stephen Krashen. Amongst the many things that Krashen (1981) writes about is the notion that students learn better when the level of input they receive during the lessons is comprehensible for them at their level of learning. Indeed, to progress, Krashen suggests that input should be just a little more difficult, i+1, so that students move on. Pnin’s method is a good example of not what to do, but of what not to do. Nabakov writes that not many undergraduates wanted to take Russian and that in these small classes Pnin would endeavour to teach the basics of the Russian language. However, every now and then he would take a book of old Russian literature that he enjoyed and would read to the class.

He delivered these stale goods... but since to appreciate whatever fun those passages still retained one had to have not only a sound knowledge of the vernacular but also a good deal of literacy insight, and since his poor little class had neither, the performer would be alone in enjoying the associative subtleties of his text. (2010: 5)

Obviously, here the teacher has introduced material that is too difficult for the students at this stage or their learning. This highlights the need for all texts and input to be gauged correctly for the class it is used with. This can be a difficult lesson to learn for future teachers. Not only do they have to be careful with the texts that they use in the classroom but also with their instructions. Sometimes, teachers use a level of 1anguage that is inappropriate to the students she or he has in front of them.

It is sometimes useful to have a negative model to see how not to teach. Just because a teacher might like the works of Shakespeare does not mean that it would be appropriate to use the Bard in lower-level groups.

 

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark (1961)

Another book with a teacher as the protagonist, and again one that might be defined as an example not to follow, is Muriel Spark's The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. It can be a good idea for a teacher to share some of her or his personal story with the students so that a relationship of trust can be established between people rather than have a distant relationship between a teacher and students. However, this can be taken too far, and this novel shows the perils of doing so. Miss Jean Brodie does not seem to be interested in teaching to the whole class and finding the appropriate manner to reach everyone in the class. She creates a small “set” of students, which she refers to as “la crème della crème” and seems to teach exclusively to them. Not that she works very well even with them as she ignores the curriculum and only pretends to teach anything connected to it by writing something pertinent on the blackboard as a cover in case the headmistress enters the classroom.

Miss Brodie then continues to recount her personal life story to her girls. Not only does she encourage these girls to think that she is the best, but also casts derision on other teachers. Her morals are also open to discussion as she has an affair with another teacher (not the one she loves) and lets the girls know about this and then encourages her girls (when of age) to have an affair with a teacher (the one she loves). Moreover, it is not only in sexual politics that her classroom behaviour could be criticised. Her political politics would also be frowned upon as she openly supports fascists (pre-WWII). These are all points that allow for the importance of social justice within the classroom to be raised with the future EFL teachers on their training course.

Social justice can/should be practiced in the classroom by treating all the students equally and giving everyone the opportunity to study and learn as well as they can. The Common European Framework of Reference (Council of Europe, 2001, 2020) refers to social justice as an aim of language teaching. If we feel that it is important, we need to apply it in all aspects of teaching, including personal remarks concerning other teachers, or others in general. A part of this involves what we discuss in class, or what subjects our texts concern. Thornbury (2010) noted an aversion in EFL teaching to what he describes as the PARSNIP subjects: politics, alcohol, religion, sex, narcotics, isms -such as communism or atheism-, and pork. These he noted as possibly conflictual subjects. This does not mean that they have to be avoided but that hat they must be treated with care. A teacher, in this case Jean Brodie, who openly talks about her support of fascist politics, might easily be seen to be contravening the ideas of social justice. By seeing this in a novel, the future teachers can be encouraged to think about what subjects to address in the classroom and how.

 

Matilda by Roald Dahl (1988)

A more positive role model can be found in one of Roald Dahl's books. In Matilda there is the teacher who recognises that the young girl in her class is special and needs some attention to help her reach her potential, but this empathetic style is one that she employs with all the pupils under her care.

Miss Jennifer Honey was a mild and quiet person who never raised her voice and was seldom seen to smile, but there is no doubt she possessed that rare gift for being adored by every small child under her care. She seemed to understand totally the bewilderment and fear that so often overwhelm young children who for the first time in their lives are herded into a classroom and told to obey orders. Some curious warmth that was almost tangible shone out of Miss Honey's face when she spoke to a confused and homesick newcomer to the class. (2016: 60-61)

These aspects of teaching are not easy to communicate theoretically to potential teachers in a classroom and so this descriptive method may help.

 

A lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines (1993)

Social justice comes up again in another book. Ernest J. Gaines’ 1993 book A lesson Before Dying recounts the story of a teacher, Grant Wiggins. This book is set earlier in that century in a southern state of’ the USA and concerns a young man, Jefferson, who has been sentenced to death for his, alleged, part in a killing that he only witnessed.

The teaching of a language goes beyond just the grammar, vocab and pronunciation of that language but it should involve the teaching of the whole person to achieve more transversal goals, as expressed by the Council of Ministers (2001) in the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR). The first chapter of the CEFR sets out these other goals and these include the aim to “strengthen independence of thought, judgement and action, combined with social skills and responsibility” (2001: 4).

His family reaches out to Wiggins to help the sentenced man as when sentencing him the judge had insulted him by stating that he was less than human. The family saw the possibility that teaching had of giving self- respect back to him so that he could face his end with dignity. As the book progresses so Wiggins learns more about the capability of teaching to have positive effects on helping to form people as social beings. These are aims that can be touched on in a teacher-training course, but there is never enough time to elaborate on them and so a book such as this one can be illuminating.

 

Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach (1970)

Further illumination can be found in another work of fiction, this one involving non-human characters. Jonathan Livingston Seagull was written by Richard Bach and first published in 1970. Jonathan is no ordinary seagull and launches on a mission to explore his full potential and progress beyond just flying to obtain food. His becomes a spiritual journey in which his learning allows him to achieve a better life. This may seem far from the ELT world we inhabit, but I feel that some of the teaching here can be useful.

The early days of the communicative language approach to teaching can now be criticised for allowing mistakes and errors to go uncorrected and for accuracy to be given second place to fluency. These days, it might be argued that the more accurate the use of a language the better and the more fluent and easily understood will be the communication.

Chiang is Jonathon Livingston's teacher and one day he says to Jonathan:

“The gulls who scorn perfection for the sake of travel go nowhere, slowly. Those who put aside travel for the sake of perfection go anywhere, instantly” (1973; 58)

The idea that we can become better at what we are doing is a great motivational force. Dörynei and Shimoda (2009) refer to the future linguistic self of students in which they should imagine how they wish to become as language users. They warn about not creating too big a gap between where we are now and where we want to arrive at, so maybe the aim of reaching a state of perfection needs to be broken down into smaller steps. One hard part of motivating students is to get them to believe that they can improve. Sometimes a setback will cause them to have doubts as to their abilities. This book tries to help us all believe that we can do better, just as Jonathan believes.

Then one day Jonathan, standing on the shore, closing his eyes, concentrating, all in a flash knew what Chiang had been telling him. “Why that's true! I am a perfect, unlimited gull!” (1973: 59)

Teaching a foreign language is made up of lots of steps and once students have learnt something it is important that they move on to the next step. After a perfect flight, Jonathan still feels the need to learn more and move on. The future teachers need to be able to see that and transmit it to their students. Jonathan states it in this way when he is talking to Sullivan, a gull who has come to him to ask Jonathon to teach him:

“I'm the newcomer here! I'm just beginning! It is I who must learn from you!”

“I wonder about that, Jon,” said Sullivan, standing near. “You have less fear of learning than any gull I've seen ...” (1973: 60)

This response of Sullivan's is also very important. One thing that blocks students from learning is not that they do not have the ability to learn but that they are afraid of learning. If students make an effort and do not reach their goal, they might feel embittered and deterred from making further efforts. This is where the psychological skills of the teacher come into play. We need to create an environment in which teaching can take place.

The book is very clear on the fact that learning does not come from nothing. All of the gulls have to practice hard to move up a level. Where some gulls choose to remain as they are, others practice and make an effort to improve. The book describes how that effort is rewarded. It is not an instant leap forward, but, for most, a slow process that needs to have a certain order to it. When Fletcher, a gull that Jonathan starts to teach, makes a sudden progression, Jonathan has to explain to him

“The trick, Fletcher, is that we are trying to overcome our limitations in order, patiently.” (1973: 86)

This could also be seen as a message for the necessity to scaffold the learning of the students so that they are not asked to try to do something for which they are not yet ready. And when Fletcher sees that Jonathan can do things that to him seem difficult, he asks

“But how did you ... ‘?”

“Like everything else, Fletcher. Practice.” (1973: 91)

We talk in the teacher training modules of teaching to a class of separate individuals rather than the one group of students. This is expressed in the book in this way:

“You have to practice and see the real gull, the good in every one of them, and to help them see it in themselves. That's what I mean by love. It's fun, when you get the knack of it.”

 

Conclusions

The ever-growing resource of books concerning teaching EFL can, and should, be a great help to future teachers before they go into the classroom. However, sometimes what we want to teach on these courses might sound too academic or distant from the students. It is therefore necessary to find a way to bring some of this to life and seem more real. The use of literary fiction can help. The books mentioned here all shed light on some of the ideas that we might bring into a teacher-training course.

Where these messages fit into a lesson will depend on the teacher and on the class. Some classes of teacher-trainees might not appreciate this method. Some teachers might use the books after the idea has been introduced in a more academic style. The messages from fiction can also be used to introduce the subject, whether it be motivation, critical thinking, constant practise or social justice in teaching.

This is just a small sample of what could probably be a much greater selection of books. Other people should be able to find more examples. The Harry Potter books include quite a lot of examples of teaching, which would be too much to include here and could become another article in itself. Here, I have not included books that come from films. Films could also be another font of inspiration. The use of such resources, books or films, can help focus attention onto one specific facet of teacher training that all the people in the classroom can share, something which relying on individual memories and experiences does not guarantee.

 

References

Bach, R. (1973) Jonathan Livingston Seagull. London: Turnstone Press Ltd.

Brontë, C. (1999) Villette. Ware: Wordsworth Editions Limited.

Claxton, G. (2021) The Future of Teaching and the myths that hold it back. Abingdon: Routledge.

Council of Europe (2001) Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Council of Europe (2020) Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment—Companion Volume. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Dahl, R. (2016) Matilde. London: Penguin Random House.

Dickens, C. (1995) Hard Times. London: Penguin Classics.

Dörynei, Z. and Shimoda, E. (2009) Motivation, Language Identities and the L2 Self: A theoretical Overview. In Dörynei, Z. and Shimoda, E. (Eds) Motivation, Language Identities and the L2 Self. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.

Freire, P. (1970) Pedagogy of the oppressed. New York: Seabury Press.

Gaines, E. J. (2015) A lesson Before Dying. London: Serpent's Tail.

Krashen, S. (1981). Second language acquisition and second language learning. New York: Prentice-Hall.

Montgomery, L.M (2018) Anne of Green Gables. Ware: Wordsworth Editions Limited. Nabokov, V. (2010) Pnin. London: Penguin Modem Classics.

Spark, M. (1965) The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. London: Penguin Classics

Thornbury, S. (2010) T is for Taboo. https://scottthornbury.wordpress.com/2010/06/27/t-is-for-taboo/

 

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