‘If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart”. Nelsen Mandela
I first considered a career in teaching whilst I was on an eight month placement as a Foreign Language Assistant in Huelva, southern Spain. After a further month’s study at the Universite Stendhal in Grenoble, and four weeks in a private language school in Lisbon, I finished my degree at the University of Newcastle-Upon-Tyne. A year later, in 1993, I gained a PGCE at the University of York, and began a teaching career that now spans almost a quarter of a century.
XP has invested significantly in our induction programme, and therefore indirectly in its students, and I am delighted to be joining the staff and pleased to be in a position to make a contribution to its future success. I’m passionate about languages and the role they play, not only in preparing our students to compete for jobs and opportunities in an international marketplace, but also in encouraging them to appreciate and respect the history, culture, traditions and heritage of other countries and global communities. Furthermore, students who are competent linguists possess enhanced comprehension and communication skills, and these are also valued by employers.
It is said that travel broadens the mind, and my command of French, Spanish and Portuguese has taken me to places that I couldn’t possibly have reached that are off the beaten track and beyond the remit of the typical travel rep. It’s fair to say that I have got into the odd tricky spot on my travelling adventures, but my proficiency in language has enabled me to extract myself from the situation. I love travel and whilst I am fortunate to have visited counties as diverse as Mexico, Iceland, Kenya, Australia, Denmark and Morocco, there are many more that remain on my “to do” list.
When I am not planning teaching or marking my students’ book, I can be found pottering on my allotment, hiking in the Peak District with my partner, our two teenage children and our rescue dog, or cycling up and down the seven hills of Sheffield with my son, in training for our next long distance cycle sportive.
The culminating event to our staff induction is an Educator-Led Conference, where staff prepare speeches, critiqued by their peers, which answer the guiding questions:
“How have my ideas about teaching and learning changed during this induction process and have I changed as a person during this induction process?”
Below is Mr Pearson’s speech: