Czech EFL

Let the Czech check it out

Monday, October 31, 2005

Children

I know some TEFLers groan at the idea of teaching children but there is no doubt children are the most amazing learners and I was truly blessed to teach everything from preschoolers to teenagers and young adults in my previous job.

I can see it now every day how we need to re-learn from the little ones what we have lost - to overcome our fears, be open about how we feel and grab every opportunity that crops up and learn from it.

Being with children is a tremendous experience for any adult learner as Jane Tyson Clement puts it rather exquisitely in this poem:

Child, Though I Take Your Hand
Jane Tyson Clement

Child, though I take your hand
and walk in the snow;

though we follow the track of the mouse together;
though we try to unlock together the mystery
of the printed word, and slowly discover
why two and three make five
always, in an uncertain world —

child, though I am meant to teach you much,
what is it, in the end,
except that together we are
meant to be children
of the same Father
and I must unlearn
all the adult structure
and the cumbering years

and you must teach me
to look at the earth and the heaven
with your fresh wonder.

(via Daily Dig)

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home