Starting from an idea that belong to ...

Being a teacher

Starting from an idea that belong to a partner, Müjde Toplu, from Manisa Toki Ilkogretim Okulu - Manisa-Merkez School from Turkey, this year we will develop a project about the importance and the difficulties regarding the process of  learning English in countries, which do not have this language as a  maternal language. Nevertheless, we have decided to begin with an  intercultural activity, to start changing impressions, about what being a teacher in these days really means, about the activities we have developed with our students, about our countries, about curriculum and methods of teaching, in order to obtain good results in learning a foreign language. However, as a colleague of mine used to say “Is no I in a team”,  we wished that this material would be a result of common work and, in this meaning, we requested our project partners opinions.

Müjde Toplu considered that: “We learned most things from our teachers. For that reason, teaching is an important job. I don't really think so, but is there anybody who doesn't like his or her job?”

            Hakan Tatli, the director of Boydak İlköğretim Okulu  School, from din Melikgazi, Turkey, thinks:

“To be teacher is not something just it is though, it demands effort and heart, it is done by your heart, you must feel this profession in deepness of your heart. It’s also necessary to leave your own private issues and to devote yourself to solve the problems of students and education…. Do you expect that ''being teacher is not only to teach. For example, I have been a teacher since 1992, I was breaking lumens. I was working very much, because there was nobody to do that. Everybody was poor. After seventeen years, I have painted the walls. I like my students. I can do everything for them. My only waiting is their success.”. Regarding the problems from our everyday lives:” You know that today, the world needs some help , if there weren't any people like us, who are willing to do their best, we couldn't find anywhere to live on. Because with the environmental problems day by day, the world is getting worse and worse... . Everything that we do or teach our students is for making our world livable. IF YOU WORRY ABOUT THE FUTURE, WE MUST DECOMPOSE THE WASTES.”

Cécile Bouteneigre from  EPSP Les Capucins School, from Saint Jean le Blanc, France, explained to us how the process of learning in her country is developing: «  School is obligatory 6 – 16 year’s old. The work’s day debute generally at 9h until 16h30 monday, tuesday, thursday and friday. On wenesday, we work only until 12h.

Before 6 year, pupils are in garden school (école maternelle). Pupils learn language, maths, and some activities like art or sport.

Between 6 and 12 years old, pupils are in primary school. They learn many subjects and debute English.

After 12, pupils learn in secondary school. First in collège, until 15, then in Lycée, to prepare the baccalaureate. There are technical secondary school too.

Chidren with special needs are going to primary school into a class called « clis ». They learn with ordinary pupils and come into clis for courses they can’t make easily. I work in such of class. »

Regarding the manner of being a teacher, Opriţoiu Corina Daciana, from „Andrei Mureșanu” School, Deva, Romania believes: “Thinking back I remember my dream as a child came true.. I always used to dream to become a teacher. A reason of this dream might be the fact that I really liked teaching other people since I was a child. For me, being a teacher implies a big responsibility and, in the same time, a lot of involvement.

On one hand, you have a moral obligation towards the students you are teaching. You have to give your best, you have to be constantly informed, to be at all times one step ahead your students, regarding the fact that the new generation today lives in an age in which Internet is the supreme holder of information.

On the other hand, we have to know how to get closer to that tender soul that it opens up to you and trusts you entirely.”

And, regarding  the intercultural exchanging, believes: “The intercultural exchanging privileges are at least two. The first one is to protect the identity of each nation and each etnie from every single European country. We have to wake up and realize that we shouldn’t be ashamed of the fact that we are Europeans in small countries, we have to be proud of the wealth of our country and of the countless cultures and subcultures in Europe. Also, we have to be proud of our cultural identity and not try to homogenize  Europe, on the contrary, we have to emphasize all the cultural differences. The cultural diversity of Europe, in general, and of Romania, especially, is a big value.

Another benefit of this interculturality is the dialogue. Cow, after the “curtain” has been lifted up, it should be best for us not to take refuge in the back of these cultural identity and start dialoguing, that is, start learning from each other, to enrich our cultural identity. That is why, the dialogue between cultures enriches us and helps us to have access to other’s experiences. 

Our direct or indirect  relationships with “the others”, with the ones who are not in our immediate circle, make our lives more beautiful, interesting and worth living.

Our real or imaginary “journey” from country to country, from nation to nation, enriches our spirits, makes us better people, by knowing them and their cultural particularities. That is why we should be able to exclaim: “I am proud of what I am, I am not perfect at all and I have many flaws, but this is my beauty and my beauty has a connection with other’s beauty!”

For me, being a teacher means everything: love, involvement, professionalism, it means the joy from children’s eyes and the unforgettable moments spent beside them, successes and failures.

With the help of the international exchanging, children’s access to information grow, the various methods and instruments emphasized, and children had the chance to get to know this new world that is different as the one we knew until now, ruled by culture and European civilization.

Teacher  Dorina Marin

“Dimitrie Anghel” School, Corneşti-Miroslava-Iaşi

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