miércoles, 5 de diciembre de 2012

Talking point: Would you like to be a teacher?

Would you like to be a teacher? is this week's talking point. Get together with the members of your conversation group and discuss the questions below about the topic.

Do you have a close relationship with a teacher? If so, how do they feel about their job?
How do you feel about teachers and the teaching profession in general?
How do you feel about the status of teachers and teaching in Spain or in your country?
Do you think teachers in Spain or in your country get enough respect and social recognition?
How does it compare with some other countries?
What are some of the advantages and disadvantages of the job?
Think about the working conditions, the daily working hours and aspects like salary and holidays.
What about other less known aspects of the teaching profession like retraining or working at home and at weekends?
Do you feel teachers are adapting to ICT (Information and Communications Technology)?
Would you like to be a teacher yourself? Why or why not?

You can also widen the scope of your debate by discussing the opinions of experts on How to Raise the Status of Teachers in the Room for Debate section of The New York Times.

And you can read The Guardian article Why I became a teacher, where primary school teacher Andrew Kite tells us about his life-long vocation.