Our Journey…

Everything started back in 2011. It was then that I came to the decision to set up my own foreign language school. After having worked for many years either as a teacher or as a school director or in some cases as both, it was more than obvious that the time had come.

The recession had started a couple of years before and it was roaring. Though, it was quite clear to me that I had to create my own system, my school, free of all the burdens working for someone else deposits on one’s shoulders.

There was a serious question clucking over my head, a question regarding the direction I would follow.  I mean what is our purpose, our aim, what do we wish to achieve? What is our orientation, the philosophy that governs and determines our whole function? The question rose and vanished into thin air, just in a split second. To be honest, there was never a dilemma, not a single doubt over what should be done whatsoever.

The first criterion is us as parents. What we consider to be true and right for our biological children stands for all the other children as well. No compromises should be made when it comes to each child’s best interest. To elaborate a bit further, what we suggest for each kid is what we would suggest for our own children. And when it comes to our role, as Educators, we are extremely honored and profoundly proud when we are given the opportunity to accompany the children to their journey. This trust is the most valuable credit we could ever been presented with.

The second criterion is us as teachers. In many cases, we do not receive the support and the provisions necessary to carry out our task. In many cases we are not granted with the space needed the liberty to take initiatives so that we can guide our groups effectively. We have to stick to the proprietor’s guns when it comes to the teaching process to be followed, the means to be used to fulfill our academic aims, the rapport that we establish with the students and their parents. This is not necessarily bad or inefficient. In most cases it is though, depriving us of our flexibility and spontaneity.

The last criterion is us as a business.

So, my first school was born, just a few blocks away from our current location.

After 5 years it was time to move, so here we are.

Genius it is.

We develop.

We evolve.

We progress.

We still defend our truth.

Our Principles…

‘I must create a system or be enslaved by another man’s; I will not reason nor compare: my business is to create.’

William Blake

 

What really makes a good student?

Many would say that grades is a safe metric to define one. Some claim that a host of characteristics, such as discipline, industriousness, consistency, perseverance etc, is required. Others value the effort, the result and so on.

It is beyond any doubt that all these are aspects of the term, not to be ignored. Let us add one more, though. A good student is the one that seeks for what their teacher does, in their own unique way. To elaborate on this thought a little further, the utmost freedom of an individual is when the subject is trained, from the very first moment of their life, to compose their own script, to direct and to star in their one and only, unique performance, their life.

So, the question that arises is what really makes a good teacher… Our task is not just teach the subject we expertise in, but to accompany our students in this long journey of re – inventing, re – discovering, re – defining, enriching, expanding themselves, – ourselves as well -, to help them comprehend the value of self-discipline, of self-fulfillment, of self-assessment, of self-sufficiency.

‘Anything learn in life but in a natural way. The natural way is pure. The more pureness there is, the better the outcome.’                                         

Georgi Lozanov

 

Learning is a revitalizing, youthful process, bringing happiness and comfort to everyone involved. It should also be joyful and most enjoyable. Easiness has nothing to do with the pleasure that stems from learning. Unfortunately, this is not commonplace nowadays. There is  a burden on both students’ and teachers’ shoulders, having to do with the scores, the  academic performance, the results, the exams and so many more, depriving both parties of the content of the whole thing.

That doesn’t mean that certification is of non-importance. On the contrary, it is, but it is not the first or exclusive target. Actually, it is the natural outcome of a whole procedure, the final stage of a process that has equipped the student with the necessary skills. The traditional approach and methods, most times, fail to meet the needs of the students. Somehow, learning has to be re-invented, re-oriented to a less stressful, yet pleasant direction. Practical learning, constant oral and written exercising, emphasis on application, not on regurgitation, development of expression skills, differentiated teaching e.tc. are just some of the tools. In fact, learning a foreign language should be no different than learning our mother tongue; it should be conducted with the greatest naturalness possible. Simulating the way we have learnt our native language leads our students’ to having great command of the language from their very first steps.

‘I am getting older, being taught all the time.’   

Solon the Athenian

According to a great psychologist, spontaneity is a most creative response to an external stimulus. The development of the students’ spontaneity, their ability, in other words, to respond to hardships and challenges, preexisting and newly emerging ones, in a progressive way is an integral part of our learning process.

What seems to be of minor importance for the majority of the educators emerges as a dire need nowadays. Focusing on the technical aspects of the subject being taught is necessary, it doesn’t seem to be the core of the case, nonetheless; what the teachers do not or cannot deal with, meaning the distractive, dysfunctional roles our student might have and display in their routine, is.

A crucial element of the whole procedure is to teach the student, within the lesson, all those roles, the stance that will help them cope generally. It is our firm belief that learning is a perennial, everlasting process. It’ s not just a course that we are learning, though. What is also to be learnt is all the progressive, the positive roles. The student who doesn’t share their thoughts in fear of making a mistake, the student who gives up after a while, the student who is antagonistic towards his fellow classmates etc are not lost cases. They need to be taught how to be brave and courageous, how to be persistent and resilient, how to embrace solidarity and cooperativeness, to help them develop their spontaneity in other words. Our personality is expressed through our roles, not vice versa, meaning that it is in constant shaping.

Loading...