How to Prepare for English Teaching in Schools, and What to Expect!

7 step checklist for arrival at your placement:

Prior to visiting your assigned schools for the first time, and when you actually visit,
remember to:
1. Get the curriculum
- On arrival at your school the most important thing to do is ask for a copy of
the curriculum. The head-teacher - or one of the administrators - can usually
provide you with this. Also ask each class teacher about what stage they have
currently reached in the curriculum. Its important to take up where the
Malagasy teachers have left off, and not to repeat what either they or other
volunteers have previously done (unless its intentional revision!).
2. Use the curriculum
-The curriculum provides the best basis for drafting lesson plans and exercises.
This applies in both the primary and secondary schools. Malagasy teachers
will also appreciate it if you follow the lessons in the curriculum, as it means
they can follow exactly what you are doing. However, do bear in mind that the
curriculum exercises are not always the most efficient for example, the use
of songs can collapse into the children just repeating the melody without
pronouncing the English words properly at all. Its also questionable whether
songs aid comprehension rather than just memory. But yet the national
curriculum is full of exercises using songs to learn English. Try to formulate
exercises which you think might increase comprehension, speaking, and
listening skills.
3. Plan good exercises
-A common complaint of the Malagasy teachers is that many of the volunteers
stick to very simple exercises, such as Hello and Goodbye, or What is your
name? These are the easiest exercises, so for the inexperienced volunteer it is
tempting to use them. But remember that the Malagasy teachers have often
covered these before, unless the children are in primary school. Also, because
it is tempting to use these exercises, consecutive volunteers tend to repeat
them unknowingly. Again, this emphasises the importance of following the
curriculum to avoid repetition.
-The Malagasy teachers also request that English-speaking volunteers try to
focus as much as possible on speaking and listening exercises in particular,
correcting the pronunciation of the children (and often the teachers too!). After
all, the Malagasy can teach grammar and reading and writing easily enough
from textbooks, but need a native speaker to help them with the sounds. Heres
an example of an excellent exercise which operates on this principle, and is
both easy to use, and fun for you and the students:
i) Choose a theme, preferably from the curriculum, such as At the
market.
ii) Prepare a list of vocabulary relevant to this topic, e.g. names of
foods, how to ask for quantities, prices, etc.
iii) Write a list of this vocabulary on the board (or even better prepare
props in advance e.g. draw pictures of the foods on sheets of paper
and write their names beside them).

iv) Ask the students to recite the names of the foods after you.
v) Then play a pointing game ask for hands-up for volunteers, then
pick students to give you the correct pronunciation of the food you
point to. The Malagasy students can play this game enthusiastically for
a long time, and it is excellent for learning. You can also expand on it
in many ways.
4. Keep a record of your lesson plans
-You will often teach different classes within the same year group, be they
within your school, at different schools in your placement village, or between
different placements. Therefore it is useful to keep your lesson plans,
especially the ones that you thought worked well. You can reuse them to good
effect, and save yourself wasting time by repeatedly drafting the same
exercises.
-It is also a good idea to keep a log-book of what you have been teaching for
the next set of volunteers so that they dont repeat your work.
-Also dont forget to make a note of what you have covered towards the end of
each class in the registry booklet provided for each class. The local teachers
and administrators will really appreciate this.
5. Learn the useful Malagasy classroom vocabulary
-The students will be surprised if you use Malagasy, rather than French or
English, to discipline them. They will probably respect you more for it. They
are also used to being disciplined in Malagasy by their own teachers. Also,
some children may not even understand simple instructions in French, so
Malagasy can be a good tool for clarification.
-Here are some examples. Most important: discipline
-Mangina! Be quiet!
-Mipetraka! Sit down!
-Others:
-Misowtr (pron. meesowtrch) Thank you.
-Azo? Do you understand?
-Tsy azo (pron. seez azo) Dont understand.
6. Understand the importance of discipline (in secondary schools).
Primary schools have good discipline. In secondary schools, it is generally
good, the usual reason for poor discipline is that the students cant understand what
you are teaching, or are not engaged, so the first thing you should ask yourself if there
is poor discipline in the class is: is it my fault? Am I teaching poorly? If so, you
should think about how to use better exercises. For example, role play is an excellent
exercise because it forces the students to get involved, helps them practice their
speaking in a real environment, and forces them into the spotlight, where it is more
difficult to misbehave. Try making one student a shopkeeper, and the other a
customer. Provide props for them, and create a role play for them to follow.
-If you are sure that your teaching methods are up to standard, and you still
have disciplinary problems, then you will have to use techniques for
controlling behaviour. Each class has a student monitor a responsible and
intelligent pupil whose responsibility it is to lead by example. You may hear

them shout Mangina! at times when the class is particularly rowdy! Find out
who this is, and ask them to help you with discipline. Also try some of the
following:
i) Identify the most common trouble-makers. Give them some chances,
and sufficient warning first. But if they continue to act out, send them
just outside the door of the class. Bring them back in after a few
minutes of cooling down. If they still act out, bring them to the
headmaster.
ii) If students sitting together are talking, laughing, or misbehaving a
lot - separate them! Move them across the room from each other, and
forbid them to sit together again.
iii) If you notice somebody talking while you talk, or otherwise
behaving inappropriately, just stare at them. Stop talking, silence the
class, and ask them why they are talking.
7. Find the right balance
-Finally, remember to keep things simple. Dont speak too fast. Keep a good
pace of learning and instruction. Alternate the usage of speaking, writing, and
listening exercise. It is best to start the class with the simplest information,
such as new vocabulary, and then gradually build up to the more complicated
exercises towards the end.
-Pay attention to the pupils. You can tell by the looks on their faces, and by
their behaviour, if they can understand you. Speak clearly. But dont let things
get too simple. The students need to be intellectually challenged to stay
interested, and to learn. Teaching is most often about finding the right balance.
When you find this, everything else, such as discipline, should just fall into
place without you having to think about it. Use entertaining and engaging
exercises. Enjoy it!
(Note: Most of the above points apply to secondary level education, but they
sometimes apply to primary school. The main differences are that you should have
fewer difficulties with discipline, and that the exercises should be significantly
simpler. Again, it will require some practise in the classroom before you can find the
right balance, so dont worry if everything doesnt go smoothly at first. Just think
about why things arent going smoothly and see if you can fix it next time.)
(Note 2: The first time you go into the classroom you may feel daunted by the
multitude of faces looking at you. By the second or third time, youll be getting the
hang of teaching in class, and should only notice the eagerness to learn.