Some years ago I wondered why I started to feel uneasy when students addressed me as “teacher” in the classroom. Whether it is down to the fact that I’m married to an English/Irish speaking man or to the fact that I had never heard, while watching TV, a student crying out “Teacher, please!” in a classroom scenario, it didn’t sound natural at all! That feeling kept brewing in my mind for some years until I got a job as a teacher in a bilingual programme in a private school, in Belo Horizonte. I was thrilled and really looking forward to learning and contributing somehow to the phenomenon of bilingualism taking place now.
On my first day in the classroom, any time a 6-7 year old student wanted to grab my attention they would shout out “teacher, teacher!”. I could see that some of them felt really proud of knowing how to say “professor/a” in English. I could even see some of them teaching their classmates beside them how to address me and pronounce the word “teacher”. I realized then, I was in a predicament. The student’s excitement and confidence in using the word “teacher” was obvious, however it didn’t sound right. I thought to myself “I’m afraid I have to burst your bubble, my dear students!”. It was my job to handle the situation by showing them the correct way to address the teacher in a native English-speaking country, by using Ms or Sr/Mr.
So, to make a long story short, I explained to the students that in English speaking countries, the students, regardless of their age, including Harry Potter, address their teachers as Sr/Mr or Ms, male or female respectively. Moreover, I showed them that the process of learning a language demands the learning of its culture as well, otherwise it wouldn’t be fair on the language and it would sound robotic. Initially, they didn’t feel comfortable calling me Ms. Rezende. I told them they could call me just Ms if they wanted to sound even more natural. Some parents even questioned the translation of the term trying to say that it was not common in Brazil for students to use this formal title. And, as I’d come to realize, persistence was key when you felt it was the right thing to do, I explained the whole process to the parents again and again. Well, time passed and I have to say, proudly, that nowadays even the parents or guardians call me Ms. Rezende. Due to the success of this experience of persuading my students and families to call me Ms, I carry on adding more spice to my classes by sharing more cultural elements which are relevant to the content being taught. It’s being a truly gratifying learning experience for us all. I even dare to say it´s transcended the professional realm. It’s being life enhancing to provide the students and myself with such connectivity and satisfaction when it comes to teaching/learning experience.
As Ken Robinson wrote in his book “The Element” (my bedside table book forever, by the way), “Languages are the bearers of the culture genes. As we learn a language, accents and ways of speaking, we also learn ways of thinking, feeling and relating.” Enjoy it.
Ms. Rezende
Feel free to share similar experiences you’ve had with your students, below!
Reference:
Robinson, Ken (2009). The Element – How finding your passion changes everything pp. 150
By Miriam Cordeiro Rezende
Ms. Rezende is a teacher at a private school in Belo Horizonte which adopts the IS Bilingual Programme. She is a 25-year-experienced teacher with a degree in English literature and a specialization in Psychology and Pedagogy. With a limitless appetite for fostering opportunities so that students can use their IMAGINATION in their lives, she carries on pursuing her dream of contributing to the bilingualism phenomenon.
