Editorial
I shouldn’t have lied to the student, but I did.
“Essay writing is an important skill,” I told the students of class Ten, “ because you can win a scholarship based on your essay. You can also take part in school competitions and win prizes. And, sometimes you can also get published in national daily papers.”
As I got ready to teach them the structure of an essay, one student timidly raised his hand and asked, “Sir, have your published your essay in the papers?”
I clearly faced a moral dilemma. Do I lie? Or, do I look like a hypocrite? I lied. “Yes”, I told him, “Once, when I was also in class Ten, I had written a short story and it was published in the Rising Nepal.”
I chose the Rising Nepal as my accomplice to support my lie because the school library only subscribed to the Kathmandu Post and the Himalayan Times. That white lie might have saved my face from embarrassment but it left me deeply ashamed of myself.
I had been teaching English for almost two years then and I had not written or published any article, essay or story. I assigned students to write stories, poems and essays but I did not write one myself. The students had ‘Student’s Corner’ where they posted their short stories, jokes, poems and articles. But, what a shame, there was no such ‘Teacher’s corner’.
The timid looking student made me realize that I was just another pretender who was merely doing the job of teaching. And since then, I had been writing a lot and occasionally getting published in the papers. I also started writing for newspapers and blogs, and started my personal blog too. My passion in writing has eventually led me to work as one of the editors of this brilliant sharing platform for English language teachers.
That was my story and here are some more by other passionate teachers.
In this issue, we have a wonderful collection of writings by teachers who share their teaching ideas, struggles and success stories. Also, a new confession by an English language teacher who gave up teaching but rejoined the profession to inspire students. Please check the Teacher’s Confession tab. Similarly, we too have started posting British Council’s Professional Practices Series in a separate tab. We don’t have any particular theme for this issue but we hope you read the articles and post your comments or responses to start a conversation.
- Unfortunately for teachers doing harm is just one click away– Jorge Correa Rodriguez, Chile
- Lifting Ourselves by our Own Bootstraps: Reading and Writing as Tools for Professional Development – Suman Laudari
- Reflection of a Procrastinating Researcher– Umes Shrestha
- How to teach poem: an action research– Suman DC
- Teacher’s Confession: Pabitra Gurung
- Professional Practices Series – “Planning Lessons and Courses”- Katherine Bilsborough
Issue Editors
Umes Shrestha
Ashok Sapkota
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