What is it like to work in Newpark ?
The first impression of Newpark is how helpful, supportive and forthcoming the entire staff is. There is a strong sense of community. The school combines a relaxed, liberal, progressive atmosphere with a disciplined system of teaching and learning and it is receptive to innovation and contingency. I teach English to 25 overseas students from first to sixth year in groups of three or four at a time. Some students receive one-to-one tuition. They come from many different countries throughout Africa, Asia and Europe and attend English language support classes while the other students have Irish class, from which they have an exemption.
What was your last job and how does it compare?
I taught English to overseas pupils at Loreto College, Crumlin, Dublin. Managers in both schools have been extremely supportive in establishing this area of English language support in their schools, which I'm very grateful for. Ireland is still struggling with multi-culturalism in schools. English for academic purposes for overseas pupils should be recognised as a full subject by the DES, as it is in Canada, with permanent full-time teaching posts and specialised post-graduate teacher-training courses.
What's the best part of your job?
Second language learners of English often reach a plateau in their development, sometimes for months. It can be due to fossilised errors, absenteeism from school in their homeland or to psychological factors. At that point, I have to intensify pressure, adapting to each student's individual needs, until they come through it. In most cases, they will eventually leap forward and begin communicating with a significantly augmented command of language systems. It's rewarding to witness that.
What's the hardest part of your job?
Teaching English language to overseas students can be hard because a proportion of them are war victims. They have endured unspeakable suffering in their own countries before they came to Newpark. At times, they may become very distracted in class, looking vacantly at the ground with tears in their eyes. They have to be gently coaxed back into engagement with the content and flow of the lesson. It's very hard to see that.
What's the best place in Newpark to retreat to when it all gets too much?
The overseas students' room is a dedicated English language support room that is very soothing to spend time in. Everything in it has been thoughtfully selected to facilitate a welcoming, comfortable language-learning environment. As a teacher, I enjoy being there while planning or correcting papers. It's painted white, with vibrant yellow bookshelves and an exposed wooden floor. Peace lilies, hanging plants and batiks calm the senses.
Who is your education idol?
Georgi Lozanov, a former Soviet psychotherapist, who believes that learning only occurs in a relaxed, focused way. He sees classroom ergonomics as vital to learning and would recommend tranquilising, subdued colour schemes and voice tones, strategically-placed plants and an orderly, clutter-free learning space. Gardner is also high on my list, as he recognises the value of teaching through the exploitation of kinaesthetic or spatial demonstrations and interpersonal bonds.
If you could change one thing about Newpark Comprehensive School, what would it be?
I would change the buildings; extend them to incorporate much larger spaces, increasing the number of classrooms. The groaning dimensions of the buildings ache for expansion.
What's unique about Newpark?
Newpark Comprehensive School goes back over a century through Avoca to Kingstown Grammar Schools. It was the first comprehensive school to be opened in the Irish Republic and back then it must have been a very exciting phenomenon. It's a hugely productive and dynamic organisation with so much going on. There are thousands of students circulating through its centres every week, such as the music centre, the sports centre, of course there is the adult education centre, which provides over 100 courses.
