[etni] some ramblings

From: David Graniewitz <davidzalman@xxxxxxxxx>
To: etni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Tue, 25 May 2010 11:19:23 +0300
I sometimes wonder whether ETNI is bad for my health. I sometimes wonder
whether it would be better for me to unsubscribe or simply to ignore any
mails with the [ETNI] prefix.


For some time now, I have been following closely the debate on the whole
English teaching situation and occasionally jumping into the fray myself.
More recently, for reasons of time, I have left it to my (I assume) elders
and betters to fight it out amongst themselves.



I have to admit that up till now I haven?t particularly trusted my own
judgement on many matters. When I began having my own reservations about the
way things were going in my profession, I chose to keep schtum as I thought
that no would agree with what I had to say. However, reading ETNI has
convinced me that I am not alone.



Rarely a day goes past without one of the more eloquent posters e.g. Lev,
Jennifer Byk, Judy Cohen, Batya, Tessa, Eleanor (my apologies to any others
I may have omitted) putting into words the thoughts that have been occupying
my mind for some time now. Time and time again the same points are brought
up. And time and time again, they disappear into the recesses of cyberspace
as many ETNI members who read them shake their heads, shrug their shoulders
and reach for the DELETE key.



The point is that I don?t feel better when I read these posts which confirm
the fact that I am not alone in my observations. The fact that so many good,
experienced, dedicated teachers can spot the problems, can define them so
precisely and can suggest practical solutions to them but are totally
ignored by the establishment (which of course denies the fact that it
ignores them) only serves to make me feel (pardon the phrase) impotent.



Perhaps it would be better to get on with my job and to ignore what is being
written; to go back to the blissful time when I thought that I was in the
wrong and that all I had to do was to toe the line and eventually I?d get
the hang of things. But I simply can?t so that and I know that that is
having an adverse effect on my performance as a teacher. I haven?t screwed
up too much this year, but I feel that I could have done better if there
were not this atmosphere of uncertainty around us. I genuinely fear for the
future of English teaching in this country.



I hope that these ramblings have made some sense. They reflect my mindset at
the moment.



David Graniewitz

Jerusalem

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[etni] some ramblings

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