At your School: are you called Mr./Mrs. … or are you known by your first name.
I’m due to start teaching at a public school, the real-deal teaching type thing. Am I to be known by my formal, respectful title, or by my Christian name? Do I follow the rest of the teachers at my school? Can I be known by the name of my own choosing? Am I going to look like a twat if I go formal?
I feel it is more appropriate and more authentic to be known by my title, Mr. Trubadour, rather than simply Tru… I suspect the Taiwanese teachers are known by their family names, also. Is it to your advantage to be known by your first name?
At your school: are you called Mr./Mrs. … or are you known by your first name? Did you choose it?
Most teachers are called “Surname Laoshi”, or “Teacher Surname”. However, this often gets abbreviated to just “Laoshi”, which is still respectful. Many students translate this into "Teacher’, but I don’t permit this. I am “Mr. Surnname” or Sir. Either one is ok, but I don’t accept any alternatives.
You really require your students to call you sir? Why? Seems rather old-fashioned. I’ve always corrected students who called me sir, since none of us were soldiers.
unless they are my colleagues, when it’s just my first name.[/quote]
Out of sheer curiosity…do you hold the same qualifications that would deem you as a professor back at home? I noticed that in Taiwan, anyone working at a university was called a professor…is this what every teacher at Taiwanese universities are called, regardless of their qualifications / publications?
i sure do, only its not a corduroy, but a rather smudged tweed, mostly grey with some darker tones and creams, with daggy brown elbow patches, lots of chalk dust on the right sleeve, and a nice line of pipe tobacco dribble stain down over the right breast pocket. i think my glassees are in the pocket somewhere, but i can’t remember which one.
Oh, no, hang on, they were on my head the whole time.
silly me.
i think that students should call their teacher by his/her title, such as Sir, or Mr/Mrs/Ms Surname. If they call the Taiwanese local teacher by Laoshi, then they sure as hell should call you that too. or the equivalent. to not do so is a serious lack of respect by them and a loss of respect by you. plus, i think the demarcation is useful to maintain boundaries that help keep discipline, which is (i am sure) more of a problem at any school than at a graduate university such as where i work.
i never asked anybody to call me Professor, it just happens that way. traditional, i suppose. In Australia, i was just called Dr. Surname, which is much the same as Professor in the USA. (in most of the rest of the world, the title Professor is reserved for much more senior personages than a lecturer, and one has to do a lot more to earn it, such as being granted the title by investiture into a Chair. blah blah blah.)
In the US, most people who teach at universities are referred to as “professors” or “profs” informally by students (e.g. “My prof is a hardass”). More formally, they’re addressed “Professor” if they are Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, Full Professor or Emeritus Professor. Or, of course, Dr.
I would never require a student to call me “sir”. This is the 21st century.
And in a buxiban or kindy, first name only, please, or call me “laoshi”. Just don’t address me in English as “teacher”.
I always called my Professors by their first name at uni. They wanted to be seen as hip and progressive.
At school it was either Sir or Miss. And we stood up when they entered the room.
At elementary school I think it should be something else. I get the more personal approach.
At college in the UK it was all first names. I guess that is equivelent to high school here. Students aged 16 to 19.
I think it is important to have that absolute authority with the younger students. Trouble is I always undermine my own hard earnt authority with stupid antics to make them laugh.
In the US, most people who teach at universities are referred to as “professors” or “profs” informally by students (e.g. “My prof is a hardass”). More formally, they’re addressed “Professor” if they are Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, Full Professor or Emeritus Professor. Or, of course, Dr. [/quote]
In Taiwan though, it seemed to me that anyone teaching at a uni was called a ‘professor,’ even if they had just a Masters. Interesting. And in the US, the term is used so much more freely than it is in the UK, Aus, NZ, etc.
You really require your students to call you sir? Why? Seems rather old-fashioned. I’ve always corrected students who called me sir, since none of us were soldiers.[/quote]
In my buxiban, the atmosphere is more personal, and my students address me as “Mr. Surname”. But I also teach in a high school, with large classes. The students address me as “sir” when they don’t want to stumble over my name, and I reciprocate: when I can’t remember a name, (which is often as I have over 300 students there), I address them individually as “Young Lady/Sir” or collectively as “Ladies/Gentlemen”. It works.
You really require your students to call you sir? Why? Seems rather old-fashioned. I’ve always corrected students who called me sir, since none of us were soldiers.[/quote]
In my buxiban, the atmosphere is more personal, and my students address me as “Mr. Surname”. But I also teach in a high school, with large classes. The students address me as “sir” when they don’t want to stumble over my name, and I reciprocate: when I can’t remember a name, (which is often as I have over 300 students there), I address them individually as “Young Lady/Sir” or collectively as “Ladies/Gentlemen”. It works. [/quote]
These more formal forms of address also help to create a more respectful atmosphere all around and, IMO, help students to develope their own sense of self worth and self respect.
In a Buxiban, I was always Lori Teacher. In any other teaching setting, I asked that my students call me “Miss Housecat.” The extended effect was that my bosses started referring to me that way too, and as an extention of the respectful address, afforded me greater respect over all.
[quote=“urodacus”]I think that students should call their teacher by his/her title, such as Sir, or Mr/Mrs/Ms Surname. If they call the Taiwanese local teacher by Laoshi, then they sure as hell should call you that too. or the equivalent. to not do so is a serious lack of respect by them and a loss of respect by you. plus, I think the demarcation is useful to maintain boundaries that help keep discipline, which is (I am sure) more of a problem at any school than at a graduate university such as where i work.[/quote]Yeah, I totally agree. I spent just a year as “teacher Joe”, and after that I insisted on being “Mr Sax”. The kids very swiftly got used to it, and I do think it helped a bit with discipline.
I had strict sartorial standards, too. I took my corduroy jacket outside and shook off the dust at least twice a month.
I teach High School, University and adult language school.
First names are fine with small classes, and adults, but I use more formal styles with big groups of teenagers. “Miss Loretta” may not be absolutely correct English, unless you’re from Alabama, but it sets the tone. “Sir” works just fine too, or you could opt for something like “coach” - after all, you’re not really a teacher anyway. (No matter what they tell you, you’re not part of the regular program.)
You may want to tactfully discuss this with your to-be colleagues so that they don’t introduce you as “Teacher Trubadour” on the first day. Many of my Taiwanese colleagues have been unaware that this is not an appropriate form of address in English, and are simply translating directly from Chinese in an attempt to be polite.
I can’t give you any further advice if this is an elementary school, but Junior and Senior High kids will take a lot of liberties if you let them. You need to set the tone from the beginning and be seen to be professional. Many of them may be used to the idea of foreign teachers as clowns, and discipline will break down pretty quickly if you allow that.
I had a good chat yesterday with a young female colleague, Taiwanese, who has a lot of problem with teenage boys hitting on her. I pointed out that her jeans, T-shirt, and friendly demeanour were possibly sending the wrong signals. She looked thoughtfully at the knife-edge creases on my shirt sleeve, shiny shoes, and said “ah, got it.”
I clown around a lot too, but only to a point. My philosophy is that if the kids make me like them then I’ll make the class pleasant. But no fucking way am I going to waste my life trying to make them like me. That’s not what I’m there for. I don’t have discipline problems, but I’m popular. The kids respect the boundaries and work within them. If you don’t make the relationship clear then they will seek to define it for themselves.
This may not be the best way to maintain classroom discipline, but my hope is to make the classroom environment as comfortable and non-threatening as possible. Students don’t speak up because they’re afraid, mainly of being criticized for making mistakes and looking foolish. Although how they address me may not be directly related to the fear, I believe a strict, formal atmosphere contributes to it.
At the jr/sr high where I’ve been teaching for 3+ years, if the class gets out of hand, generally all I have to do is stop talking, cross my arms and stare. They quickly settle down…generally. Other times I carry a baseball bat to class and bang it on a desk from time to time.
Thus and therefore, I’m not too concerned with how they address me as long as it’s not butt-head or anything like that. Most of them call me teacher.
I go by ‘TD’ at my anqiban where I’ve had the class for going nine years now so. ‘T’ being a reference to the profession and ‘D’ to my given name. My favorite teachers at school were often the ones that allowed us to call them by their nickname; Rodgo, Crampy and Scruff were three in Senior High I distinctly remember.
A lot of the Private Elementary Schools now in Taiwan that run bilingual programs are asking that their English teachers now be addressed to as Mr. ?.
Personally, I’d go with what suits you. To each his own. No everyone likes nicknames nor do they all like a formal version; I remember as a kid Dad telling us to call him by his name and not ‘Dad’. I know of people who teach here that prefer being called only their given name, others with the Mr. prefix, most by the Taiwanese Chinglish translation, ‘Teacher Given Name’ and then others that are content with a nickname (assuming it’s not a derogatory one). I suppose I’d feel more confident approaching ‘Scruff’ after class than ‘Mr. Johnson’ unless Scruff were a prick
Part of it is that I am still a relatively inexperienced teacher (of about 3 years). I have my own discipline issues, but I don’t want my classes to have them. I know in the very real holistic sense, my classes are an extension of myself, but I’d rather that extension were ordered and disciplined. The school I just got a gig at is elementary and junior and senior. The pitched me for the long term and for the holistic teaching English isn’t just about teaching English thing. I get it. But I do know from experience that I prefer being able to do my job (which is for the students to do theirs). However, at previous buxibans my personality and theirs often seems to get in the way of things. So I’m thinking about the name thing as representing an actual approach to this school and my being there. I’m sure that even if I do go formal, the students will eventually realise that I’m a good guy, that I care for their well-being and that I want them to be happy. I’ve a notion that this will take time, and that this time will most probably occur outside of the classroom. I’ve quite a generous personality but I am serious about what I do, even as a student. To this end i require respect and obedience from my students. I’m really interested in how to achieve this. I think the name is just the start. I’m considering wearing a tie, too. It’s the whole deal, right? Yet, it also depends on the school. Fitting-in is important, I guess. They seem to advocate not wearing a tie. Others say, ‘‘don’t smile till Chiristmas.’’
My students show me respect because I show them respect, not because of my name, but I do impart things that I had growing up on them such as, how you refer to your elders who are more than 10 years older than you with a title. My cousin (I’m #3 so she’s my only older cousin) is 5 years older than me so she’s Kisha. One of my mom’s younger cousins is Erica (8 years older) to me, but my Cousin Syl who is 15 years older is well, Cousin Syl. I can’t even write her name without a title. My cousins Bianca and Anissa (8 years and 10 years younger, respectively) calls me by my first name, but my cousin Brandon (14 years younger) if he were to use my Forumosan name, would call me “Cousin ‘Imani’”. My aunts and uncle, who were still in their early teens when my oldest cousin and my brother were born are called, are called by their first names by them but I call them “Aunt ___” and “Uncle ____”. Family friends and my grandparents’ (and great-grandparents’ cousins) are called names like “Miss Polley”, “Mr. Chris”, and “Miss Alice”. My friends’ parents were “Mrs. Banks” and “Mr. Atkins”. If they insisted on me using their first names, then it was “Ms. Debbie” and “Mr. Tim”. Where I grew up, you never call people your parents’ age by their first name alone.
That being said, at my first school here where I worked for five years, I was called by my surname because it was a school with certified teachers (as in “Ms. OU”) and therefore followed the norms of North American classrooms.
My current school (my 3rd year now), my things are labeled Ms. Imani OU if there is space and I am introduced as Ms. Imani. With my middle graders and junior high kids, I go by my surname (Ms. OU) and my first name with my younger students (Ms. Imani) because my surname is a little difficult for lower-leveled Taiwanese students to pronounce although I don’t really mind being called by Ms. Imani by my older students as well, mostly the ones who are more laid-back themselves.
I do not allow Teacher Imani or Teacher because that is Chinglish and I do not want to encourage Chinglish. If a student calls me “Teacher” I ask which one since there are 15 or more “Teachers” in the school at any given time or I simply reply back in Chinglish - “Yes, Little Friend [xiao pengyou]?”
On the ongoing side debate, we called all of our professors “Doctor+Surname” (e.g. “Dr. Vines”, my thesis coach) even though I had been to potluck dinners of the homes of a few of my professors (our linguistics department was really small and close-knit) or had spent time with their families (like my French prof who accompanied us to our study abroad in France and took me and my friend out to an opera with her septuagenarian French parents). Sigh. Those were the days…
