Most Saturday mornings, I participate in a 5k fun run called Parkrun. Lately, this is the only running I do, which means I’m not really improving as a runner, nor am I gaining any significant fitness benefits; for that, I would probably need to run at least twice a week. But I really enjoy doing it because running feels good, and it’s a great activity to do with my eight-year-old son, who is a keen and ambitious runner.
One big benefit of running for me is the thinking time it provides. Once I’m in my stride, I have a satisfying feeling of freedom of thought, because this sort of non-competitive running doesn’t require any concentration. I often find myself comparing various work projects to the 5k run, thinking of the ‘up’ feeling of starting something new, the fatigue that always hits mid-project, and the satisfaction that comes with finishing something. During last Saturday’s run, my thoughts turned to running as a metaphor for teaching English.
Social, but also solitary
A fun run, like a language class, is a group activity – it’s social. But for teachers, it’s also solitary – even lonely, at times. While teachers are busy engaging with learners, they’re also watching themselves teach and constantly monitoring how the lesson is going. There’s often a big weight of responsibility for getting it right and making it work. And it isn’t just that you want to get it right for the learners. What really matters – both with teaching and running – is getting it right for yourself and feeling satisfied with your effort. And that’s something you have to do for yourself.
Beginner’s enthusiasm is powerful – and so is experience
Both teachers and runners come to the activity with varying levels of ambition and experience. This chart is one way of visualising the wide range.
The blue dot would be my eight-year-old son, as a runner. He doesn’t have much experience, but he’s got loads of enthusiasm and ambition. He loves running and is always stretching for the next personal best (PB). I’m the green dot. I’ve been running off and on for years, but my ambition for improvement or any major change to my overall fitness is low. I make no apology for that. As I said, I run because it feels good and gives me time to think. The runners who finish the 5k run in 17 minutes are the red dot; they’re experienced and they’re ambitious and probably run several times a week. But at Parkrun, we all run together.
We could map teachers on the same graph. Some newbies are full of ambition – like the blue dot – and work hard to create new materials and make every class memorable. Mid-career teachers, like the green dot, may rely more on their experience than their ambition. That doesn’t mean their classes are any less effective, it just means they’ve hit a stride and do great work without having to be super ambitious about it. The red-dot teacher is the one we all admire and envy: they blog, they write textbooks, they speak at conferences – and they deliver dynamite classes.
The point is that in most teaching situations, as in Parkrun, you find a broad mix of ambition and experience. Ambition can be useful, but big ambition isn’t always necessary. Experience – which is incredibly valuable – is built up over time simply by making the effort to stick with it – whether it’s teaching or running.
Cycle of repetition – practice and improvement
One great thing about both running and teaching is that when it’s going badly, there’s always an end point. The very worst thing that can happen is that you stop. You drop out of the run, or you dismiss your students early and retreat to your office. Neither of those is ideal, but if they’re the worst case scenario, it makes the risk involved with the activity pretty low. Every setback is something you can learn from to improve your performance next time. That continual opportunity to try again means there’s endless possibility.
What’s your metaphor for teaching? I’d love to hear about it.