While students are divided by levels at Smith’s School of English that means sometimes there’s a large age gap between students. I’ve had 25 year-old students studying with 65 year-olds or high school students studying with housewives. This just adds flavor to the lesson. The younger students can teach the elder students about the latest fashion or trends while the older students can tell us both about times gone by. While I’ve been here for 12 years it’s always interesting to hear about what Japan was like during the bubble economy or just after the war. Japan is a country that’s constantly undergoing change and using that in an English class in Japan can lead to some great conversations and questions. The age difference also allows for very different opinions. It’s a joy to see students helping other students master English but it’s even more impressive when they can teach them about different topics using English.
Adrian
Wow, nice take on the cooperation aspect. Now that i think about it we’ve got some similar gaps at the Kyobashi school as well. That’s a good point that people from different generations can teach each other as well. Nice that the students can learn more than just English in your class 😀
I agree that the majority of my female students work well with each other irrespective of age however when older men (particularly business men) have classes with younger guys then I have found that there is a definite issue revolving around heirarchy, in fact in all such cases I have ended up loosing both of the male students.
I sensed that the older male felt challenged and the younger male was afraid to speak his mind and both were therefore not relaxed. I wonder what light other SSE coaches of communicative confidence can throw on this issue. If they have had similar experiences to me how did they overcome such situations?