For two terms I was teaching an upper-intermediate morning class. I greatly enjoyed teaching the class as the students were very respectful. Although they had a relatively good grasp of English they were also very keen to learn and for that reason held me as a teacher in high regard and as their key to better English. For the second term I had a small class, on opening the class had only six students. It was ideal for the classroom size and the students concerned as they were all quite bubbly and friendly and might have felt suffocated in a larger class. Another challenge offered was that the class had predominantly Italian students. As a result I was keen to keep all those who spoke the same language separate and to control unnecessary extra-curricular talking.
One morning when two students were absent, in the hope of encouraging a more constructive learning environment, I asked a student to move to another table, unfortunately what happened next turned into critical incident. The student was male and sitting with two other male students, when I asked him to move he become angry and refused. He was not a teenage student but an intelligent young psychologist who was learning English in order to take up a placement in a British university. At first I was a little taken aback by his response but stood my ground as I knew my intentions were in the student’s best interests. The student was adamant but I was insistent as all the students had a lot of potential which could easily be wasted if they were left to their own devices. I did manage to persuade the student it was part of the task in question but felt very guilty about upsetting him.
It is an experience that I would like to learn from because the student did seem a little offended in the beginning and I would prefer not to upset any other students in future. I believe it might be a better idea to make seating arrangements slightly less personal, moving everyone in the class without singling out an individual student.
