1. Look at what Miss Brodie says in the sentences before and after stop 2 and 4. In each case:

• explain what is amusing, and unusual, about the way she continues after the STOP.

• say what you think this shows of her character, using the ideas in the list below to help you, and adding ideas of your own.

1. Miss Brodie is very energetic.

2. She has many enthusiasms.

3. She is deliberately trying to influence the girls.

4. She is not able to discriminate between important and trivial things.

5. She has a superficial mind.

b) What does the unusual thought connection at STOP 3 say about her character?

2. Miss Brodie has a romantic view of history, for example, her attitude towards the Colosseum and the gladiators. When she stands before the class saluting like a gladiator, what more recent historical memory is the reader intended to have? How does this memory affect the way the reader sees Miss Brodie’s character?

3. Analyse the characters of Mother Peter and Miss Brodie by discussing the following questions. In each case, support your ideas with examples from the extracts. (Note that these questions are generally very open -there can be no “right” answer.)

In your opinion, which of the two teachers:

1. has a stricter view towards what is or is not correct behaviour?

2. is more concerned with teaching from the syllabus?

3. is more concerned with physical appearances?

4. is more unkind to her pupils?

5. has the more unusual character?

6. has a more dangerous influence on her pupils?

7. is a better teacher?

4. What do you think the main intentions of the writer of each extract were? Write Yes (y) or No (n) for each extract in the boxes below. Give reasons for your ideas, and add any ideas of your own.

1. to make the reader laugh

2. to make the reader think

3. to shock the reader

4. to show the reader something of the educational conditions of the time

5. to make comments on the nature of teaching

6. to create an amusing and loveable character

7. to create an unusual and dangerous character

Discussion

1. What qualities and character do you think a good teacher should have? Do either Mother Peter or Miss Brodie have any of these?

2. How unusual do you think Mother Peter and Miss Brodie are? Is there anything about either of them that reminds you of a teacher that you had?

3. Which of the two would you prefer to have as a teacher?

Reading 4

The article below was written by an Italian student for a school English magazine.

1. Read it and say what she thinks the teacher can do to keep the classroom trouble-free.

2. B) Identify all the errors and correct them. What makes a good English teacher?

Nowadays, for the particular role English language is playing in many fields of the modern life. English teachers are always growing in number. But, unfortunately, not all the teachers are prepared in the same way.

About myself, in two years and half at the Liceo Scientifico I have met three different English teachers, but I’m sure in the future I will think of just one of them as a good one. I think she has all the qualities, personal and professional, a good English teacher should have.

The most important thing, she has a personal interest in the students as human beings, she knows we are students, yes, but inside we are persons, with our problems and feelings. I think a good personal relation is the first thing we, students and teachers, should try to achieve, because it is an indispensable basis for a good professional relation, founded on understanding and esteem. This is very important above all in the case that students haven’t chosen to study English, but are forced to because it is one of the ministerial subjects the teacher, in this case, has to interest the students in what he or she teaches.

On my side, I can say when I went to the Liceo Scientifico I did not like English, now I study English everyday, so I cannot imagine my afternoons without it.

In three years of experience I’ve understood what the second most important quality for a teacher is to be well prepared and able to convey students what he/she knows. I think I don’t need to explain why a teacher should be skilled. It is not unusual the fact that students at the Secondary School learn something, which is completely wrong, and not being particularly interested in the subject, will always persist in their mistakes. Another important point is the didactic methodologies the teacher prefers. In my opinion, a teacher should be very flexible in his/her approach: In general, I think it is better to work on pairworks to allow students to discover things for themselves and make them free to experiment new structures, but there’s also a time when a lesson with the teacher at the centre of the attention and a close comparison of the language used by students are preferable. It is the teacher who has to choose the method time by time to understand what is better for the students to improve their skills and to enjoy the lesson.

Of course, a student who likes the subject will improve his/her abilities much quicker than one who does not. But he/she has to be supported by the use of modern technologies, such as the video recorder and similar machines, with which the teacher should be familiar. At the end, for a good teacher who, since he/she does all of the things above, likes his/her-job, other things that students appreciate like punctuality, marking homework and classwork on time, disponsibility to give help outside the classroom are logical consequences.

Barbara Monda

c) If you were the editor of the magazine would you:

1. publish the article?

2. correct its mistakes before publication?

3. publish it uncorrected?

4. get the writer to correct it before publication?