Job Discussion Forums

[Glenski]

[Sashadroogie]

Justin, not so sure I set up anything at all, apart keeping things simple and not wanting to load the question. The term is out there - apologies all round if this is the first time you have encountered it and needed more context.

Glenski, not sure how much detail you are looking for. I didn't see the ambassador/teacher's CV myself, I just know from the discussion that this was an NQT talking himself up. I doubt he was BC or from the JET programme, on account of his having no prior teaching experience before his newly-acquired CELTA. (Which somehow made his 'ambassadorial' position even more comical to my Russian colleagues.) What exactly was he doing? I have no hard info, but I would guess that he was involved with some sort of NGO, or even a governmental charity. It is usually something like the Peace Corp, but I am just guessing in this exact case.

In any case, the Russians in question, involved in recruitment etc. (locals every one), most certainly did not see him as a representative of his country, but were more inclined to view him with the same distrust they view the religious fanatics who try to pass themselves off as teachers so as to enter the country to proselytise. Once the joking subsided one of my colleagues even drew a sinister parallel to the workings of the Soviet Cultural Attache, which, as any reader of John le Carre knows, had little to do with culture, but a lot to do with espionage. This teacher's use of this questionable title did not do him any favours whatsoever, so I would advise against putting it down on any document.

However, it is not just its use on a CV that I find objectionable, unless as you say it actually is part of a job description. It is the overblown, self-important mentality that nearly always accompanies it when it is even spoken by certain teachers I have known which I find disturbing, for much the same reasons my Russian colleagues do. I'm not trying to suggest that posters on this thread fit that description at all, but this superior attitude is out there. Haven't any of you noticed it before? Maybe you will now. I don't think I'm reading anything wrong when I hear teachers in staff rooms talk about their... my lord... their 'civilising mission', their need to help the natives to be more Western, logical, creative or whatever. Sorry Justin, but this is more than just not wanting to embarrass the folks back home.

Incidentally, when dealing with people generally, I try to extent the same courtesies no matter where I am or who they are. To me it is immaterial whether or not we are the same nationality, so I do not feel the need to live down any prejudice anyone may have. Like Spiral, I'm not even sure some of my students know where I am from, or if they even care. When I'm buying fruit in a market, I don't really care if the seller knows. I do not see myself as a representative in any shape or form. I just want to buy fruit. My students just want lessons.

Yet, when looking at the many replies various threads on this forum can generate, I sometimes wonder which of us can throw out such grandiloquent talk in the abstract about 'culture' and the respect for others when there is often little evidence of it in our dealings with each other. Just a thought. Go on now, have a crack at me. It won't be any worse than a savage verbal mauling by a Russian babushka...

[spiral78]

Hmm, John Doe is not like the stereotypical Brit/American/etc. that I know. He is better/worse." --> this image still puts John Doe into a mental slot being a representative of his country, for better or worse.

As Sashadroogie points out, in many situations students don't know and don't care where we're from. I've just finished teaching 16 different groups of students on our big academic writing course and not a single question regarding my origins. So far as they know or care, I could be British or Dutch or Australian (yes, I have Dutch colleagues with North American accents to their English).

Here, I'm only a 'cultural ambassador' if I want to make an issue of it.

[Glenski]

[gaijinalways]

Hmm, I don't seem to have seen many types like that except when I was in Hong Kong (and from a priest at that).

I actually fear the 'grammatical' ambasadors more than the 'cultural ambassadors'. I see to run into the former a lot more often ) .

[fluffyhamster]

Well, grammar prescriptivists (which is what I'm assuming you mean, Gaijinalways) see themselves as safeguarding and preserving "the" language and thus "the" culture, so I guess they are also a type of 'cultural ambassador' (albeit as you say not a particularly great type to run into, unless you happen to be a wide-eyed impressionable non-native learner keen on mastering and then yourself perpetuating/inflicting only the "best" sort of English, whatever that is)). (I haven't yet read the whole thread by the way, so I don't know if this is the first mention of "grammar versus culture").

[Piezy98]

I do agree with some of the responses that just because your are a brit, american australian, canadian, or any anglo-saxon origin you consider yourself a cultural ambassador. Sorry. You come to a non English speaking country because you are an English speaking person and you are being paid to teach how to listen and speak english and if you have a post grad be lucky to even teach grammar, writing.

To call yourself a cultural ambassador is just plain arrogant! people from non english speaking countries are not interested to know about your life. They are just eager to learn the language so you don't have to bullshit them.

[Glenski]

[norwalkesl]

[Piezy98]

As I've said, they are just very eager to learn the language and to hear you speak and talk about your life is added value to them because it is an extension of their language learning.

[gaijinalways]

Piezy98 posted

[Piezy98]

people who work for the UNCHR are the real ambassadors. And telling stories about yourself whether you have children or not, married, single, etc is not cultural..

I do agree however that,when there's an exchange (cultural) between your students and yourself, e.g how western view marriages vis a vis, other culture's view, norm, tradition using the language...then it is simply a dialogue, conversation. This does not give you the right to be called ambassadors...because you simply do not represent your entire country. You may come from the mid west but the lifestyle in NYC, Chicago, CA are different from people in Nebraska, Utah...

[gaijinalways]

[Piezy98]

...and you call yourself a cultural ambassador for that last post you did?

[Glenski]