My name is Malton Pietersen. I became a teacher in 2012 and I have taught English to every grade from one to twelve. I have a post-graduate degree in Educational Management from Stellenbosch University. I started teaching in China in 2018 and I have been a teacher at this school since 2021.

我是Malton Pietersen，自2012年投身于教育事业，拥有1年级至12年级学段的教学经验，拥有斯坦陵布什大学教育管理学硕士学位。自2018年起，我踏入了中国的教育领域，并在2021年开始在华外担任英语教师。目前，我负责小学四年级的英语阅读教学。

My approach to education - The quest for zero boredom:

When I was a student, I used to hate going to a certain class with a certain teacher. There was absolutely nothing wrong with said teacher as such; He taught us all good discipline and he knew his subject thoroughly. In fact, on a personal level, most of his students, myself included, were very fond of him. However, it was the manner in which he taught his subject that was the problem. He could never make me understand why his subject was important or how it was relevant to my life. He always seemed to stop short of teaching us any practical skills or knowledge worth knowing; anything that could help us think critically or solve some kind of real-world problem. I found his lessons uninspiring and I suppose it made me a little inattentive at times. I was BORED. 

我的教育方法——追求趣味课堂：

我的学生时代曾经不喜欢某位老师的某门课。这位老师自身没有问题，他教导我们严于律己，对自己的学科专业了如指掌。事实上，从个人层面，他的大多数学生，包括我自己都非常喜欢他，然而问题却出在他的授课方式上。他不能很好地使我清楚这门学科的重要性，或者说它与我的现实生活有什么关系。我没有很好地学习到实用的技能和知识，以及帮助我们批判性地思考或解决现实世界问题的东西。我认为他的课程缺乏启发性，这使我在上课时常常感到心不在焉，深感无聊。

Decades later, I became a teacher myself. I realised that if I was going to avoid all the pitfalls that could get me labelled a boring teacher, my approach would, first and foremost, have to be completely selfless. It meant that ego was to become secondary to the task. It also meant that I would never be a finished product. As a matter of fact, I view the profession as one that is in constant flux. Accordingly, educators must be adaptable and stay abreast of current trends and developments in education. We must be lifelong learners and the collectors of new, innovative and ever-evolving skills.  

数十年以后，我自己也成为了一名教师。我意识到一个问题：如果我要避免成为那种被打上“无聊”标签的老师，我的首要任务是要成为一名完全无私的教师，也就是说不能以自我为中心。事实上，我认为教师这个职业是不断发展和改变的。因此，教育者必须适应和紧跟教育发展的潮流。我们必须成为终生学习者，教学创新者和自我提高者。

Pertaining to how I approach my lessons, I decided to do the exact opposite of what my teacher did. I want my students to be enthusiastic and inquisitive before, during and after every lesson. I want them to understand that reading is not just some activity we partake in to impress others with how well we can read and pronounce words and sentences. Sure, that is important too and we give it sufficient attention. However, what if we do not comprehend what we read? Even more importantly, what if we do not find any applicable knowledge in the texts we read?

我的教学方法与我的那位老师截然不同，我希望我的学生在每次课前、课中和课后都始终保持热情和好奇。我希望他们明白阅读并不仅仅是正确地朗读句子和单词；当然，这些也很重要，但是，设想一下：如果我们不理解我们所读的内容，在阅读过程中学习不到实用的知识，会怎么样？

Reading lessons must delve much deeper than just reading. Reading should take us on adventures to places we have never been. It should set our minds free and allow us to come up with new ideas and alternative points of view. It’s a key we should use to unlock abilities we never knew we had! It’s the spark that ignites the fire in the next genius or national hero. We can reach new heights by using our imagination and the simple concept of play.

对于阅读课程的研究必须比阅读本身更加深入。阅读应当带领我们探索未知领域、解放思维，从而提出新的想法和不同的观点；阅读是解锁未知潜能的关键，是激发人才和“国民英雄”的火花。在阅读中，通过想象力和游戏概念的运用，可以帮助我们达到新的高度。

When we teach reading, the element of playing whilst learning is vital. Children love playing. Why not have fun with them? Why not show them that the teacher is as much a part of the learning process as they are? Indeed, it was Lev Vygotsky, the famous Soviet psychologist who pointed out that “the teacher must adopt the role of facilitator (and) not content provider.”  Gone are the days of learning like machines! In our class we discuss, plan, create and test all our solutions to problems we identify in the stories we read. We go on journeys with the characters and help them where it might be needed. We use the power of our imagination and couple that with real life experiences to come up with new ideas. We have fun... because learning and reading should be just that. Fun.

当我们上阅读课时，学习的过程中加入游戏是至关重要的，孩子们喜欢游戏。为什么不和他们一起游戏呢？为什么不让他们知道老师和他们自己一样是参与学习过程中的一部分呢？事实上，著名的前苏联心理学家列夫·维果茨基（Lev Vygotsky）曾指出:“教师必须扮演促进者的角色，而不是内容提供者。”像机器一样学习的日子一去不复返了！

在我们的课堂上，我们讨论、计划、创造并测试我们在阅读的故事中所发现问题的解决方案。我们和角色一起旅行，在有需要的地方帮助他们。我们利用想象力的力量，将其与现实生活经验相结合，产出新的想法。我们玩得很开心……因为学习和阅读就应该如此：充满乐趣。