The Story Behind Share Your Story With Confidence

Me: warts and all!

Teaching English in China

Moving to China was an eye-opener for so many reasons, not least the new understanding of the high position of teachers in society, as well as those who had moved there from abroad. You see, foreigners were, at least then, called ‘foreign experts’, a label I was surprised to receive given I had only recently graduated with my CELTA certificate. Surely I had very limited expertise to share. But there it was, officially stamped into my passport. At the same time, I was also surprised to see how much respect teachers garnered in the community. The students arrived on time, had their pencils in hand, and were ready to get learning at EVERY. SINGLE. LESSON. No tantrums, no backchat, just hands shooting up in the air with a chorus of “Yes, Teacher” and “No, Teacher” thrown in for good measure.

But with this privilege of being a foreign teacher, came yet another revelation, chanced upon as we worked through the pages of our textbooks. You see, my students all had future plans to go abroad themselves, to visit, study or live in the big cities of America, England and Australia. Yet as we flipped through the pages, I did not see images I had experienced or seen myself, in London, or New York, for example. I did not see the multi-cultural streets I had come from. I didn’t see any black or brown people. I didn’t see me. In the end, I would share pictures of my own family and my own life. I would talk about my own friends - most of whom are non-native speakers of English - to help them realise that in many places they would struggle to find ‘native’ speakers, and that the landscape would be much more colourful than expected.

Technology-Enhanced Creative Writing

Towards the end of my stay in China, I started a Masters in Digital Technologies for Language Teaching. It was a part-time, online, distance course with the University of Nottingham, and my cohort was a small, but highly-motivated international group of language educators. In terms of learning modules, one stood out for me, having a very interesting name: Technology-Enhanced Creative Writing for Advanced Language Learners! In the end we found ways to adapt our materials for beginners, too, but, overall, it was the most wonderful of experiences. We first took time to learn the craft of writing ourselves, and wrote drafts of a short story. Then we applied that new knowledge to designing creative writing activities for our own learners. It was challenging. It was therapeutic. It was enjoyable. But most of all, as I wrote and shared my story in a small group, I felt seen. Although the module was quickly over, I knew this was something I wanted to continue.

Share Your Story With Confidence

With this re-ignited interest in writing creatively, and the lack of diversity observed in my ELT materials in mind, I realised I had an opportunity to make a change and to literally write myself into the ELT books. Not only to see myself represented in my teaching materials by writing and sharing my own story, but also to help others do the same, without fear and without shame. Hence the birth of Share Your Story With Confidence: an online community which supports teachers to develop a creative writing habit, write their own stories (real or made up) with the intention to use them as authentic materials in their own classroom. Native and non-native speakers of English are welcome, as are teachers of English, and other languages, plus any creatives who feel they have something to contribute.

Join the SYSWC Community

And that’s the short and simple tale behind the creation of SYSWC!

So, if you see yourself somewhere between these lines, and you’d like to join a safe space for experimenting and learning through writing, do join the latest events taking place. And if you have a friend you think this would speak to, then encourage them to sign up to the newsletter. We are just starting out on this journey together, and it would be great to have you with us at this early, but exciting stage.

That’s all from me.

Thank you for reading.

And, see you on the other side.

Photo by Me.