Leveraging Empathy to Connect as An Italian English Teacher in Rome — Emanuele De Santis
Intro:
Hello there! Emanuele speaking. Well, technically writing. I’m a friendly English teacher who doesn’t like to take himself too seriously and, despite the heritage, is a disaster in the kitchen. I strongly believe in the importance of seemingly useless facts (“Lentävä Matto” is “flying carpet” in Finnish) and that there are quite a lot of things on this planet worse than pineapple pizza (but don’t take it as some form of endorsement).
Hahaha. You packed quite a bit into that introduction. It sounds like you are pretty well traveled. Tell us a bit about your backstory. How did you first get started teaching English?
So, I’ve always loved English as a language and I’ve always been attracted to many aspects of the English culture as well. I never doubted I would eventually work with English, it was just quite hard for me to understand exactly how.
When I finally got tired of working at the airport (that job just wasn’t for me!) and after dabbling in guided tours for a while, I thought back to the time I was teaching Italian in Sydney and realised that was one of the most fun things I had ever done for work. Everything else looked boring in comparison.
I thought back to the time I was teaching Italian in Sydney and realised that was one of the most fun things I had ever done for work. Everything else looked boring in comparison.
I decided to look into language teaching, found out about CELTA, took a semi-intensive course and as the new school year started, I had a job as an English teacher. It was magical and I loved it.
Oh, I totally know what it’s like to work in several capacities before realizing what’s a good fit for you. So, can you tell us, what kind of school do you work in now?
I’m working for a language school, but I spend most of my time in high schools teaching IGCSE courses like English as a second language and geography.
I teach 21 classes, plus some additional afternoon courses. It’s a lot of work — and it’s even more exhausting right now because of online teaching — but these kids are amazing… For the most part…
Oh I totally get how the kids can keep you going. I have never had to teach 21 different classes, but I know that a positive emotional connection with my students had me working in teaching for 10 years. You’ve also told me that you’ve lived in the United Kingdom, Australia and Spain. How have international cultural experiences helped you or held you back as you now work as an English teacher in Rome?
Well, I know this is going to sound incredibly trite, but I guess it’s true: experiencing different cultures broadens your horizons. I feel like it’s much easier for me to understand what other people (students or teachers) are going through.
Well, I know this is going to sound incredibly trite, but I guess it’s true: experiencing different cultures broadens your horizons.
I’ve been a local and an immigrant, a person who could always go back to mum’s place for lunch and a guy hopping around hostels looking for a job and a bedroom to share at a reasonable price, a student just a couple of kilometres away from home and a dorm-lurker in another country…
This job requires a lot of empathy, my experience has definitely helped me to develop some crucial people skills. Unfortunately, I haven’t had enough time to embrace other cultures. I’ve never been to Africa or South America, for instance. I’ve only spent a few weeks in Japan. There’s so much more culture waiting for us out there!!
This job requires a lot of empathy, my experience has definitely helped me to develop some crucial people skills.
Changing the subject slightly, when we first met, we connected over going by another name that’s easier to pronounce for our students. I went by Elizabeth. And you still sometimes go by Dave. What do you think the value is on changing your working name and did you feel any challenges to doing this? Oh, I couldn’t agree with you more! Empathy is the top trait that I found to be the most critical in connecting with students and making a positive impact in their lives.
Ok, so, some of my friends still call me Dave to this day (one of them literally refuses to call me anything else). It honestly wasn’t very challenging for me: I was already used to it.
Some say that working as an Italian teaching English, you will face a form of discrimination called “native-speakerism”. Has this been your experience? Have you found any benefits being Italian and working as an English teacher? Oh, that’s such a good point! I’ve kind of had a similar experience. I have decided that my Welsh first name that my Italian-American mother gave me is a sign of my identity. And when I’m speaking another language, it tells people a bit about me.
Now I’ve kinda “dropped” my English teacher name. I’m an English teacher, but I’m a native Italian English teacher. It’s part of my individuality!
Oh, so, so true! Once my bosses were asked to swap me with another teacher because some parents of the students had complained about the fact that I was Italian. It turned out that none of the parents had complained at all, but the nuns from the school had found out by themselves that I was Italian (I wonder how they hadn’t realised by reading my CV, but I digress…) and decided they didn’t want me teaching in their school.
Once my bosses were asked to swap me with another teacher because some parents of the students had complained about the fact that I was Italian.
I lost a lot of teaching hours that year. It was quite tough. On top of that, I was furious. I’m a good teacher. Using my nationality to undermine my professionalism felt like a cheap shot.
If you could go back in time, is there anything you would change about your English teaching career? Oh wow! I’m so sorry that you had that experience. But you know, I had similar experiences both as an American teacher at a British school in Rome and a Spanish teacher in Austin, Texas. But, like you say, there are benefits.
Having said that, being a non-native speaker has its perks. For example, I think it’s easier for us to spot the reasons behind some mistakes in our students’ oral/written production. It’s a bit like “been there, done that”!
Having said that, being a non-native speaker has its perks.
That’s such a positive statement. Thank you for reminding us all that it’s important to stay positive and not dwell on the past.
I always try not to think about “changing the past”. After all, if there’s one thing I’ve learnt from pop culture is that messing with the past is always catastrophic!
I’m very happy with the person I am now. I suppose that if I could change a few things in the past, maybe today I would have a higher salary, maybe I would be working for a public school, maybe I could be much less stressed… But then again, while I can’t say I feel like I’m at the peak of my career, I believe we should focus on what we can do now to improve our situation, rather than dwelling on the past and regret something we haven’t done.
I believe we should focus on what we can do now to improve our situation, rather than dwelling on the past and regret something we haven’t done.
That’s such a positive statement. Thank you for reminding us all that it’s important to stay positive and not dwell on the past.
Well, is there anything else that you’d like to share about yourself?
That’s a tough question and I definitely don’t want to turn this into self-glorification. I think that one of the things that work best with my students is the fact that I’m still quite young(ish) and can relate to their silly jokes and culture references.
For me, the best way of reaching my students is to show them we’re human just like them. I love when they tell me stuff like “is that a Zelda mug? Nice!” or when they are delighted because I react to some reference to pop/cartoon/comics/videogame culture. It’s like saying “alright student! I’m not just a boring teacher. I have a life and share some of your interests!”. It’s surprisingly effective!
The best way of reaching my students is to show them we’re human just like them.
Haha. That’s such a good point. “Humanness” can be a very important lesson for a student at any age.
Okay, so if others want to connect with you online, how can they do that?
Email: emandavedesantis [ at ] gmail [ dot ] com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emanuele-de-santis-1b081314b
Originally published at https://makealeap.co/ on January 14, 2021.
