Page 15 - ELG1709 Agu-Sep Issue 450

COMMENT .

long time, but there is an elephant in the room
which we are totally ignoring: people of colour
and racism.
I was born in India but grew up in London.
I have dark skin but I sound English. I don’t
look typically Indian and people find it difficult
to place my ethnicity. Plus, I’m female.
Like most people in this industry, I became
a teacher by chance. In Izmir, Turkey, where
I first started teaching in 1992, I was the only
Asian teacher there at the time. I was a bit of a
novelty. Students would often call me Whitney
Houston or Michael Jackson, not because I
could sing but because I’m dark skinned and
have curly hair. I just put it down to ignorance.
It wasn’t until I returned to London that I
experienced racism of a different sort.
Students of certain nationalities refusing to
be taught by me, not because I’m not good at
teaching but because I’m not white. Teenage
children writing racist remarks on the covers
of their notebooks such as ‘fucking nigger
bitch’. Remarks which shocked my director of
studies so much at the time that he actually
apologised for putting me through this awful
experience and asked the group to leave the
school.
When I first became an examiner, I had to
attend examiner training with a room full of
white middle-class women who thought I was
Varinder Unlu has faced there to serve lunch.
racism throughout her career Becoming a director of studies at a language
school in Covent Garden and attending an
‘Students have for the staff serving drinks and canapes. Being
anniversary celebration where I was mistaken
asked, ‘What do you do?’ and getting a look of
shock when the reply was, ‘I’m the director of
studies.’ One person even asked, ‘How did you
refused to be manage that, then?’
Is it racism or something else? Would a
white person have been asked the same
questions or got mistaken for waiting staff?
Was it because I was wearing a black dress?
I have asked myself these questions many
taught by me’ times over the years. I’ve also questioned when
in meetings or at some event why I’m the only
non-white face there. Or when a student is
shocked to see me when they’ve asked to see
the academic director and I have to convince
them that it’s me they want to speak to.
Language school director of studies Varinder Unlu In an industry where it’s still normal to see
has spent her career on the receiving end of often job ads asking for ‘native speakers only – must
be white/Caucasian’, it can sometimes be
bare-faced racism. The issue is the ‘elephant in the tough to ignore racism.
I’m a first-generation immigrant. English
room’ in ELT and needs greater research, she says is not my mother tongue but I speak it better
I a native teacher to teach me because it’s very considered native?
than most natives. So why is it that I’m not
have grown up experiencing so much racism
and sexism that most of the time these days
important for me to pass my exam.’
There are many countries around the world
where there are no anti-discrimination laws to
This didn’t shock me. I have heard this
it doesn’t even occur to me to be offended
when it rears its ugly head.
is still perceived to be white and a native of the
Take last week for example. I get a call from many times before. I have had students walk regulate employment, and an English teacher
out of classrooms when I have walked in,
one of our registrars – there’s a prospective demanding that they have a white native UK, US, Australia or Canada. A non-white
student wanting to talk to the academic teacher. I have had teachers on teacher- teacher from India would still be considered
director about Ielts classes. refresher courses do the same – without even non-native, despite having grown up in
I walk out to the reception area to be being given the chance to open my mouth, let England. The white teacher would still be
greeted by a young Saudi woman. I introduce alone teach them anything. preferred over the non-white teacher, even if
myself and her first question is, ‘Are you going In ELT we’ve been talking about the native they lacked the experience and qualifications.
to be my teacher? I want a good teacher. I need versus non-native speaker teacher issue for a However, in Europe and the US, where
14 August/September 2017

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