【一起听英语】军人与老师

你听说过军人退役后当老师的吗？专家认为军人更适合当老师，也更会成为好的老师，真是这样吗？

Rob: Hello, I'm Rob…

Cath: And I'm Cath.

Rob: And this is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. Today we're talking

about teachers and how one school is planning to only use people who were in

the armed forces to work there.

Cath: The Armed Forces. We mean the army, the navy and the air force.

Rob: Yes, that's right. It's thought that former soldiers could make excellent teachers.

Well let's see how much you learnt at school because I've got today's question

for you.

Cath: OK.

Rob: According to Government figures, approximately how many school pupils are

there in England? Is it:

 6.1 million

 7.1 million, or

 8.1 million

Cath: I have no idea but I am going to go for the one in the middle, 7.1 million.

Rob: OK, well, we'll see if you're right at the end of the programme. Now let's talk

more about this idea to use only former soldiers as teachers at a free school in

Manchester. 

6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2011

Page 2 of 6

Cath: A free school. Free schools are part of the British government's reforms in

education. They allow local parents, teachers or charities to establish – or set

up - their own schools.

Rob: And The Phoenix¹ Free School wants to use former soldiers as teachers because

they have a lot of life experience. Literally², they have experienced life.

Cath: That's true but does that mean they'll make ideal teachers?

Rob: This is the concern. They will not be qualified³ teachers.

Cath: So by not being qualified it means they will not have trained to be teachers.

Rob: Yes. But let's hear from Tom Burkard who is on the committee for the new

school. He thinks that's not an issue. Listen out for another word he uses that

means qualified:

Tom Burkard, member of the committee for the Phoenix Free School

The reason for this is simply based on three major American studies that have been done in

the last few years. They found that teachers who have little or no training perform just as well

as those who are fully⁴ certified⁵. The test results of their pupils – there is no statistically⁶

significant differences.

Rob: So Tom Burkard is not concerned that these teachers are not fully certified –

or qualified. He says 3 different American studies show unqualified teachers

perform just as well.

Cath: And their performance – or their good work – is proved by the fact that there is

statistically no difference in the test results of the pupils.

Rob: Statistically means the numbers or figures – the numbers or figures show there

is no difference.

Cath: So does this imply that maybe teachers don't need training? 

6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2011

Page 3 of 6

Rob: Well as a trained teacher myself, I think you do need to learn how to teach.

And I'm not the only one. There are other critics of the idea.

Cath: So a critic, here, is somebody who is against the idea.

Rob: Mary Bousted is a critic. She's from the Association of Teachers and Lecturers.

She thinks teacher training is necessary. What does she think teachers need to

learn?

Mary Bousted, Assosiation of Teachers and Lecturers

The idea that you can simply take the skills and abilities you've learnt in war or on the parade

ground or through army manoeuvres, and those can be translated undigested into teaching

without any further training is ridiculous. You need to learn about different approaches to

teaching and learning and need to learn the research theories about new approaches

particularly international approaches.

Cath: So Mary Bousted says the skills and abilities learnt in war can't be translated

undigested into teaching. Rob, what does she mean by undigested?

Rob: She's talking about transferring skills to the classroom without any thought or

without adapting them for children. She thinks the idea is ridiculous!

Cath: Ridiculous! That's a good word. It means silly or absurd. Mary Bousted thinks

teachers need to learn about different approaches to teaching and learning.

Rob: So she doesn't want these soldiers skipping teacher training courses.

Cath: Skipping means missing or avoiding. But Rob, isn't this school breaking the

law?

Rob: No it's not. According to Tom Burkard, this plan is legal. Here he is again

using the phrase 'free to'. What are they free to do? 

6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2011

Page 4 of 6

Tom Burkard, member of the committee for the Phoenix Free School

All free schools are free to employ people who don't have teaching qualifications. The only

teacher you have to have who is qualified is the special needs co-ordinator. We're not asking

for any special exemption⁷ in this. We're just following what the Department of Education is

saying right here.

Rob: Free Schools are 'free to' employ unqualified teachers. They are allowed to by

law.

Cath: And he's doesn't want to be treated specially⁸. That's what he means when he

says we're not asking for any special exemption.

Rob: It's the Department of Education that says Free Schools can recruit unqualified

teachers.

Cath: Well it's an interesting and very controversial idea. I suppose parents don't have

to send their children to this school?

Rob: Yes that's true. But I'm afraid, Cath, you had no choice in trying to answer

today's question!

Cath: OK.

Rob: I asked you According to Government figures, approximately how many

school pupils are there in England?

6.1 million

7.1 million, or

 8.1 million

Cath: I thought 7.1 million but I don't really know! 

6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2011

Page 5 of 6

Rob: And you are absolutely wrong because the actual answer is 8.1 million pupils

in England.

Cath: That's a lot. No wonder I can't get on the bus in the morning!

Rob: OK, well we're almost at the end of the programme, so Cath could you please

remind us of some of the vocabulary we've heard in today's programme?

Cath: Of course! We had:

armed forces

reforms

qualified

certified

statistically

critics

undigested

ridiculous

approaches

exemption

Rob: Thanks Cath. See you next time!

Both: Bye! 

1 phoenix   

n.凤凰，长生(不死)鸟；引申为重生

参考例句：

• The airline rose like a phoenix from the ashes.这家航空公司又起死回生了。
• The phoenix worship of China is fetish worship not totem adoration.中国凤崇拜是灵物崇拜而非图腾崇拜。

2 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

3 qualified   

adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的

参考例句：

• He is qualified as a complete man of letters.他有资格当真正的文学家。
• We must note that we still lack qualified specialists.我们必须看到我们还缺乏有资质的专家。

4 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

5 certified   

a.经证明合格的；具有证明文件的

参考例句：

• Doctors certified him as insane. 医生证明他精神失常。
• The planes were certified airworthy. 飞机被证明适于航行。

6 statistically   

ad.根据统计数据来看，从统计学的观点来看

参考例句：

• The sample of building permits is larger and therefore, statistically satisfying. 建筑许可数的样本比较大，所以统计数据更令人满意。
• The results of each test would have to be statistically independent. 每次试验的结果在统计上必须是独立的。

7 exemption   

n.豁免，免税额，免除

参考例句：

• You may be able to apply for exemption from local taxes.你可能符合资格申请免除地方税。
• These goods are subject to exemption from tax.这些货物可以免税。

8 specially   

adv.特定地；特殊地；明确地

参考例句：

• They are specially packaged so that they stack easily.它们经过特别包装以便于堆放。
• The machine was designed specially for demolishing old buildings.这种机器是专为拆毁旧楼房而设计的。