David is a Lecturer at SBC in the Division of Events Management. He is also the coach and founder of the SBC Student Football Club, and Football Sports Society. He has over seven years teaching experience and has taught English and Business in China at Tsinghua University, Korea, Spain and in the UK. As a coach of SBC’s football team he led his team to the USST College Football Championship and he holds the ‘First for Sport’ Level 1 & 2 Football Coaching Certificates. Let us congratulate David and his team and know more about him by this interview.
Academic:
Q: You have taught a lot of SBC freshmen; do you have any suggestions for those students to overcome their difficulties for English learning?
A: I think because there are so many assignments and tests, the students only focus on learning English to pass these tests. I really think in Year 1 students should be learning English for enjoyment. For example, listening to the radio, watching TV programs and reading books you enjoy – really engaging in the language.
Q: Now you are a lecturer for junior and senior students, what do you think is the most important academic skill for students to grasp? What good habit do you require students to form in order to help them further study?
A: Critical analysis. Students don’t understand that in most subjects there is not always a ‘perfect answer’. If there were perfect answers for everything, we would live in a perfect world. Students should learn to argue for their answers and be able to support them with evidence.For further study, I think it is best to get some real-life experiences first. Lots of students complete their undergraduate degree, and then immediately do a master degree. I don’t recommend that. I did my master degree while I was working three or four years after my undergraduate degree. I was able to use lots of examples and experiences from my working life and think about ideas from different perspectives.
SBC Football Team:
Q: Congratulations on the first prize of last year’s USST football match. What is the key to beat other college teams and win the championship?
A: Work as a team. That is the biggest thing. I have often found that Chinese football players don’t work as a team. When I came to SBC, all of the players wanted to be the star; they wanted to score the goals and show off. They have to understand everyone has strengths and weaknesses and they play as a team. Being a star doesn’t always mean scoring the winning goal. Sometimes the Goal-Keeper makes lots of saves, or the defender stops the other team from scoring. Midfields who create goals, for example, can be the star players as well.
Q: Do you think it is difficult to deal with the relationship between Chinese players and foreign players in a team?
A: Unfortunately, it’s like Economics. I’ve seen diminishing returns recently with the integration. When I first came to SBC in 2009, there were no international students here. The football team I started was completely Chinese. Nobody wanted to pass. Everybody wanted to be individuals. In my second year, we had three international students. When they came into the team, the other Chinese students saw them pass the ball around and communicate to each other. The Chinese players watched them and realized if they did not pass, the internationals students would not give them the ball back. Suddenly, the dynamic of the team changed and the players started to work together. I feel that the 1st and 2nd year that we had international students was the best in terms of integration and cooperation between the two student groups. the integration and working together was the most successful. That was the increasing return. It was like they were working better together and we were becoming more successful. This year we won which I think was the optimal point. I see the international players together and I see the new Chinese players, the Year 1 students staying together as well. It’s kind of separating a little bit now. I don’t really like that. I want to see the students playing, celebrating and working together on the football pitch.
Habits:
Q: Since you are good at sport, can you share us any advice about suitable amount of time for exercises every week?
A: I think exercises should be part of your daily routine. Exercise is as important as eating, reading and sleeping. So it should be part of something you do every day. 20-30 minutes every day is suitable. You have to enjoy it, and it helps if you have friends who also enjoy that activity as you can do it together.
Q: How do you keep yourself energetic for study, work and exercises?
A: That is a very good question. I don’t know to be honest. My long term motivation I suppose is that I always want to develop, and take on more responsibility so that I can get a job in the future that challenges me more and pays better. For teaching, my motivation is the students. Even if there are problems at work, or I am stressed about something not teaching related, I am motivated to do a good job for your guys!
