Interviews with Three New Bloggers for My Three Years of Blogging – Number Three: Carol Goodey

Carol Goodey

My third guest for this special celebration is Carol Goodey, an educator from Scotland who was one of the first people I connected to on Twitter. I admire her work immensely and there were times when I wished she would start blogging – and she did! You can read her great blog at http://cgoodey.wordpress.com/

Vicky: Carol, welcome to my blog with this interview for the celebration of three new bloggers and the third birthday of my blog! I am so happy as you have been one of the first people I ever connected to online three years ago, and we have been in close connection ever since.

Carol: Thank you for asking me to be part of this celebration, Vicky. It’s a real honour to be featured on your blog. Congratulations on your blog’s third birthday!

Vicky: For those of our readers who meet you for the first time, can you introduce yourself and tell us about your work in education as well?

Carol: I live in Scotland and work with the local authority in community learning and development as an adult literacies and ESOL worker. I get to work with a range of people who want to improve their literacies, numeracy and English language for use in the different contexts of their lives. I work with people who have moved to the area from around the world and people who have lived here for much longer, including people with learning disabilities. I really enjoy the variety.

Vicky: How did you decide to become involved in education?

Carol:  I first started as a volunteer literacies tutor and, working with ESOL learners, decided I wanted to find out more about language learning. I had already done studies in the English language and was happy to have an excuse to do more! While I was pursuing further studies, a paid literacies post became available. I applied and got it. I worked there for a few years before moving on to work with university students but quickly realized that I missed the community learning and development approach and was fortunate to be able to get my job back.

Vicky: You have chosen social media to connect with many teachers around the world. How did you start out? What are the benefits and challenges, if any?

Carol:  I was following an English Language Teaching discussion group. Some of the contributors mentioned Twitter and so, out of curiosity, I investigated. It took me three tries to finally get the hang of it. I’m glad I did because, through it, I’ve got to know some really interesting practitioners and learned a huge amount. More recently, I’ve been using Facebook to connect with other educators but I’m still getting used to that.

Vicky: There are several educators who are not connected to others on social media. What would you like to tell them?

Carol: Give it a go! It can be overwhelming at times, particularly when you first start but if you build up the people you follow slowly, get to know them, add the people they are chatting to, and don’t try to read everything, it can be a very worthwhile and enjoyable experience.

Vicky: Can you share one of the best moments in your teaching so far?

Carol: I’m really excited about a project I’ve been working on with a Community Learning and Development colleague which aims to bring people from different parts of the community together to learn about, with and from each other. We wanted to promote social inclusion and increase awareness of different people’s abilities, backgrounds and beliefs. We started with big engagement events – a ceilidh, food night, singing workshop and beetle drive – and are hoping to continue with similar events alongside more regular and sustainable activities such as sporting groups, international coffee mornings, etc. It’s been really enjoyable and we’ve had a lot of really positive feedback.  While not teaching exactly, there have been lots of valuable learning opportunities. ESOL learners have had the opportunities to use English and get to know more local people. Other community members have learned more about people from other countries and have developed their own skills in communicating with speakers of other languages, making integration and inclusion that wee bit easier.

Vicky: You have recently started a blog. How did you decide to set up your own?

Carol:  It’s taken me a while to set up my own, but I’ve been enjoying and learning from others for so long I felt I should make a contribution too. I had put it off because, with so many great blogs out there, I didn’t see what I would have to add. I was also a bit nervous about the time commitment, or spam, or other unforeseen hassles. But now that I’ve started, I’ve found that I really enjoy the process of writing. I find it absorbing and relaxing. It’s good to have a space whenever I feel I have something to share.

Vicky: Can you close with a wish to all educators, with the holidays getting closer?

Carol: If you do have holidays over the next few weeks, I hope you get the chance to have some space for yourself and take time to enjoy the small pleasures in life – whatever they might be for you.

Vicky: A huge thank you, Carol! I hope to meet you in person sometime next year!

Carol: It’s been a real pleasure, Vicky. Thank you for having me and I look forward to meeting you soon!