Season 1, Episode 2
Teaching for life, starring Eric Jones
Today on Beyond My Years, host Ana Torres becomes a student of Eric Jones, an educator who came out of retirement at 80 years of age to help with a national teacher shortage鈥攖hus becoming the oldest paid teacher in Britain. Eric shares his insights with Ana about building a collaborative classroom and what it means to teach children, not content. He also reflects on how the trajectory of his life changed when one man recognized and encouraged his desire to be a teacher.
Eric delves into how attending school in the ’50s shaped his teaching style, his experience of retiring before the smartphone era only to return when every student has one, and how his anti-bullying efforts contributed to the passing of a national law. He also discusses why his love for teaching has lasted a lifetime.
Taking all those lessons back to the classroom, Eric Cross and Ana then discuss how they would apply the tenets of respect and collaboration in their own classrooms.
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Meet our guest, Eric Jones.
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Eric Jones, born in 1941 during World War II, was determined to become a teacher. A chance encounter with a teaching college lecturer inspired him to follow his passion, leading him to qualify as a teacher in 1969 and earning a Bachelor of Education (Hons) in 1977. Eric dedicated over 30 years to teaching, holding positions such as head of school, head of department, and deputy head at a large inner-city school in London. He briefly retired in 1993 but continued to volunteer with teenagers in drama activities and tutoring for acting exams. In 2020, Eric wrote his first novel, Finding a Sovereign.
During an impending teaching shortage in 2022, Eric volunteered when the government asked for retired teachers to help keep schools running. Since then, he鈥檚 been teaching 1鈥�2 days per week in local high schools. Over the years, Eric has contributed significantly to anti-bullying initiatives, co-authoring guides and speaking at conferences and media outlets. He鈥檚 won numerous awards and nominations, including a nomination by the Wychavon District Council for an arts recognition award, as well as a nomination for Best Musical in the West Midlands for a theater production he directed.
Meet our host, Ana Torres.
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Ana has been an educator for 30 years, working in both the K鈥�8 and higher education sectors. She served as an administrator and instructor at various public and private colleges and universities and as a bilingual and dual language teacher, dual language math and reading interventionist, dual language instructional coach, assistant principal, and principal in K鈥�8 schools. Ana is currently the Bilingual and Multilingual Specialist on 猫咪AV鈥檚 Product Specialist team, and delivers literacy and biliteracy presentations across the nation. Ana鈥檚 passion and advocacy for biliteracy and multiculturalism has led her to educate leaders, teachers, and parents about the positive impact of bilingualism and biliteracy in our world.
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Meet our Classroom Insider, Eric Cross.
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Eric Cross is a middle school science teacher who hopes to someday be a lifelong educator, like the guests on Beyond My Years! In each episode, Eric connects with host Ana Torres to discuss her guests鈥� best insights gleaned from their long and rewarding careers in the classroom. Then, Eric talks about bringing some of their wisdom into his current classroom and busy life.
Quotes
- 鈥淗e said to me, 鈥榊ou want to be a teacher, don’t you?鈥欌� said, 鈥榃ell, yeah, I’d love to, but I didn’t get enough qualifications when I left school. So I don’t think I’d ever really be qualified.鈥� And he said the magic words, 鈥榃hat are you waiting for?’鈥� 鈥擡ric Jones
- 鈥淲hat I would say to young teachers is this: ‘Don’t teach science. Don’t teach maths. Don’t teach French. Don’t teach geography. Teach children.’鈥� 鈥擡ric Jones
- “You’ve got to love teaching; you’ve got to love the kids; and you’ve really got to want to do it. Almost, dare I say, in your blood.” 鈥擡ric Jones
- 鈥淎t the end of my 10 or 12 years of touring around and nattering on about bullying and trying to sort of quantify it in some way so that we could teach specifics鈥here is now a law in Britain that says every school must have an anti-bullying policy.鈥� 鈥擡ric Jones
- 鈥淚 like teaching kids things they didn’t know before and now they’re excited about. I love the idea that they will then move on into realms of industry and economics success that I would never dream of.鈥� 鈥擡ric Jones
- 鈥淚鈥檓 in the education business. I’m not in the vengeance business. And if a boy doesn’t know how to use a knife and fork, I’ll teach him. If an infant doesn’t know how to tie shoelaces, I’ll teach him. If a child doesn’t know how to behave in society, I’ll teach him. Pleasantly, and productively, and creatively, and positively, I will teach him if that’s what he needs to learn.鈥� 鈥擡ric Jones
