No teaching without ‘tea’
Every time I take a tea break during my teaching hours, I ponder how it came to be that “tea” forms the first three letters of the word “ teacher” or “teaching”. And ironically enough, no teacher education program ever mentions even a single word about this. The English faculty at King Khalid University in Saudi Arabia, where I work, consists of teachers from 15 nationalities. One of the most obvious common traits I get to notice among them is taking tea. It provides me with the social proof that at least one thing I do as a teacher is commensurate with international teaching standards.Hats off to all tea-taking teachers from four continents. Recently, I was selected as an invigilator for IELTS examinations. IELTS, as you may know, is co-owned and administered by Cambridge English Language Assessment, the British Council, and IDP Education. In their special instructions to invigilators, I found a word of caution against having tea in the examination hall as the aroma ma