Interview with Tom O. Smith, March 15, 2023

Interview Summary

Tom Smith, Tunisia, 1967-1969, TEFL. Tom Smith was born in L.A. Tom shared the history of his family and its influences on him. He graduated with a degree in history from UCSB. He was invited to a TEFL project in Tunisia. His Pre-Service Training held at Brown University was a bust of four weeks offering little foundation in pedagogical skills or Tunisia’s political situation. T-groups during PST were poorly supervised and focused on self-deselection. Tom was assigned to the Collège Secondaire in Zarzis. He described his housing and the layout of the town. Tom taught 4-5 hours a day with 20-40 students in a class. He used a British textbook provided by the Ministry of Education, which he discarded after Americanizing and producing local community based TEFL materials using an anti-authoritarian style. During his first year, Tom explored the town getting to be known. He particularly enjoyed the many dinners at his students’ homes and learning Arabic in the process. Tom helped students submit a petition to the municipal government on what young people want, which caused a minor political issue.

Interview Keyword

Tunisia TEFL Los Angeles parents grandmother stepmother community college University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB) History KKK brother Peace Corps recruiter Pied-noir French person in colonies PST Brown University New England trainees culture shock public housing Floyd McKissick CORE Casbah market area Mediterranean Zarzis work site PCV corporant French volunteer Jewish migrants Café des Amis hangout Souk shop cous cous food British TEFL text book disciplinarian hepatitis teachers Crete Greece Turkey vacation Hallouk student shekwa sheep skin petition youth interests Sbeitla poor town in Tunisia tattoos Artisanaat Nacionale book locker White Collar Elite C. Wright Mills Growing up Absurd Paul Goodman The Colonizer and the Colonized Albert Memmi books and authors coming home community organizing political career authoritarian bedouin

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