Have you, as a retiree, ever considered teaching? You’ve acquired knowledge and expertise over your decades of employment, so why not pass this on to the next generations or even your peers?

For myself, semi-retirement teaching was among the most rewarding activities of my career. I’d left Monash University and became a consultant to the Commonwealth of Learning (COL), established in 1987 by the Commonwealth Heads of Government “… to create and widen access to opportunities for learning, making use of the potential offered by distance education and by the application of communication technologies to education.”

COL is based in Vancouver, and my task was to assist in providing staff training in several overseas countries as well as contributing to the development and tutoring of online courses for international agencies such as UNHCR.

There are many ways you can become involved in teaching. If you’ve been a member of a professional association, they may offer training and/or certification, and you can become a trainer or examiner. For example, many medical professionals involve themselves in teaching in various forms, especially though the colleges. Accountants contribute to their profession by devising examination questions for certification. Another avenue is through the University of the Third Age (U3A).

If you’re new to teaching, you may be wondering just how to teach. There are, of course, many teaching methods, each of which depends on context and content. But underpinning all teaching is several principles that are universally researched and accepted.

Although there are minor variations, they fundamentally cover the following seven statements: Encourage contact between students and teachers; develop reciprocity and cooperation among students; encourage active learning; give prompt feedback; emphasise time on task; communicate high expectations; and respect diverse talents and ways of learning.

How do these principles translate in practice? As an example, in the late 1980s I was working at Hong Kong Polytechnic University, sharing an office with a local colleague who was a language expert (Chinese, German, English and others) and was running night classes for working adults. He invited me to run some sessions and gave me open slather on my approach.

The session I remember as being the most successful was on writing skills. In preparation, I obtained a copy of the English language newspaper, the South China Morning Post, and cut out the pages of job advertisements.

For the session, I divided the group into pairs, and invited each pair to choose a job ad. One had to write a brief letter of application, and the other had to prepare a CV. They then checked each other’s work before briefly presenting them to the entire group. It worked well, with a convivial atmosphere and a few laughs along the way.

You can readily appreciate how this teaching activity aligns with the principles: there’s plenty of contact and collaboration, the students are engaged in active learning and the feedback is prompt. The expectation was high in the sense that they were meant to produce a useable job application.

As a side point, it’s universal that the principle that rates highly with students is prompt feedback. We all remember the annoyance of waiting for a tardy lecturer to return our assignments back in our youthful studies.

So, if you’re inclined, give teaching a go. It may not be particularly well paid, but the rewards are many, from helping others to the simple satisfaction of applying your accumulated professional skills.

Note: this article first appeared in The Golden Times on 14th January, 2025.