INTERVIEW WITH BOB GIBSON

by MIAN CUI, MA Candidate

MC-What is the most rewarding thing you have gotten since you started your career?

BG-My teaching career started about 46 years ago. It was a very interesting career. It took me to a lot of places. There have been a lot of things. It’s hard to say one thing.

MC-What is the thing that popped into your head two seconds ago?

BG-Actually, it has been teaching. And I have been teaching a lot of courses in different levels, from elementary schools to university graduate schools. And I taught in a lot of places, such as Micronesia, Samoa, Japan, etc. I guess teaching has been the most rewarding thing. You know that kind of interaction with the students. That’s what I’ve loved most of all.

MC- How did you get started in teaching?

BG-I was in engineering. I almost felt a calling. That’s what got me into teaching.

I was really a bad student at school, elementary and high school, playing around a lot, wasn’t serious at all. My teachers, when I looked back, there were very few that seemed to be competent, when looked into the way they taught. I didn’t see much of the commitment from them. As I grew older, I thought I could do a lot better than that. Maybe I could make a difference… It is sort of my motivation, to make my students experience in education a lot more interesting than mine was.

MC- What are your feelings about teaching?

BG-Sometimes you make a connection with just one students, and the lights go on, and you say, my god, I had a little bit to do with that! That person probably would never tell you and you might not see that person again, like the six graders that I had long time ago. I never saw them after that. I have no idea what happened to them. I wish I knew. Because they are almost in their sixties now. Can you imagine that?

But I know I’ve given my all. And I’m sure there has been some sort of effect. Given the odds of that effect on one person and that person affects a few other people…

MC-What made you stay in one institution for such a long time?

I love Hawai`i. I did my Master’s and PhD here. I just love living in Hawai`i. I came here as an East-West Center student back in 1966. Then, after finishing my degree I went to Micronesia. When I was thinking about going back to United States, I asked myself, where did I want to stay? Of course Hawai`i… Then I was offered a job here, as an ELI instructor.

The moment I stepped out of the airplane, it was just like paradise here. It’s not just the physical part of it. The people, too. You look around, there are all kinds of people here. We are multi-racial, multi-ethnic community. And I love them. My daughter married a man from Greece so she has a half-Greek daughter, that was wonderful. And my son married a woman from Hong Kong so those kids are half-Chinese, half-Haole. To me, that’s… I like that.

MC-What was your experience in Egypt?

BG-I was a director in an English program at the American University in Egypt. That was a huge program, about 9000 students in the English program alone and a couple hundreds of teachers. I was the director there and I did some teaching some times. That was the first time I was in Egypt.

The second time I went to Egypt, I was on my sabbatical leave. That was wonderful experience–great students.

MC- What was your experience with DoE?

BG-I did a lot of workshops for teachers to teach them how to deal with non-native-speakers in the regular classroom. I have been on many advisory committees for DoE for a number of years.

Sometimes I have received a lot of encouragement from teachers. There is a teacher in Queen Ka`ahumana School, down by the Safeway. She has a wonderful program. She was one of my students many years ago. Over the years, I have encouraged her and offered her whatever ideas I thought might help. Now she has a superb program. That’s the type of thing I like the most of all.

I think that’s the part of the work that I most value, to serve our state, with our immigrant students. We have a very high percentage of immigrant students in our public schools. Some schools have 30 to 40 percent. There is a big need out there for the kind of expertise our department has.

MC-What’s your plan after you retire?

BG-Volunteer work, workshops, if possible. I’d love the travel to various places and give talks about what I now, such as the one I just did in Korea.

I would also like to work with our alumni. I would also like to keep in touch with my students, offering whatever assistance I still can.

MC-What’s your plan for alumni networking?

BG-First of all, we need to make contact with those people. I think we need to develop a website for this, such as the one set up by Shiedler School of Business.

Besides this, part of that will be Facebook, and Twitter, part of that is to make a contact database, to keep people up to date, interacting with people on Facebook, etc. on a pretty frequent basis.

I think we need somebody almost full time to do it.

[Note from Editor: As Alumni Coordinator, I’ve set up a Facebook account and a Departmental electronic file with email addresses. Looking forward to your website!]

Anecdote about first teaching experience, available on audio file. Click on “first year of teaching” below:

first year of teaching

MESSAGES TO BOB:

From Barbara Wiggin (MA, 1977):

I’ll never forget your ‘Video in ESL’ course in the 1970’s.  Groundbreaking.  You are one-of-a-kind and well remembered by all your “old” (and I do mean “old”!) students.

From Doug Bowen (MA, 1977):

I wonder how many students you have encouraged and inspired over the years?  I’m sure the number is quite large, and I’m one of them.  You were an important part of who I have become as a person and as a professional.  Many thanks for your years of service.

Enjoy retirement – knowing you, you’ll be busy doing many interesting things.  Good luck on this next phase of your life.

From Judy Guffey (MA, 1990):

I still remember you telling a class of newbies that the program was a ‘piece of cake’ as I sat wondering if I’d made a sane decision to enter grad school.  Well, at times it was a piece of ‘mud pie’ with lots of stuff in the way but because of your great support to all of us in the mid-80s …. I finally did graduate.  Each time I agonized over a paper or exam I remembered that you said, ‘it’s a piece of cake.”  Thanks, Bob.  Enjoy your down time now.  I do!

From Mark James (PhD, 1996):

I can still remember the day when, as a senior at BYU-Hawaii in the 70’s, I was introduced by Dr. Alice Pack to your strip story idea.  I was immediately taken with it and on my own began to work out a number of stories that were flexible (to suit the number of students who showed up on any given day) and which each focused on a couple of syntactic points.

With a little urging and arranging by Dr. Pack, I presented the idea for a full collection to Rupert Murdoch at Newbury House Publishers while attending the TESOL convention. Murdoch was sold on the idea, and I came home elated. But as the school year ended and I started graduate school, the project sat and sat until over time it finally ended up at the very back of my file cabinet.  To end this story on a high note, however, the strip story has found an permanent place in my methods course.

Many thanks for many memories!

From Vincent R Linares:

Bob—happy trails to you. I too am retiring this July 1!!!  Sooner or later we need to break bread!!

From Elisabeth Chan (MA, 2008):

Mahalo! Bob, your class was one of the most memorable and practical courses during my time in SLS. I enjoyed and will always remember your limitless enthusiasm and kindness. Enjoy retirement, and I hope you continue singing!

From David Bird (MA, 1977):

I’m sorry that I can’t react to late announcements.  Do you have any idea how long it takes to travel via bicycle and bus from Leeward CC to Manoa?  And then get home to Kailua?

I appreciate your updates, especially about people like Bob, who was my mentor and boss 35 years ago.