about Act 2 Scene 1

On the one hand, Rita's awareness of the changes that the course she had with Frank had generated in her is presented from the very beginning of this scene. Rita has been to summer school in London and she is very excited about telling everything to Frank.

The experience had challenged and changed her in a positive way since she had to face different students' reality without Frank's help. At this point Rita has grown a lot, for instance, the first thing she tells Frank is about the library episode she had with a tutor and how she held back her spontaneous reaction for a politically correct one. It's important to highlight that she has also gained confidence in herself and she feels secure enough to go on with her studies.

However, as all life experiences, not all are roses, she got some negative changes too. After her learning about Blake during summer school, she is quite cocky, she starts boasting about what she knows and she looses for a moment the humility of who is always open to learn.

I want to make a pause, just for a moment, so as to reflect upon us as teacher trainees. I guess that whenever we feel we know something we want to show it off, probably totally unconsciously but we often forget to be humble and respectful towards who teaches us. What do you think?

On the other hand, Frank's attitude towards her changes was the ones of somebody totally shock by the drastic differences. I guess that he couldn't believed his eyes when he saw this "new Rita", more knowledgeable but less spontaneous. He must have felt that he was loosing her, since, he was already used to her dependence upon him. He had already made her part of his life, and the idea of her reaching the exams and the level expected for them terrified him.

Don't you think that letting students go, once you have already established certain rapport is as tasteless as reading the last page of a book, at least to me it is one of the hardest parts of being a teacher?