Reflctive Teaching - Update & Upgrade

Sir Isaac Newton saw the universe as an orderly clock. Today, scientists describe it as a shifting kaleidoscope. Could this new metaphor hold the secret for the transformation of learning communities?

Update & Upgrade Reflections on teaching beliefs and self-assessment.

Federico Arteaga C. Centro Colombo Americano Manizales

A matter of perception “A strange thing hangs by a man’s thigh under its master’s clothes. It is pierced in front, is stiff and hard, has a good fixed place. When the man lifts his own garment above the knee, he wishes to visit with the head of this hanging instrument the familiar hole which when of equal length, has often filled before.”

The Key (Taken from the Exeter Book)

A matter of perception • Where do you see yourself in 10 years? • Where do you see your students in 10 years? • What opinion do you have of your students? • What opinion do you think your students have of you?

What kind of teacher are you? • • • • • • • • •

Resource. Assessor. Participant. Controller. Performer. Tutor. Organizer. Prompter. Observer.

Of peers

Being observed

Of the environment

Observer

Of self

Of students

A few facts from the EFL/ESL trade • By 2019 Manizales must have become a truly bilingual city, and its English language teachers from public schools will at least rank as B2 according to the CEF. • there is a burgeoning English learning industry (in Delhi alone it is a $100 million-per-year business, and China’s ‘English fever’ has grown to “epidemic proportions because of the country’s accession and the 2008 Olympics” (Newsweek, 2005)).

A few facts from the EFL/ESL trade • Three years ago, government minister Bill Rammell announced that the UK ESOL budget was creaking at the seams, unable to sustain the growth in demand generated, in particular, by the number of EU migrant workers accessing free provision. Just a year later, nine ESOL examining boards produced “ESOL for Work” qualifications, which have been developed “... to support a shorter, more job-focused, practical approach to English language skills … to meet the immediate English language acquisition needs of learners who are in employment or who are intending to work in this country on a short term basis, without seeking UK citizenship”. (QCA)

A few facts from the EFL/ESL trade • The jobs for which graduates wish to apply require oral and written proficiency in the second language. • Globalization has increased our contact with people who have mother tongues other than English but use English as a lingua franca in trade negotiations. • by 2002 there were approximately 450 million Internet users, which brought about more contact and an increase in information in English and the numbers are growing

A reflection on teaching beliefs As teachers of English as a foreign language, we are committed to maintain a relative purity of the language. As language users, we are both entitled to and expected to be an active, living part of such an organic system as English. We are resourceful and creative and do our best to get a vast array of messages across to incipient speakers in the target language. So why does it sometimes look as though we can’t transmit this basic “survival” skill to them, even when we know that it is exactly what they need and demand?

A reflection on teaching beliefs

• Strengths:

Advantages of proposition? Capabilities? Competitive advantages? UTP's (unique teaching points)? Resources, Peers? Experience in the field? Knowledge of language? Innovative aspects? Location and geographical situation? Quantity and quality of material taught? Accreditations, qualifications, certifications? Processes, systems, communications? Cultural, attitudinal & behavioural input & output? Philosophy and values?

A reflection on teaching beliefs • Weaknesses: Disadvantages of proposition? Gaps in capabilities? Lack of competitive strength? Reputation, presence and reach? Own known vulnerabilities? Timescales, deadlines and pressures? Continuity? Effects of skill-development activities, distraction? Reliability of and/or lesson plan predictability? Class management? Transititions & Follow-ups? Accreditations, academic achievements, seminars and readings? Morale, commitment, leadership?

A reflection on teaching beliefs • Opportunities: Trade and market developments? Peers’ & Competitors' vulnerabilities? Industry or lifestyle trends? Technology development and innovation? Global influences? New markets, Niche target audience? New UTP's? Tactics: eg, surprise, more successful approaches, major contracts? Material design & development? Information and research? Partnerships, subscriptions, outreach? Teamwork & Network? Seasonal, mediatic, fashion influences?

A reflection on teaching beliefs • Threats: Cognitive effects? Social effects? Behavioral effects? Peer & Competitor intentions - developments? Learner needs & demands? New technologies, services, ideas? Vital contracts and partnerships, research groups, discussion forums? Self-sustaining learning? Obstacles faced? Insurmountable weaknesses? Sustainable logistic backing? Economical and cultural aspects of the surroundings at home? Loss of motivation? Seasonality, lasting social & cognitive effects?

Usage of the SWOT analysis Strengths

Threats

Weaknesses

Opportunities

Elements participating in ELT Characteristics of the learner

Characteristics of the teacher

Characterisitcs of the relevant languages

Characterisitics of the setting

Integrated-skill instruction Vs. Segregated-skill instruction • Frequently, segregated-skill ESL/EFL classes present instruction in terms of skilllinked learning strategies: reading strategies, listening strategies, speaking strategies, and writing strategies (see Peregoy & Boyle, 2001). Learning strategies are srategies that students employ, most often consciously, to improve their learning. Examples are guessing meaning based on context, breaking a sentence or word down into parts to understand the meaning, and practicing the language with someone else (Oxford, 2001).

• In contrast to segregated-skill instruction, both actual and apparent, there are at least two forms of instruction that are clearly oriented toward integrating the skills: content-based instruction. and task-based instruction.

Skill development toward skill integration Academic Skills • • • •

Writing. Listening. Reading Speaking

AND… • Grammar. • Vocabulary • Pronunciation

Supporting skills • • • • • • •

Skimming. Scanning. Summarizing. Synthesizing. Mind-mapping. Note-taking. Paraphrasing.

Integrated-skill tasks in the new examinations for certification of English proficiency. • Making inferences • Identifying and using main ideas and details • Skimming and scanning • Using context clues • Summarizing

• Paraphrasing • Using detailed examples • Identifying and using rhetorical structures • Comparing and contrasting • Identifying and using cohesive devices

PREPOSITIONS ARE NOT WORDS TO FINISH SENTECES WITH. Thank you very much for your attention.

Federico Arteaga C. [email protected] Centro Colombo Americano Manizales 2009