empower
From the focus on methods
to the focus on the teacher and students
to the focus on the teacher and students
"The death of all methods" - Kumaravadivelu
When I read about the "death of all methods" in Kumaravadivelu's article entitled "TESOL Methods: Changing Tracks, Challenging Trends" I felt both surprised and relieved. I was surprised because in my previous teacher training program I was taught that effective teaching is about using innovative methods which will fully engage students and lead to their learning. I was also relieved because I always felt that teaching is not only about methods, but most importantly it is about the students and teachers. What matters is who they are, what they value and believe, and what motivates them. Kumaravadivelu's article was a starting point on my road of rediscovering teaching. What came afterwards was the exploration of the concept of apprenticeship of observation. Understanding that the experiences which I had as a learner have impact on my current teaching prompted me to question some of my teaching habits. I discovered that some of my behaviors and decisions resemble the actions of my previous teachers. I realized that I unconsciously followed in their footsteps without analyzing whether my teaching decisions made sense in a given context. |
From reading about language rules
to discovering language patterns
to discovering language patterns
APLNG 484: Discourse Functional Grammar
This class shifted my understanding and approach towards teaching grammar. In my teaching I used to be very rule-oriented; I treated grammatical rules as indicators of what it correct and what is incorrect. If something seemed to contradict the rule I labeled it an exception. This class showed me that grammar can be analyzed from a different perspective. I was encouraged to first gather instances of language rich in a given grammatical structure. Next, I analyzed the meaning of selected sentences, expressions, or texts and examined how the grammatical structure helped convey that meaning. In other words, I was learning to describe the language rather than apply rules to it. Having adopted this approach, I researched a subject that I always found interesting, namely prepositions. I compared the manner in which prepositions such as "for, at, in, on" are used both in English and in Polish. In order to complete this task I transcribed part of a documentary about the life of ants, which was available both in an English and Polish version. Having selected phrases and expressions with prepositions, I compared and contrasted their usage in these two languages. What helped me in the analysis and in the presentation of my finding were various graphic organizers. This process showed me that I am able to describe language and discover some of its patterns. My paper later appeared in a magazine for English teachers published in Poland. |
From making assumptions
to paying attention and learning
to paying attention and learning
Group tutoring APLNG 595 & Practice Teaching APLNG 500
The practical courses which I took during the program afforded me the opportunity to teach and interact with students from countries such as Korea, Japan, Brazil, China, India and many other. I was gradually becoming more aware of the fact that since we come from various cultures our experiences could also differ. This knowledge proved to be very useful in teaching. I learned not to assume that students are familiar with some common concepts. I understood that I might be the only one in the group who perceives them as "common." Yet, the most important change happened when I returned to Poland to teach in my monolingual classes. I realized that similarly to international students whom I met at Penn State, my Polish students also come from various cultures; they had various experiences and were raised in different families. Equipped with this realization, I no longer assumed that my students are similar to one another or to me. Instead, I paid attention to what they say and how they act, which was my way of learning about them. |