Our practices are led by the aim of making our students understand what we want them to, yet what if they don´t?, Does that make us “bad teachers”?, Are we wasting our time with bad students?
What if the content we are teaching can be seen from another perspective?. We usually tend to expect possible answers within certain parametres, yet are never open to the possibility that the answer which goes beyond our set limits might be actually correct.
Since we are defined by our expreiences throughout life, it is quite sensible to accept or at least to consider the fact that understanding is a very particular or personal process. The very same content will make sense at a different level to students who have been through different experiences. Therefore it will be applicable in a different way.
It is at this point where we have to make the right decisions. Moreover, it is at this stage where we can make the most of that “new perspective”, or just castrate any further attempt to give it a go and discover by doing the answer to a question.
Summarising, it seems to me the challenges we are to take today start by fostering our students’ attempts in aswering, even though they happen to be “misunderstandings” according to our perspective. To remove the assumption that what is different from expected is simply wrong and there is nothing to do with it is our second and more challenging task by putting on trial our teaching beliefs.
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Ok, Lorena.
ReplyDeletethx
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Hi lorena!
ReplyDeleteYou are right...what is different is not always wrong, so I guess our task is t open our minds and accept that "the expected answer" shouldn't be as expected as before.
Let's give our students the chance to use the machine inside their heads and allow them to make mistakes, they also show understanding.
right?
Thank you.
Vicky
It is incredibly true that learners 'know things' and 'know about things' but surprisingly or not, they don't usually know how to apply them, and not telling why they do so. Thus, As you have clearly suggested in your analysis, it is a big challenge not only to teach concepts but, teaching how to discover and rediscover knowledge, so as to generate pertinent and authentic learning.
ReplyDeleteYou mentioned some sort of “parameters” we consider when assess. And actually this is an issue because we have to be very clear if we are assessing “knowledge” or “understanding”. Normally we expect, as you said, some possible answers, but we have to be clear that what we have to expect is more than a mere answer, what we have to expect is a “doing”. And this doing will be closely connected with what the student have really understood and finally learnt.
ReplyDeleteAngelina
Are we good or bad teachers? How do we know that? because of our students results? or is it that we just feel it inside?. Difficult questions my dear, since we are all different and our students are changing as they grow. Anyway, I think it has to do with the teachers' level or awareness regarding teaching practices. The more reflective and self-critical we are the better, and if we add commitment and further studies I think we can't be that bad. :-)
ReplyDeletelore
ReplyDeleteWhat if the content we are teaching can be seen from another perspective? With this question you are certainly proposing a possible solution, though hard to carry out: originality. If we were a bit more sparking in our everyday teaching things would be absolutely different. First of all, levels of motivation would be higher. I remember from my own experience that my teachers at school were painfully dull, though some others somehow made you feel that they prepare their lessons thoroughly and in the end, they leave you something. To be honest, I don’t remember a god-dammed thing about the contents we were dealing with at that time, yet I do feel that I learn how to appreciate their commitment. And that is some of the learning we need to cajole as well. Not only raw content, but also the understanding of a good job.
xxx
Claudio
it does not matter if students` point of view is correct or incorrect, what matters here is that students HAVE A POINT OF VIEW, students are thinking, they are aware of what is going on, they are not regurgitating knowledge machies, they are people able to think and discuus, let make them give their opinions without taking care on what is correct or incorrect.
ReplyDeleteDear Lore
ReplyDeleteTeachers’ beliefs play a very important role in the teachers’ development. When we talk about encouraging understanding, we are promoting that there should be a change in the practices that teachers have nowadays. Undoubtedly, changes in teachers’ practices are the results of changes in teachers’ beliefs.
Making mistakes is another important aspect of learning. Students are very afraid of answering because they do not want to make mistakes. What is worse, teachers do not like those students make mistakes because (according to them) it shows that they are not good teachers. Making mistakes are part of the process of learning so teachers must be able to cope with them.
Hi Lorena!
ReplyDeleteI found you comment about our beliefs interesting. What we believe is the correct way to teach, the correct way to answer and the correct way to correct our students might not be the right ones, or at least, not the most suitable ones. In fact, as one of our classmates posted, we have to find ways to be more creative in every sense, and to share our experiences with the rest of the community, let's say, other teachers will unboubtely contribute to a better understanding of what are the most appropiate practices to get the best from our students.
Hi Lore,
ReplyDeleteI think your post was "hand in glove". Our beliefs are the ones which lead our teaching practices.
Motivation is a key issue as Marianella and Claudio pointed out. Engagement provokes our students to do the things themselves and remember the contents better, and for a long time.
I agree with you when you say that ‘understanding’ is a very personal process, because all of us keep different experiences in our minds that can be applicable in different ways. Therefore our mission as teachers is to foster students with their virtues and faults, in order that they can discover by themselves how to use their previous knowledge, although it leads them to make mistakes.
ReplyDeleteOh my dear Lore you don't even imagine how much I appreciate a "wrong" answer from my students.
ReplyDeleteI have a course which is quite a challenge; they are antipathetic, they don't speak and don't even like the course. There is so much to do there, for instance, everytime we read a story (the same we read with Ms. Rostango) they don't make any comments, they don't have an opinion and when I ask for feedback, they say they didn't understand what they read (key words and paraphrasing included), and they are the seniors (future translators). After spending/investing and/or wasting a lot of time trying to make them aware of what they have read I wait for a comment and when it arrives... 90% of the times it is not correct (according to my paremeters and the story's plot); nevertheless, I feel an ultimate happiness, it is almost an orgasm, because that just one miserable comment is the starting point to set a learning atmosphere. So, as I said in my own post, the power of misunderstanding can be of great help if teachers know how to use it.
PS: I'm still thinking about what you said in my blog... It is possible!!
Bye friend!
Hi Lorena.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with the belief that we have to put our teaching practices to the test. We can not insist on the idea that there are bad students. I do believe there must a way for our students to learn anything no matter how challenging or confusing it might be. As some of my classmates have pointed out, engagement and motivation are key elements when it comes to understanding. Undoubtedly, assessment plays a crucial role in understanding in the sense that we can use one more type of evaluation. For example, we can use a project-based approach which helps us assess our students differently.