One issue I'm already thinking a lot about with regards this project is the role of the teacher. A colleague recently expressed an interest in why I've chosen to use a genre-study approach in the course. I think that, in fact, there are two questions to answer there, not just one. The first is, "Why impose any form of organization at all? Why not just leave this to the students?". The second can only be asked once the first has been answered - "Why genre analysis?"
So I'll try to answer the first question, though I'm not sure I know the "right" answer.
My initial idea was to have a fairly structured first week, where the students would have a specific task to complete using a combination of classroom study and online learning. After that, I wanted to let them choose projects they were interested in and create "products" which reflected their own interests. No imposed organizational structure, then, beyond the first week.
But I worried that this would leave the students:
a) not sure what was expected
b) not getting any actual linguistic input
c) free to abuse the freedom I afforded them
And I also worried that I would:
a) have to come to terms with a loss of authority in the classroom, as the students became more autonomous
b) lose the opportunity to pass on my knowledge, and thus be unable to help the students to improve the quality of their work
So, a bit of an existential crisis. I think most teachers probably feel some need to stay "in control" in the classroom. Our status as the holder of knowledge is important to us - at least, we've got used to it - and it's not easy to let it go. If we allow the students to take complete control of what goes on in the classroom, why do we need to even be there?
But we mustn't let our insecurity get in the way of our need to work out what it is that will bring about the greatest improvement in our students. So I have to think about this logically, put my own feelings aside, and decide whether imposing this structure is for the best.
One source which suggests it is for the best, at least in the beginning, is Dornyei and Murphey's excellent book on group dynamics. They suggest that in the beginning stages of group cohesion, it's best for the teacher to remain in command and make goals for the group explicit. Later, once the group has gelled somewhat, they can be encouraged to form their own goals.
So perhaps having an imposed structure is a good idea for the first week. And perhaps, once that structure has been understood, it will naturally influence the students' decisions for the rest of the course.
But where does that leave me for the next few weeks? Do I continue to "teach" about genre throughout the course, or do I aim to use the first week or two to develop skills of analysis which the students can then apply as they see fit during the later stages?
Well, as I said, I don't know the "right" answer. Perhaps it's impossible to know it - "it" may not even exist until those students and I get together and start finding out how things go. So I'll leave it at that for now. But I'd be grateful for any thoughts!
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Our teaching environments are very different, so I'm not sure what your students are like. I can tell you about the experiences that I have had with some of the issues that you have touched on here in my context in Japan. I teach at a 4-year nursing school and a small liberal arts college, so I have to give grades. You mentioned that you are considering remaining in a traditional teacher role through the beginning stages of "group cohesion" and then let the students form their own goals. I have worked with students' goal formation, consuming hours of work, and in the end some of their goals are just barely acceptable. My idea was to evaluate them on the completion of their goals, but it was very difficult to get them to generate goals that were measurable. They often came up with statements like, "I want to speak natural English." Then I would go through with them what that meant and how to define "natural." In the end I think some of the students just wanted to stand up and scream, "Why don't you figure it out? You're the teacher."
ReplyDeleteYour title was really intriquing. Letting go is something that I can relate to in both my professional and personal life. It is not something I think my students want me to do, and I am sure it is not something that the administration wants me to do, and that is another issue.
I love the approach you're taking here, Peter, and it's a real privilege to be able to follow along.
ReplyDeleteI also just wanted to say that I think the genre-study approach is a good one and, while providing focus and organisation to the course, it also allows a lot of freedom for the students as to the content within those genres.
I agree with Daniel that it can be difficult to elicit goals from learners in initial stages. Perhaps asking what the learners want to be able to do in English - entertain? inform? communicate? etc - would help identify the genres that they need to be able to use to achieve their goals successfully. You'll be there to help them uncover the conventions of the genres and apply them to their own work. So they're getting linguistic input and you're passing on your knowledge. They'll also know what's expected.
It sounds great! Best of luck with it!
Hi Daniel, Hi Carol,
ReplyDeleteThanks very much for the comments - I feel really encouraged by both of them!
As far as goal formation is concerned, I'm not thinking of asking my students to set general goals for their language development - I'm thinking more along the lines of weekly goals related to the development of the wikis. For example, they might set as a goal to write and illustrate a newspaper article supplemented by some sort of presentation. My job would then be to guide them, helping them to get to grips with the discourse as well as choosing appropriate tools online.
As for letting go - I'm sure it's something we all relate to, on one level or another... but I'm not sure if or how we can get better at it.