Odp: academia

[Pavel Samsonov]

>
> In response to the above statement, I would like to add a note in favor of
> the "politically correct"
> (I suppose) notion of "student centred" learning.  In teaching in both the
> U.S. and Poland, I have
> found that shifting responsibility from the teacher to the student in the
> use of a foreign language in
> class is very useful. By lessening the teacher's "control" over the course
> of particular classroom acticvites,
> one tends to create a more active and dynamic classroom atmosphere.  What
> has been done in ESL/EFL
> in communicative learning offers excellent examples of how the role of the
> teacher can be effectively shifted
> toward a support role in many classroom situations.
> I feel that all types of instruction have their place, depending on the
> student, instructor, goal, etc.
> What worries me, though, are attacks on very general principles, such as
> "student-oriented" or "teacher-oriented",
> especially when replaced by euphemistic expressions like "good teaching".
I
> did indeed appreciate the sheer
> brilliance displayed by some of the more old-fashioned or traditionalist
> professors I had in my days as a student,
> but I did tend to resent being "fed" knowledge that I could find in a book
> myself.  I know this is probably a poor
> example of "teacher-centredness," but my point is that if 30 thinking
human
> beings are in a room together exploring an issue,
> the fewer people involved in steering the course of activities, the more
> likely most are not fully engaged.
> For me, "poor teaching" is whatever fails to engage the intellectual
> facilities of the students, no matter what types of teaching
> are involved.

That's exactly the point I was making.
Too much teacher control or too much student "freedom" are both detrimental.
I was disappointed when I saw the way a couple of teachers taught Russian at
a fairly good college.
They actually LECTURED about Russian. When they asked a question, they would
never call anybody. They expected that someone would answer. Those who would
answer were a couple of people. All the others were just sitting and
listening (or not listening).
There is a false understanding of "student centeredness". Being
"student-centered" does not preclude from strict control on the part of the
teacher. All the students should be given equal attention and control.
As I said, teaching is not supposed to be instructive. Creating conditions
in which students will learn a language easily is what teachers are supposed
to do. A good degree of control is just one of such conditions.

With compliments,

Pavel (Paul) Samsonov
EDAD, College of Education,
Texas A&M University
tel. (409) 862-7771 (lab)
      (409) 862-9152 (home)
fax (409) 862-4347
e-mail p0s5658 at acs.tamu.edu

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