9/6 Reading

References: Macrostrategies for Language Teaching, Chap. 1 and 2, Kuma

What I found interesting about Chapter 1 is the role of the teacher section. When I read Paulo Freire's "Pedagogy of the Oppressed" last year, he referenced this shift from being the passive educator to an active one, which to me seemed like a no-brainer. Kuma is correct when he says that it "has been a perennial topic of discussion in the field of general education as well as language education" (pg. 7). Being an education major, I have to constantly think about my teacher personality and teaching style, and what type of educator I am going to be. I really do not want to think of myself as being passive in any way; education is an active process, at least that is what I have always perceived it to be. I feel like I want my classroom to be interactive and communicative, because I am a huge proponent of teaching a language through interpersonal and presentational communication strategies, like role-play, skits, and real-life simulations. The main focus for the students learning the language is to fit in with their new country and the social aspects that come along with it. I have talked to people who teach at the ELI, and all students have wanted to know so far is how to go to the doctor, how to ask for things at the grocery store, practical applications for the language, basically. I think that the same goes for high school students learning Spanish in my classroom. Motivated students want to get across an idea to a native speaker and be understood. Language is essential to maintaining social relationships and an overall language community.

I feel like this quote from Zeichner and Liston on pg. 11 makes an excellent point, "learning to teach does not end with obtaining a diploma or a degree in teacher education but is an ongoing process throughout one's teaching career". This is undeniably true. Teaching is a continuous process, and we must be very open to adaptation and change, no matter when or where we are; in the classroom or outside of it. The education world is constantly changing and creating new ideas for how to become the best teacher, but yet again, I still do not feel like there is a concrete answer or theory to becoming the "best". To me, being the best teacher I can be is adapting to the dynamic of my students, and teaching them what they want and what they need to know while making it useful for them in their daily life.

Finally, in Chapter 2, Kuma talks about the "postmethod condition", and I feel like these quotes sum it up best for me, "the postmethod condition empowers practitioners to construct personal theories of practice" and "signifies teacher autonomy" (pg. 33). While I do not entirely understand what the postmethod condition actually is and what its implications are, I have to say that he poses a good argument. I feel like for too long, there have not been enough studies that include teacher-made practices. We talked in class about the inequalities between the female teachers and male theorists in the education world, and it still rings true. To get a real and honest perspective on education, why not ask the teachers themselves? Seems rather intuitive from my end. Teachers are the link between theory and practice. Why not include them in the research?