In
this week's assignment, I read an article by John J. Ivers called "Is the
Great American Teacher Dead?"
Ivers is a Ph.D., currently Dean of the College of
Language & Letters from Brigham Young - Idaho University. In his article,
he invites the reader to think about the U.S student culture and their lack of
motivation and inspiration. According to his study, this issue is faced in all
U.S colleges, even the most famous and elite Institutions. It seems that
teachers are now just the delivery of a message, and the students are just
listeners. The Institutions are facing a lack of depth in their teachings. They
spread an environment closer to a war zone than a supportive, inviting,
creative environment as the Colleges are mean to be. I need to say that here in
Brazil aren't so far from the same perspective. We can see Colleges full of
students, but we are not seeing their growth during their pursuit of a degree.
The most important discoveries and innovations from the last centuries came
from College Research Centers.
What needs to be done to transform the College into the
flaming storehouse of ideas from earlier days? How can we, as teachers,
help to build critical thinking students? How to transform ourselves from
mere message delivers to passionate student developers? This is what Ivers
helps to think about in this article. He suggests that we have the task to not
bored our students, with the same old-fashioned lesson recipe. Instead, we need
to transform the theory into action. In a quote attributed to Dirks (2006), he
says that "A truly transformative experience is on where 'we are left with
the feeling that life will not be as it was before, that this experience has created
a sense that we cannot back to the way we were before the
experience'"(p.132) This is such the type of transformation that must
occur. Despite Ivers had talked about the American College Culture, what he
suggests is applicable to all teachers who want to be better.
Ivers suggests that despite our culture we need to develop
universal elements that can be found in all cultures. He lists some of those
elements and describes how each one of them can change us into better teachers. I
want to mention a few (some of the mine comments)
. Dance (The teacher doesn't need to stay static during all class.
Moving around the class, being closer than away, making gestures can help to
create this movement feeling. And isn't knowledge a movement? From one step to
another as we go deep into a subject. By doing this "dance" in the
class we create this movement feeling)
. Generosity admired (I want to reproduce Iver's comment " be
fair, not a tyrant" Life itself is too hard. Why do we need to add another
anxiety layer to a student already tired from having this feeling?)
. Jokes (This is a suggested form to keeps the student's attention Ivers
said. And I need to agree and say that well-balanced, jokes can create a
welcoming environment, where the student feels safe to make mistakes. And we
learn when we make mistakes)
. Empathy (There’s no need for more tyrants in the world. Instead, we desperately
need more empathy)
. Rhythm (If we maintain the same speech speed and the same voice tone
during all lessons, we will lose the student's attention after a couple of
minutes. So, by changing the speech speeds, changing the intonation, making
dramatic pauses, all this can help to create a good delivery)
The teacher doesn't need to perfect. The teacher just needs to be
passionate about his career to develop passionate students.
That's great post. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and insights.
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