In Week 2, we discussed the shift from teacher to student-centered learning and how this .works in graduate education
As I mentioned in my second post, as a fresh graduate from the Concurrent Education Program at Lakehead University, I decided to head over to South Korea to teach English in 1996. Reflecting back at this time in my life, I now realize how inexperienced I was as a teacher. I taught in a very linear fashion, teaching one concept at a time, testing for a certain level of mastery and retention before moving on the next principle – basically mimicking how I learned other subjects through school. As a result, my classes were very traditional, teacher-centered, and I viewed learning as simply the transfer of information, leaving little room for collaborative work and/or engagement among my students.
During the first five years of teaching in Korea, I became increasingly dissatisfied with the progress my students were making and this led me to enroll in a Masters in Linguistics program offered through Aston University where I was able to specialize in Teaching English as a Second Official Language (TESOL). Through this program, I became informed of the essential difference between “learning” and “acquiring” a second language which quickly dispelled my belief that learning a language was a linear process. In other words, just because you learn something doesn’t mean it becomes internalized! I also became aware of how important “exposure” is within the target language, what is meant by “effective filters”, the “silent period”, how to fairly assess student progress and/or achievement, how to engage and motivate learners, etc.
However, my biggest transformation was the realization that learning is more than just the transfer of information from the teacher to the student - it is also a social process. During this program at Aston, I began to use more collaborative activities in my classes such as Task Based Learning (TBL) and Problem-Based Learning (PBL) where my English Language Learners (ELLs) have to “negotiate meaning” to arrive at an answer which wasn’t always predefined. I started to value more what each learner brings into the education mix and the importance of the social connection needed to co-construct knowledge.
The picture above is a good representation of how the teacher should involve the learner in the education process. It is through this style of "hands on learning" or "learn by doing" that I've had the best results from my ELL's.
The new Bridging Program (BP) I helped design for ESL@Algoma is clear evidence as to how far I've steered by curriculum development towards a student-centered approach. All instruction within our BP is based around four core competencies, each one having a list of predefined learning outcomes. Throughout the term, the students in BP are given the freedom to compile evidence in electronic portfolios to submit to their teachers as evidence that they are achieving the learning outcomes. This curriculum is based on the flipped classroom where materials are posted on the Course Management System beforehand and the students are expected to come to class prepared to apply what they have learned within collaborative groups. The teachers are there to act more like facilitators and to support the students as they follow their own inquiry based learning. As in the picture above, our student have responding very positively to these changes and feel empowered to be part of their own learning!
However, my biggest transformation was the realization that learning is more than just the transfer of information from the teacher to the student - it is also a social process. During this program at Aston, I began to use more collaborative activities in my classes such as Task Based Learning (TBL) and Problem-Based Learning (PBL) where my English Language Learners (ELLs) have to “negotiate meaning” to arrive at an answer which wasn’t always predefined. I started to value more what each learner brings into the education mix and the importance of the social connection needed to co-construct knowledge.
The picture above is a good representation of how the teacher should involve the learner in the education process. It is through this style of "hands on learning" or "learn by doing" that I've had the best results from my ELL's.
The new Bridging Program (BP) I helped design for ESL@Algoma is clear evidence as to how far I've steered by curriculum development towards a student-centered approach. All instruction within our BP is based around four core competencies, each one having a list of predefined learning outcomes. Throughout the term, the students in BP are given the freedom to compile evidence in electronic portfolios to submit to their teachers as evidence that they are achieving the learning outcomes. This curriculum is based on the flipped classroom where materials are posted on the Course Management System beforehand and the students are expected to come to class prepared to apply what they have learned within collaborative groups. The teachers are there to act more like facilitators and to support the students as they follow their own inquiry based learning. As in the picture above, our student have responding very positively to these changes and feel empowered to be part of their own learning!
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