Information Section

   This section will contain information about the philosophy of teaching that I intend to base on during my practicum periods.

My Philosophy of Teaching

     
     When I started thinking about teaching, I realized that teachers use to teach the way they were taught at school. However, throughout the training course, I realized that to be able to teach we need to break all barriers that make us stay in the past so that to be able to adapt our beliefs and methods to the student`s reality, needs and interests. Time goes on, and students do not play the same way we used to play when we were children, we did not have easy access to the Internet and to IT gadgets as students have today. Therefore, as new teachers in todays’ world, we need constant training on new techniques, methodologies and strategies so that to be able to get closer to our students’ reality, always taking into account our own thoughts and beliefs regarding the teaching and learning processes.

     Bearing all these aspects in mind, the teaching philosophy that I choose to follow involves a wide variety of possibilities, that is to say that a holistic approach to teaching matches the way I believe we can teach better nowadays. When relying on a holistic approach, I intend to consider students as whole human beings who belong to a specific culture and whose environment affects the way they grow up and perform in a society. The way students learn, their own psychological development as individuals, the methods I believe that best suit students’ needs, the communicative goal and the institutional requirements that underlie what we have to teach are part of everyday teaching and learning.

     As expressed by Larsen-Freeman (second edition, 2000) in the introduction of their book, every teachers’ knowledge, system of beliefs, teaching styles and experiences shape the methods we choose to follow. This is the main reason why I think teaching is not about following a recipe; however, lessons may be based on methods and principles but the teaching context, the communicative aim, the learners themselves and the environment will always modify any methodology.

Teaching Responsibilities

    
     Inside the classroom, teachers comply with a variety of roles and responsibilities that are necessary for the classroom organization and for students’ development.

     To begin with, the roles a teacher may perform in the classroom will always depend on the activities students are about to work on and on students’ level. The teacher may work as a resource whenever there is vocabulary on demand, or he/she could work as a guide so that students find out how to proceed on the activities. Besides that, a teacher could also work as a controller by eliciting specific vocabulary from students or he/she could be an organizer by organizing the groups, delivering the material and giving the amount of time students need to complete the activities. Apart from that, a teacher could only monitor students’ work so that they have enough place to work on their own and facilitate students reasoning by giving the necessary clues. Last, but not least; a teacher could be a prompter helping students to find out the necessary information. That is to say that a teacher could work through different roles depending on the students’ needs.

     As regards responsibilities, a teacher should be responsible for their students’ progress inside the classroom. There are a wide variety of responsibilities, among them the need to prepare the lessons beforehand bearing in mind students’ levels, needs and interests together with the communicative aim that all lessons should pursue is of great importance. In addition to that, a teacher is in charge of creating a warm atmosphere that will enable students to be comfortable and capable of showing respect among each other. To enhance motivation is another responsibility, as students’ motivation could affect the way they perform and teachers can always improve the lessons through positive feedback.

     Teachers’ roles and responsibilities will always vary depending on the group’s level, context, and enthusiasm to learn. However, teachers can always provide better possibilities for students to enjoy their learning process.

An Analysis of the Teaching Context

     

     Ushuaia is a well-known city because of its beauty and because of its short, but interesting history.

     Its population is the result of a mixture of cultures as the majority of the people have arrived around 30 or 40 years ago and were the ones who gave birth to the industrial and tourist evolution of this city. Therefore, there is a wide section of this population who still feel they belong to other provinces, and a small and young section who feel part of Ushuaia. As a result, children grow up listening stories and customs that belong to other Argentinean areas, but playing in our mountains and slopes.

    Moreover, the characteristic weather of this city also conditions the quality of life that we have. We have long winters, short summers, less sunlight than in other areas of our country and really cold weather conditions. All these features together with the easy access to IT and technology gadgets, let children and adolescents grow up spending their time indoors rather than outdoors.

     As a result, I can say that we live in a cosmopolitan city in which we may find people from all around this country and around the world who chose to live and work in this city, giving place to a new society that is the one young children belong to, nowadays. That is to say that in one classroom we may find students who come from other provinces or countries, and others who were born in our city. Consequently, inclusion is a must.

        The Approach I take

 to Teaching and Learning

     

     Considering that students are the centre of education, the main approach I take to teaching and learning is the Communicative Approach. However, depending on the group of students, their level, context and age, it is necessary to adapt our lessons following other approaches that may help learners acquire the language easily. For instance, with young children it could work really well to follow the Total Physical Response approach by which they assimilate language through body movement. Natural Approach is also useful as it’s well known that children can learn a second language naturally, the same way they learnt their mother tongue. Some aspects of the Audiolingual Approach may help adolescents or adults to assimilate the sounds and meanings of different words in several contexts through repetition, replacement or completion of sentences.  Nevertheless, the use of different approaches should cater for the main goal of teaching and learning, which is communication.

     The communicative approach focuses on the fact that we should learn about the language so that to be able to use it for communication; instead of learning a language in itself without any goal. In this approach meaning is more important than anything else, as the main focus is on communicative functions rather than repeating sentences by hard. Together with meaning goes contextualization, that is to say that students’ environment and interests affect the choice of materials and the way the teacher should deliver the lessons. Therefore, comprehensible input is a must as effective communication is thought in which fluency and intelligibility are expected from all students’ progress.

     Whenever any teacher gives his/her students the possibility to use the language to interact, to express their ideas and feelings or to give information, that teacher will be giving students the opportunity to use the language to communicate. Activities should resemble authentic communication; therefore, students should exploit their language skills to be able to comply with that goal without being afraid of making mistakes. Through scaffolding and guidance students can give their best to be able to communicate in a second or foreign language. These are the main reasons why I base my lessons on this approach.