TASK TWO

Twenty-one years ago I read a book called "The Seven Laws of Learning and Teaching" during my Sunday School training in my church. It's a very small book which today you can buy for $5.00 or less. Most of my understanding of what it is to be a good teacher and a good learner I gleaned from this tiny but excellent book. Why do I share this? Because as I read through these articles, it was clear to me that the most basic principles of pedagogy are not that complicated, instead they have been made complicated (with the best of intentions, no doubt) with the desire for higher expectations. The problem is that they cannot articulate what goals will be achieved.



The key issue at hand is the purpose of curriculum, our role as teachers and our implementation of the curriculum. For me, curriculum is a guide. I am a world language teacher who has to work with a partially completed curriculum because we (myself included) are in the process of developing, revising and evaluating as we go. So, we can say that I am working with a "product in process." However, what I do have I use with this goal in mind: What can the learner do with the language? By starting from this point, my focus is on the learner while at the same time challenging myself as a teacher to think of ways in which my students can be engaged in the language and not just "learning the language." It sounds easy, doesn't it? But it is not!!! I am still responsible for finding many of the resources needed, come up with engaging activities and assessments.



I like the term "emancipated"used by Schwarts because when we have been through the process of learning the curriculum before we teach it, then we are "free" from the curriculum and can teach it in a way that inspires our students. It is then that I can think and become "creative" in my approach to each lesson and align in with the purpose of the curriculum without being a prisoner of the curriculum. For me, not having a textbook is a blessing. It allows great freedom not only for me as the teacher, but to my students. They, too, are not restricted to a form of learning devoid of meaningful cultural and practical engagement. I was happy to see that the learning of world languages is mentioned by Wiggins and McTighe as they talked about the weakness of secondary education. The authors state "schools too often teach and test....and world language skills in isolation rather than in the context of authentic demands." World languages is most often overlooked when discussing the needs and problems in education today. It is good to see world languages recognized as a valued subject on par with the rest.