"Contrary to the wisdom of the bumper sticker
It is not enough these days to 'Question Authority,'
You must speak with it, too."
- Taylor Mali, "Totally Like Whatever"
"Teaching without passion makes as much sense of eating a deep-fried Oreo for its nutritional value"
"Treat knowledge like you treat pizza"
"Don't be like Pikachu and EVOLVE!"
- Dr. Berry
NOTE: This is a document permanently under construction!
Introduction
I have been in classrooms for 43 years of my life; I have spent 29 of those proudly involved in teaching and education. Although I left the school system to fight for and against it from the arenas of academia and research, I am still part of education and its culture, or as Stuart Hall would say, its “roots and routes”. My routes lead me now toward working with teachers and those learning to teach. My roots are in language education; sooner rather than later, my roots and routes will meet. This philosophy of teaching states the principles that have guided and will guide my teaching for the latter part of my life in education.
Questioning Authority
I believe that part of learning is about questioning authority. Learning is a social process where students need to learn to refine their questions. I have argued (as I once told some teachers at a seminar) that while home is the first place children do research, school is the first place where they stop doing research. As a believer in socio-cultural views of learning, I strive to make my classrooms a place where students are not afraid to ask questions. I want my students to use the language(s) and literacy(ies) they are learning to “read the world and the word,” as Paulo Freire once said. I have always believed that languages are always real because people are using them and that alone validates the language. My classroom activities always intend to reflect that. I encourage my students, no matter their proficiency level, to pour their lives into their work. After all, if I cannot use a language to express my life through it, learning it is a moot point.
We live in a time where information is literally and metaphorically at the tips of anybody’s hands. However, as advanced as Google has become, it is still my duty to read the information and select it critically. Questioning, then, is also an important part of learning. Our times require critical thinkers and learners, people who are able to realize that it is no longer a matter of whether or not we should be bilingual, buy why. Our times require learners who are able not only to consume the media, but to reinterpret it and eventually produce their own media. My language classrooms have always had that questioning element, one way or another.
However, I also believe that while giving them a purpose, I must provide them with the tools to question. Part of that includes an emphasis on the fundamentals of the languages, such as grammar and pronunciation. If as proponents of alternative views of literacy have explained elsewhere, the larger myriad of options available implies better knowledge of some of the foundational elements, we need to ensure our students have those fundamentals. I am a believer in integrating those elements to language instruction. Grammar has not gone anywhere; no matter the shape of the text, there is a grammar behind it and students need to be aware of it. I also believe that helping students learn the nuances of pronunciation is important to ensure they can always convey their message across different audiences. I want to stress that I mean pronunciation, not accent. Many foreign language speakers have been chastised for “speaking with an accent.” I fell prey to that trap in the past and I have vowed to fight against it. Ultimately, the great ideas are judged by the lucidity of their content, not by the beauty of their package.
We live in a time where information is literally and metaphorically at the tips of anybody’s hands. However, as advanced as Google has become, it is still my duty to read the information and select it critically. Questioning, then, is also an important part of learning. Our times require critical thinkers and learners, people who are able to realize that it is no longer a matter of whether or not we should be bilingual, buy why. Our times require learners who are able not only to consume the media, but to reinterpret it and eventually produce their own media. My language classrooms have always had that questioning element, one way or another.
However, I also believe that while giving them a purpose, I must provide them with the tools to question. Part of that includes an emphasis on the fundamentals of the languages, such as grammar and pronunciation. If as proponents of alternative views of literacy have explained elsewhere, the larger myriad of options available implies better knowledge of some of the foundational elements, we need to ensure our students have those fundamentals. I am a believer in integrating those elements to language instruction. Grammar has not gone anywhere; no matter the shape of the text, there is a grammar behind it and students need to be aware of it. I also believe that helping students learn the nuances of pronunciation is important to ensure they can always convey their message across different audiences. I want to stress that I mean pronunciation, not accent. Many foreign language speakers have been chastised for “speaking with an accent.” I fell prey to that trap in the past and I have vowed to fight against it. Ultimately, the great ideas are judged by the lucidity of their content, not by the beauty of their package.
Speaking with Authority
If learning is about questioning authority, teaching is about speaking with authority. I do not mean to be authoritarian, but to support my ideas with facts. In the realm of second language education, I have set an example for all my students of being a lifelong learner. As a believer in multiculturalism, I am open to the ideas my students and colleagues share with me and I always have an open ear and a willingness to accept that I may be mistaken. As a proponent of bilingualism, I have not stopped at two languages. Learning a fifth language has enabled me to remain sensitive to the needs of my students. When I talk to my education students about what to do in a classroom, I am honest about my success stories. Yet, I do not do revisionist history of my teaching and I open my failures to their scrutiny.
I never do anything behind my students’ backs and they always know how I do things. “I am a teacher, not a magician, so you can know my secrets,” is one of my catchphrases. If I tell them to question, I also show them that my ears are not deaf. I have always used their feedback to gradually improve my classes. I may have taught the same course number, the same textbooks and readings, but I have never taught a class the same way twice. If I preach questioning authority, I have taught them that I am the first and strongest critic of my work. But, above all things, during the past 17 years, I have showed every last one of my students that my authority does not necessarily stem from what I know, but from my never-ending supplies of passion and caring for every last one of them. I have always said that “teaching without passion makes as much sense as eating a deep-fried Oreo for its nutritional value.” I have the authority to tell my students to work hard on being better speakers, better teachers, and better human beings because I have never taught a class without passion or energy.
I am blessed, honored, and privileged to teach languages and prepare teachers. Those are two responsibilities that I take very seriously. By helping them become more critical and inquisitive, use their languages as an extension of their lives, and make a difference for other people, regardless of where they go, I hope I am contributing to a better society. By teaching every day with energy and passion, while setting an example as a learner and a role model, I hope that my students can look me one day in the eye and tell me that what they learned from me helped them. I strive to be the kind of teacher who opened my students’ minds and gave them options to rebuild this world.
I never do anything behind my students’ backs and they always know how I do things. “I am a teacher, not a magician, so you can know my secrets,” is one of my catchphrases. If I tell them to question, I also show them that my ears are not deaf. I have always used their feedback to gradually improve my classes. I may have taught the same course number, the same textbooks and readings, but I have never taught a class the same way twice. If I preach questioning authority, I have taught them that I am the first and strongest critic of my work. But, above all things, during the past 17 years, I have showed every last one of my students that my authority does not necessarily stem from what I know, but from my never-ending supplies of passion and caring for every last one of them. I have always said that “teaching without passion makes as much sense as eating a deep-fried Oreo for its nutritional value.” I have the authority to tell my students to work hard on being better speakers, better teachers, and better human beings because I have never taught a class without passion or energy.
I am blessed, honored, and privileged to teach languages and prepare teachers. Those are two responsibilities that I take very seriously. By helping them become more critical and inquisitive, use their languages as an extension of their lives, and make a difference for other people, regardless of where they go, I hope I am contributing to a better society. By teaching every day with energy and passion, while setting an example as a learner and a role model, I hope that my students can look me one day in the eye and tell me that what they learned from me helped them. I strive to be the kind of teacher who opened my students’ minds and gave them options to rebuild this world.