a a a I have to say that I feel that I have been pretty lucky overall in the education
system, having had good (and at least adequate) teachers. I did have one
particularly negative experience early on during high school. There have been
some other instances here and there where I felt the instructor could have
provided more in terms of a particular teaching task or timely or sufficient
feedback. Overall, however, my experiences have been pretty positive. a
a a a a a a a I will begin with a recent positive experience that involves one of my
favorite subjects; adult foreign language acquisition. My interaction with this
instructor was not via a traditional university course, but via an online French
language course designed for adult learners. I will share her name in case any of
you are also interested in learning French. I highly recommend her classes and
method. Her name is Alice Ayel, and her class information can be located at a
https://www.aliceayel.com/. Although there was no traditional syllabus for such a
course, the course description and the information provided following registration
were very organized and transparent. We knew before the start of the course what
we would be studying, her teaching philosophy, the primary methodology, and
what was to be expected of us throughout the course. Several examples of her
character and behavior during the course were commendable and advantageous
for learning efficacy. Chickering and Zelda (1987) published in the AAHE's
(American Association for Higher Education) bulletin a list of seven principles
considered to be foundational for effective teaching. I will relate several of her
positive characteristics here concerning these seven principles. First, despite this
being an online course via Zoom, the language instructor was accessible not only
during the classes (and would be sure to involve each student in a speaking
manner), but she also made herself available outside of class via email and even
text. Her accessibility allowing for student-instructor contact reflects the first
principle to "Encourage Student-Faculty Contact ."To assist us in increasing our
language confidence, we had the opportunity to send her voice recordings of us
speaking French and would offer feedback/assistance. This openness provided a
mechanism to further practice our speaking skills outside of the more public
Zoom classroom. This not only reinforced learning but provided an additional
opportunity for those students who may suffer from foreign language public
speaking anxiety. Something else this instructor did that I highly admired was her
creativity in using a less conventional teaching method. In secondary schools,
teaching a foreign language is usually heavily focused on acquiring knowledge of
grammar. Alice shared her methodology with us at the onset of the course. She
uses a natural, child-like learning method initially designed by University of
Southern California linguistics professor Dr. Stephen Krashen (1992). His method
focuses less on grammar, and more on teaching language in the manner of how
we learned as young children…via direct speaking situations, visual and auditory
cues, context, and pictures. Young (1992) describes how this method can be
useful to reduce foreign language anxiety that many adult learners suffer from.
Via this method, Alice would tell us a story or a fairy tale. She spoke slowly and in
a repetitive manner to repeat certain words. As she told the story, she would draw
pictures on a whiteboard of the scenes and characters. Via this relaxed and fun
method, we hardly felt like we were doing "work". This technique is reflective of
principle number seven, "Respect Diverse Talents and Ways of Learning". With the
storytelling, the student was able to engage via auditory, visual, and written
means. Finally, in accordance with principle number four, Alice would give prompt
feedback after students spoke. She did this in a relaxed and jovial/encouraging
manner. Like a "language parent," she would repeat what the student had said (to
confirm she understood). However, instead of immediately and obviously
correcting the student, she would "model" the correct phrase in French. This
immediate confirmation of understanding, feedback, and modeling of the
language in a very safe and supportive manner served well to increase the
speaking confidence of each student.
a a a a a a a a a a Now on to a not-so-fun experience. My scholastic weakness in life has
always been math. As a result, I tend to suffer from math anxiety. During high
school, I performed well enough, earning all As and Bs. However, math was
always the subject where I had to exert more effort. During the middle of my
senior year, we moved to another state. Aside from the normal stressors of
moving during a pivotal time in one's life, I was forced to start over with a new
math instructor. This new learning environment was disastrous for a student with
math anxiety such as myself. It is not in my nature to complain or pass the blame
on an instructor, but this teacher exhibited some unprofessional characteristics I
had not seen or experienced before. What I remember most is preferential
treatment towards certain students and unprofessional behavior. She would
display favoritism towards the football players, and three or four of them sat
around her desk in a visible "clique". The instruction was minimal, and her control
over the classroom was minimal (reference #3 of Table 1.1 – not maintaining
classroom order). I also have a memory of what will sound crazy, but it happened.
One day she was playing around and chased one of the football players around
the room on top of the desktops in a joking manner. The classroom was chaotic,
and not having adequate, professional contact with the instructor, I began to
drown further in a sea of math anxiety. I ended up failing that algebra class. It
was the first and only class I ever failed. It was undoubtedly my worst learning
experience. In relating this negative experience to Chickering and Gamson's
(1987) principles of effective teaching, what was lacking most was #1
Encouragement Student-Faculty Contact and #4 the providing of Prompt
Feedback. a a Overall, what I felt this instructor could have done better was to reach
out to me more in an accountable way when I began to fall behind in the math
skills and the work. In doing so, perhaps she may have also been able to find a
way to enact principle #7 with me by locating or trying an alternative way of
learning those math concepts that were giving me trouble.
a a a a We have all had both good and bad classroom experiences that we carry
forward with us to learn from. Overall, our scholastic journeys are long and often
cumbersome and challenging. The scholastic endeavor reminds me of a marathon
race. We can draw support from each other, self-discipline, creative problem
solving, and engage in the continuous learning process to become better
teachers. During a marathon, we will have these highs and lows. As Saint Paul
reminds us,
"Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also
lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with
endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and
perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross,
despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God". (New
International Version, 2009, Hebrews 12:1-2). What does "running the race" look
like or mean for us as students, educators, and as Christians? To me, it reflects
the dedication to keep going, keep learning, and reach out to each other in
encouragement during this process. As we run the race, we serve to spur one
another on towards excellence.
References
Alice Ayel - Le Francais Naturellement. (2022, May 18). Retrieved June 21, 2022,
from https://www.aliceayel.com/
Bernstein, D. A., Frantz, S., & Chew, S. (2020). Teaching psychology: A step-by-step
guide (Third ed.). Routledge.
Chickering, A., & Gamson, Z. (1987). a Seven principles for good practice in
undergraduate education. AAHE Bulletin, 39(7), 3-7.
The Gideons International. (2009). The new testament and psalms: New
international version.
Young, D. J. (1992). Language anxiety from the foreign language specialist's
perspective: Interviews with Krashen, Omaggio Hadley, Terrell, and Rardin. Foreign
Language Annals, 25(2), 157-172. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1944-
9720.1992.tb00524.x
