e e 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. e
e e e e e e e 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 e 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.
e e e e e e e e e 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. e 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.
e e e 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). e 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
