f f f 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. f
f f f f f f f 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 f
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.
f f f f f f f f f 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. f f 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.
f f f f 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). f 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
