METHOD-BASED OR POSTMETHOD?

On my last semester, I took a subject about didactics and methodology. I learned quite a lot, with the help of this subject it was easy for me to go to the school that I am working for and try to identify certain aspects in the classroom. In order to continue with this class, we needed to see if we reminded some things about last semester. The idea was to give a definition for method, what I remembered, and also what my classmates said, was that method is an instructional design. This was the starting point that I needed for me to make this second entry.

Since the in-service teacher I am observing is very willing to help, I took advantage of that and asked her about the method of teaching, she did not felt uncomfortable about the questions and answered them gladly. This is what she said:

About the method of teaching she told me that she used communicative approach during her English class but she also told me that the school used meaningful learning. It is working with their previous knowledge, getting to known their own style, motivate them to participate, ask questions, be involved in the lesson, and very important, use of the language. Since is an English class she said she is always trying to make them use the language, they understand it perfectly, but they need to use it. “Communicative language teaching can be understood as a set of principles about the goals of language teaching, how learners learn a language, the kinds of classroom activities that best facilitate learning, and the roles of teachers and learners in the classroom”. (Richards, J).

"The phrase competence in terms of social interaction sums up the primary emphasis of CLT, whose theoretical principles were derived mainly from concepts oriented to language communication..." (Kumaravadivelu, B). 

Regarding the teaching resources, well, there are many to choose form, but the ones she makes more use of are books, worksheets and visual aids. Once a week they have an ICT session, they go to the computer room, which is mostly called the interactive zone, and work with different type of activities. The teacher in-service uploads activities that are available for the kids at school and at home.

Effective teaching was defined as providing students with strategies, resources, and input so that they are able to reach their goals. The answer to the approach to classroom management was, if I am honest, a bit shocking. But on a second thought I finally understood that there was the need to be strict, otherwise kids will take you as a joke. The teacher in-service said that she had to keep an eye on everyone and everything every time. There is the need to set limits, rules, be consequent with things you said in the beginning. And here comes to most difficult for me to do as a teacher, facing kids, stop them when it is necessary. (In-service teacher, 2013. Personal interview). Once I got to know the kids and got sort of attached to them, it is hard to think that sometimes one needs to be a bit harsh if I might say it like that. We need to take into account the students’ needs, and their different way of doing things, but at the same time, setting limits will allow a better environment in the classroom and a better relationship between students and the teacher.

Finally, about the qualities, well it is not very different from what a person should be in society. This is, respectful, active, resourceful, good communicator, punctual, responsible (In-service teacher, 2013. Personal interview). The thing that I liked most about this interview and this exercise was that in the end, everything she mentioned was true. I mean, I was able to see these aspects during class and how the teacher in-service behaves.

For the past lessons, English and Math, I wanted to observe how the teacher dealt with the students’ role. From time to time students can be a bit noisy, but the in-service teacher immediately point out when something is not ok for them to do. What I have seen is that students have a very active role. Everyday they make a daily prayer and they can ask for the things they have, for their classmates, among many other things. For example a student, Samuel prays for Juan David’s grandfather who is sick (Entry # 6, 2013. February 20). Students can also put their agendas were they are supposed to be, they can take the attendance to the corresponding office. It is like getting them involved in the daily chores and also is a way for them to be active in the day.

What really impressed me was that one day one kid asked the teacher if they could listen to a song and sing it. The teacher agreed and they did it before the class. By this we can see that students have a voice and that the things that they are asking for are given to them. It was a way to engage kids in the class, and to be a bit more participative. Although, kids are mostly participative in class, they even get mad when they are not able to. They are always raising their hands to participate and the teacher seems very happy with these kinds of responses from the kids. For the kids to be more involved in the class the teacher asks questions randomly and the students are expected to answer. (Entry # 7, February 27).

From what I have observed, from what the in-service teacher has told me, from the theory I have read, I can say that the in-service teacher does not follow a method or post-method pedagogy. I would dare to say that it is a transition since she works with the communicative approach but goes further and tries new things for the kids and for herself. The in-service teacher told me that for her English class she used the communicative approach, as I have mentioned it before.

According to B. Kumaravadivelu in the text TESOL Methods, Changing Tracks, Challenging Trends, the evolving perspectives on language teaching methods are from communicative language teaching to task-based language teaching, from method-based pedagogy to postmethod pedagogy, and from systemic discovery to critical discourse. This is why I say the in-service teacher I am observing is in a transition period, if I might say it like that. She is context sensitive, the usage of the L1 in the classroom is a tool, rather than a holdback, the environment of the classroom is totally different from what I have heard that others can be, students are active and there is a feeling of a familiar environment between the kids and the teacher. The teacher follows the communicative approach in the sense that the student is the main character and that the needs of the students are what come first in terms of planning a class, the exercise the kids do, the time they take, etc.

As we have seen it is like a balance between following strictly a method and an approach, it is being flexible. As the teacher said it herself in the interview, she works with their previous knowledge, takes into account their personal styles, and gives the motivation to participate actively and most important encourage the use of the language. (In-service teacher, (2013, February 27) Interviewed by Rodríguez Carolina. Bogotá).  There was a clear example when a student asked the teacher to sing a song before the class, the teacher agreed and the motivation from the kids was incredible, after singing the song, they were wanting to participate, wanting to work and they were very excited about it.

REFERENCES

• In-service teacher (2013, February 27) Interviewed by Rodríguez Carolina. Bogotá.

• Kumaravadivelu, B. (2006). TESOL Methods: Changing Tracks, Challenging Trends. TESOL Quarterly, Vol. 40, No. 1, March 2006. 

• Richards, J. (2006). Communicative Language Teaching Today. Found in: http://www.cambridge.org/other_files/downloads/esl/booklets/Richards-Communicative-Language.pdf. Pg. 2. 

• Rodríguez, C (2013). Field notes. PUJ, Bogotá.