Bilingualism | periodicocolcafam

A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE

The academic year is almost over and so far some students have not achieved the expected performance. . . . . they have not built the level of knowledge they were expected to build.

As teachers we always reflect on our practice, we are continuously evaluating what we do, the teaching strategies we implement, the homework we give, the way we address our pupils, how demanding or how flexible we are. . . . we reflect on everything at every moment. At this stage of the academic year and due to the fact that we feel very concerned for those learners who are left behind in their academic processes, we think of our practice even more. We ask ourselves what we could have done better. . . . Should I have been more demanding? . . . . . or maybe less demanding? . . . . thousands of ideas cross our mind.

Among those thoughts that occupy us in our intentional effort to improve our practice, to become better teachers, better human beings, we see the mental image of pupils that we know tried so hard, were interested in the topics of the subject, worked restlessly and showed advancement but did not achieve the level required for the class they are in. We also see the ones that had the intention to do everything but lacked the discipline; here we find the ones that did not manage their time, prioritized social life, or entertainment and ended up not doing what was required from them in order to build knowledge, to become better at the different skills, to become more competent and better prepared for life.

In this process our minds also come across the students that just gave up before even starting to walk the path of knowledge, those who no matter how hard the teacher tried, did not work in class, showed up late for most of the pedagogical sessions, did not do homework or in the best of the cases copied it from another student; those who prioritized “whatsapp” to class activities and had their heart and their mind away from the class at every moment. These cases really make us feel sad, frustrated because we have to recognize that in spite of all of our efforts, we failed. Yes, we failed because we were not able to awaken in them the love for knowledge, the hunger for culture. As painful and frustrating as it is, this is something we as teacher have to accept: we failed, we tried hard, implemented several strategies, several approaches but did not achieve what every single teacher on earth aims: to awaken the love for knowledge in students. We were not able to motivate them.

As tutors, we know that there is no magic formula to motivate everyone, each process is unique and different and demands from us to go through every individual case, analyze the circumstances and take the necessary corrective actions.

We all want our students to reach the required standards; we as parents and as teachers want students to build knowledge, to achieve personal and academic goals, to evidence personal and academic progress, but the fact is that not everybody works at the same pace. Despite all our effort, there will be some students who will have to go through the same academic process next year. Having to stay in the same class (in everyday language: flunking an academic year) is traumatic for the whole community. However it is time for us to reconsider our position upon it.

Academic processes should be looked at as the foundation of a house. When it is not strong and solid, engineers do not continue building the construction, they act wisely and do the proper foundation so that it keeps moisture, resists movement of earth and holds the house above the ground.

When there are serious weaknesses in the academic processes, it is wise to allow students to set the proper foundation so that they can build solid and strong knowledge which will accompany them for the rest of their lives.

Dear parents if by any chance your son or daughter does not build the required knowledge during the 2016 academic year, I cordially invite you to look at it from a different perspective. Even though it is not an easy task, for a minute, please overlook the downside of the situation. Please do not focus on all the effort you have put on it . . . for a minute consider it as an opportunity for your youngsters to build the foundation they need, the one that will make them more self-assured, that will allow the love for knowledge and culture to flourish. Having a strong foundation keeps the future adults from feeling shy at the university, empowers them to participate in class, to be more interested in every activity, to feel more self-assured because they will be certain of their knowledge, skills and abilities.

This is not an invitation to stop working hard, to stop doing our best in order to support and encourage students´ integral formation, it is a sincere call to help your daughter or son learn that we do not always achieve goals, but the one thing we can´t do is to stop trying as hard as we can.

English Teacher - María Victoria Correa Gomez

A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE