This title is a declaration by the novelist Edward Morgan Forster (maybe known through some films based on his novels like A Passage to India, A Room with a View or Howards End).I found the quote in the book "You Won't Remember Me - The Schoolboys of Barbiana Speak to Today" written by Marvin Hoffman in which he comments on "Letter to a Teacher" and reports how he was influenced in the beginning of his teaching career by the writing of the schoolboys of Barbiana.
When coaching teachers I regularly experience their resistance to writing when I suggest that they should try to write down their thoughts or to make short transcripts of classroom dialogue. Most of the teachers I meet have no confidence in their writing skills or feel that they have nothing valuable to write about. I can easily understand these feelings as I used to react in the same way and because I know what a poor and slow writer I am - which doesn't stop me from writing as you can see.
I think that you don't have to be a gifted writer if you have something to say and to share. We all know gifted writers and speakers who most of the time use their talent to demonstrate their superiority or to manipulate and to intimidate their audience or their readers.
Unfortunately most of us - teachers included - have not acquired writing and reading skills as means of self-expression and reflexion. In school we have been trained to think carefully before opening our mouth or before using a pen.
Nobody told us that writing is a way of thinking and that thoughts take shape during the act of speaking (cf. Heinrich Kleist famous essay he wrote in 1805 "On the Gradual Production of Thoughts Whilst Speaking". ("Über die allmähliche Verfertigung der Gedanken beim Reden").
Teachers in the same way as their students need to take "courage to do without knowing yet how to do it" (P. Meirieu). Only then will they be prepared to be conscientious objectors to textbooks and to a rigidification of a curriculum which both are meant to enable a better transmission of reading and writing skills but too often leave students and teachers voiceless.
For sure you are right pointing out that teachers too have to be taught skills they have not acquired. Unfortunately as long as their studies are overloaded with many things which rather remind me of occupational therapy than useful skills and knowledge there will be missing the most important resource: time. Just like teachers face boredom in their classroom because curricula hardly match today's students' needs or interests, they risk to blunt in their practice realising how inefficiently authorities react to their problems.
ReplyDeleteBlogs (they do not necessarily have to be public) could contribute to reflecting processes among teachers by writing down thoughts and discussing them online the same way. These virtual life discussions could then (or should I write "should"?) lead to deeper discussions in real life to solve problems together. In times where you can find many teachers in social network communities with ever more to join I think that there could be a disposition for such a medium, but still you have to spread the word and - most importantly - communicate that it does make sense.
Hallo,
ReplyDeleteWir sind auch der selben Meinung, dass die Leute sich viel zu viele Gedanken machen wie sie etwas auf Papier bringen. Doch wir finden, dass der Inhalt viel wichtiger ist als der Stil des Schreibens. Leider wird uns in der Schule von klein auf eingebläut, dass man keine Fehler schreiben darf und dass man immer sorgfältig auf den Schreibstil achten soll. Wenn man dies in der Schule nicht tut, kommt man nicht weiter und so kommt es, dass man sich der Institution Schule versucht von Anfang an anzupassen und ihr zu folgen um erfolgreich zu sein. Wir glauben, dass so die Kinder sich nicht mehr trauen einfach frei etwas zu schreiben. Diese Angst begleitet sie den Rest ihrer Schulkarriere bis zum erwachsenen Dasein. Als Erwachsene ist es dann schwer diese Prägung zu bekämpfen und aus sich heraus zu gehen. So fragen wir uns, wie man bereits in der Grundschule den Kindern vermittelt, dass sie keine Angst haben sollen sich auf dem Papier auszudrücken, trotz den bevorstehenden Tests wo sie dann leider laut System keine Fehler schreiben dürfen?
My experience tells me that first it is a question of balance.
ReplyDeleteDo more of the things that make sense, where content matters more than form.
Second, it is a question of consideration. Value authentic production and authorship more than reproduction.
Third, be honest and interested in what children have to say, what they think and in their multiple points of viewing things.
Fourth, correcting spelling and grammar is not a bad thing - but it is not the first thing that matters. Correction is the last step before a text goes to print.
Before that, correction is important if spelling, grammar and the chosen words and expressions interfere with understanding.
Fifth, correcting is accepted and sometimes challenging if it is embedded in a meaningful task, if it is is coupled with mutual consideration of personal works and if it is rooted in a shared responsibility to help everyone to deliver a good job and to learn.
pino: I entirely agree with your points because I think that a teacher who is able to fulfil every single one of them does a good job. However the most difficult to realise is point number three.
ReplyDeleteYou simply cannot play being "honest and interested in what children have to say, what they think and in their multiple points of viewing things" because children's nonverbal communication skills always excel those of adults (especially for very young children).
So, even if you respect the other four points the nearest you can get to point three is showing a minimum of respect for the pupils' interests. Although I lack the experience with younger students I guess that this minimum should be maximal for them although I do not mean that for older children a teacher might automatically be excused if he/she shows little respect/tolerance regarding individual interests amongst the students.