What is a lesson after all? - Part Three

If you missed one or both posts on this series, click here for part one and click here for part two.

It's been almost a week since my last post, so let's review the first two posts hehehe...

First, we stablished that, in a learning environment, the need of the learner is what will ultimately determine the topic of the lesson, what I'm calling "the something to be taught". Then, we discussed that the defining attribute of a learner is their willingness to move forward, to advance, to learn. Today, we will be talking about the teacher. What makes someone a teacher?

(Before I start let me tell you that this post will be longer than the others, just like the third movie in a trilogy hehehehe... There are just too many ends to tie...)

I started the second post on the series stating that anyone could be a learner, but the same is not true in the case of the teacher. Let me, hum, rephrase that... Anyone can't BE a teacher, but anyone can BECOME one. Ok, let's take a look at that distinction.

When I say anyone can BE a learner, I'm implying that the attributes of a learner are already in the person, that is, everyone has lack of knowledge and a need to advance, improve. All that is left in order to be a learner is a change of attitude, of heart if you will. Basically all you gotta do is be willing to learn and that's it, you are a learner. Now, there will be hard work along the way, but the change of heart is what really makes someone a learner. The hard work will bring you the knowledge you so desperately need, but you will only actually do the work if you are willing to learn.

BECOMING a teacher, on the other hand, requires more than a change of heart. It requires acquiring knowledge, abilities, etc. and that's why I'm using "becoming" instead of "being". It requires hard work, effort, dedication, among others to become a teacher.

Let me see if I can make my line of thought a little clearer: BEING involves a change of heart since you already have the other defining attributes, whereas BECOMING involves not only the willingness, but also the hard work in order to acquire the defining attributes (qualifications and abilities, just to quote a few) needed for the job.

So I guess that, by making that distinction, I introduced some of the defining attributes of a teacher. By all means, let me clarify that what I'm about to discuss is not a comprehensive list of attributes of a teacher, I'm just going to touch on a few of them.

The first thing someone needs to become a teacher is knowledge of the topic at hand. How do you acquire this knowledge? For us humans a commitment of time and hard work is the answer. Now, when you actually learn something, does that make you ready to teach it? When you think of some of the nerds out there who know a lot, I mean, a LOT, but can barely interact with other human beings, the answer becomes obvious. No, you are not a teacher yet. Pretty humbling, huh? But that's the topic for another post hehehe....

So, anyways, you got the knowledge, what do you need next? You need the ability to teach that knowledge, that is, teaching techniques, and how are you going to learn that? Yes, that's right, more time, dedication and hard work... Tired yet? Me, too! But guess what? You are NOT a teacher yet!

Now comes the fun part... You must be thinking "I have the knowledge and I have the techniques, what do you mean I'm not a teacher?"

Let's resort to a teacher's best friend... No, not the dictionary anymore, but Google hehehe... I googled "teach definition" but the best search result I could find was the one provided on top of the links, check it out here. It reads "Show or explain to (someone) how to do something". So, besides knowledge and ability you gotta have "someone" to teach to. I will go further and say that not only you need a learner, but also you gotta understand that person, how that person learns so that learning can actually take place. 

And how do you acquire that? No, not hard work this time, but experience... Lots and lots of it, with lots and lots of different students... And then, only then, you can hopefully say that you became a teacher, but only until you have a new student that you can't reach and then the process starts all over again... That, my friends, is real teaching... Or should I say real learning?

Sometimes it is frustrating to think that, no matter how hard you work, you are never going to achieve the status of "perfect teacher". Because there will always be a new challenge awaiting for you, as long as you keep teaching.

So why bother? I see two reasons. First, every person who became a teacher is first of all a learner, and therefore willing to learn. Second, the learner. Every real teacher sees the need and willingness of that human being in front of them and is deeply moved to help that person in whatever possible way.

For length and maybe boredom purposes I need to finish this post. So, to answer the question at hand, a teacher is basically someone who has knowledge, teaching techniques, a deep understanding of learners and willingness to improve in order to make learning happen. And that's not easy and definitely does not happen overnight.

What is a lesson after all? - Part 2

Inspired by the trilogy fever, I will let you guys know that the "What is a lesson after all?" series will be divided in, guess what, 3 parts, hehehehe...

If you missed part 1 and are interested, click here to catch up. Quick recap (this old teacher's habit of reinforcement in the beginning of a class was stronger than the blogger in me ;-) ) - We discussed that a lesson involves a topic (something that will be taught), a learner and a teacher. In part 1, we talked about the topic of a lesson. In part 2 we will focus on the learner, and in part 3 we will talk about the teacher.

Without further ado, let's get to it. The learner. What qualifies someone as a learner?

Well, basically anyone can be a learner, all you gotta have is ignorance LOL. Since the word ignorance can be a word loaded with different meanings, especially in Brazil (sometimes used to describe extreme or violent actions), I decided to bring the definition from this source. Ignorance is defined as "the state or fact of being ignorant: lack of knowledge, education, or awareness". In a nutshell, you don't know something. No, you are not dumb, LOL, you just don't know it... yet (basic teacher's reply to discouraged but hard working students hehehe). It may take a long time to learn it, or it may just be a piece of cake, but in most cases the learner learns. At their own pace and in their own timing.

Now note that I wrote that anyone CAN be a learner. Just because you are ignorant about something it does not automatically mean that you are a learner. In the last post, we discussed that the topic of a lesson is defined by the need to advance, to move forward in an area of expertise. But the fact that you have that need and that you lack "knowledge, education or awareness" in order to do so does not imply that you are a learner.

So, what makes someone who has a need and a lack of something be a learner? The defining attribute of a learner is their willlingness to learn. In my classes in Brazil, I had tons and tons of students (a rotation of about 120 new students every six months) for about 14 years - you do the math, I teach English :-) - but not all of them were learners. They all came to class, endured me and my classes at times, but some of them got in and out unchanged, untouched, "unlearned" if you will (yeah, I made that word up hehehe). Why? Not because they didn't have the need to advance or abundance of knowledge (their level of English was accessed and someone was paying for those classes so whoever that was believed those people needed to move forward so much that they were willing to pay for that to happen), but because they didn't want to learn. Period. For whatever reason, they'd rather be somewhere else, with someone else, doing something else. And so they shut off during class and let their minds wander to wherever they really wanted to be.

So there you have it. The need to learn something is stablished and also the lack of knowledge, now the question at hand is: Are you willing to learn? It will most likely hurt and steal your free time, so are you willing to pay the price to reach the proverbial next level? Are you willing to be a learner?

I am. And so help me God :-) .

The Brazilican Learner

What is a lesson after all? - Part One

The whole idea for this blog is to share lessons learned from a teacher's perspective. So that got me thinking, what causes a lesson to happen? I mean, if you can read this, that most likely means you have had some sort of formal schooling, so you know what a lesson looks like, but does that lesson really start at school in room 101 at 7:30 am?

The obvious answer is no, it doesn't. Let's see... I guess first we need to discuss what a lesson is, and what it entails.

Flashcard time, hehehe... When you think of learning, this image may be what pops up on your head...


Classic, huh? Apple on desk, distracted students, boring looking teacher, puzzled kid, nerd... But why is this lesson taking place, or better put, why do we go through that? No, it is not because teachers can't do it, so they teach it instead LOL (saying I learned here in the US).

Ok, so let's get to it, or at least start discussing it (after all by the title you figured I won't finish it in one post). I will be stating some obvious stuff here but bear with me, I promise there is a purpose to that.

A lesson involves something to be taught, at least one student and a teacher. Let's focus on the topic of the lesson on this post. So, what is that something to be taught? And why does it have to be taught? 

As a teacher, the first few interactions with my students were used to determine their level of English and their needs in order to advance. And then, using that information, I would decide what was to be taught. 

Similarly, in a lesson, what is to be taught is determined by the needs of the learner, and the reason for that lesson is to adequately equip the learner with the skills to master that subject. You can't be a mathematician without knowing numbers, for instance.

If you are in the middle of a hard lesson right now, it may be helpful to remember that, in order to advance, to move on to the next best thing that is awaiting for you, you need to learn that lesson. That life situation is right in front of you for a reason, and that reason is that YOU NEED IT, whether you like it or not. When you are new to a topic, the basic lessons come first. When you master that basic knowledge, then you are ready to move on to harder topics.


The Brazilican Learner