After reading Rita’s words: “It makes me stronger coming here”, I immediately began wondering why it is that education makes people stronger. At first, I thought about the professional you become after graduation and the sense of independence you experience not having to get temporary jobs but one where you can really apply your professional knowledge. But just then, I kept on thinking and I realised we become stronger AS we are being educated.
When we decide to joining any course of studies, we are choosing the people we want to interact with as well as the teachers we want to learn from. The whole learning process can not be isolated from the social and interactional context. In my opinion, that’s how you become a stronger person: you learn and interact with the course, but also, bit by bit, you use that experience in your personal life.
Education makes me stronger because it enables me to build social bridges which, if used wisely, will help me be a happier person as I think it will happen to Rita by the end of the book.
Tuesday, 26 August 2008
Friday, 22 August 2008
What is being a “good” teacher?
We all know what a teacher is, her roles in school and in the classroom. After all, we’ve all had at least one in our educational life. Yet, what is being a “good” teacher?
I’ve asked my own students, and they all agree a good teacher is someone who knows about the subject she is teaching, but also a human being who should care about them. A person who gets the trouble to get to know her students and is willing to help them become better persons. I must admit I agree with them.
If we consider Rita’s tutor, Frank, so far I believe he is a good teacher because not only does he show to have knowledge of literature, but he also seems to have a great capacity to adapt himself to Rita’s ways. For instance, he answers Rita’s personal questions with great enthusiasm and patience, but never does he lose track of the main objective which is Rita’s final exam to get her degree.
So, next time I’m asked what being a good teacher means, I’ll say it’s a human being who has been trained to be a teacher, but also someone who cares about her students, who is patient and capable of adapting herself to her students´ different ways of learning.
By Miriam Rodriguez
I’ve asked my own students, and they all agree a good teacher is someone who knows about the subject she is teaching, but also a human being who should care about them. A person who gets the trouble to get to know her students and is willing to help them become better persons. I must admit I agree with them.
If we consider Rita’s tutor, Frank, so far I believe he is a good teacher because not only does he show to have knowledge of literature, but he also seems to have a great capacity to adapt himself to Rita’s ways. For instance, he answers Rita’s personal questions with great enthusiasm and patience, but never does he lose track of the main objective which is Rita’s final exam to get her degree.
So, next time I’m asked what being a good teacher means, I’ll say it’s a human being who has been trained to be a teacher, but also someone who cares about her students, who is patient and capable of adapting herself to her students´ different ways of learning.
By Miriam Rodriguez
Thursday, 7 August 2008
There’s more to Rita than meets the eye?
I have just finished reading scene one of a theatre play called “Educating Rita” by Willy Russell. I would like to share with you my first impressions of Susan, or Rita as she prefers to be called, one of the major characters in the story.
When the play opens, Rita meets her tutor, Dr Frank Bryant, at the Open University. Through their dialogue we can infer that Rita is a very intelligent woman in spite of the fact that she has been poorly educated and belongs to the working class.
To begin with, Rita makes some impressive comments about the painting hung on Frank’s office wall, which reveals she can talk about arts and religious sensibly. She then realizes Frank has an alcohol addiction as well as why he has agreed to teach at the Open University: he needs the money. Rita also comments on the differences between the ordinary university and the Open University, which proves she knows what she is doing at enrolling this course. In addition, the moment Frank and Rita talk about books and poetry, we come to think she has good understanding of what certain technical terminology means, although she is still not capable of expressing herself properly.
I think that having changed her name from Susan to Rita is her first step to become a different person. She is unwilling to remain as a hairdresser and a housewife for life, and she wants to change from the inside. While she discovers herself, we will find out if Rita succeeds and becomes the well educated higher class woman she really longs for.
By Miriam Rodriguez
When the play opens, Rita meets her tutor, Dr Frank Bryant, at the Open University. Through their dialogue we can infer that Rita is a very intelligent woman in spite of the fact that she has been poorly educated and belongs to the working class.
To begin with, Rita makes some impressive comments about the painting hung on Frank’s office wall, which reveals she can talk about arts and religious sensibly. She then realizes Frank has an alcohol addiction as well as why he has agreed to teach at the Open University: he needs the money. Rita also comments on the differences between the ordinary university and the Open University, which proves she knows what she is doing at enrolling this course. In addition, the moment Frank and Rita talk about books and poetry, we come to think she has good understanding of what certain technical terminology means, although she is still not capable of expressing herself properly.
I think that having changed her name from Susan to Rita is her first step to become a different person. She is unwilling to remain as a hairdresser and a housewife for life, and she wants to change from the inside. While she discovers herself, we will find out if Rita succeeds and becomes the well educated higher class woman she really longs for.
By Miriam Rodriguez
Thursday, 26 June 2008
When teaching or doing any other job
After this first term, I finally got to the end of Savater´s book, which, I must confess, has made me think about a lot of things, in particular, about the relationship between ethics and the condition of being human.
What does it mean to live ethically? What is it that I do when I don’t respect other human beings? Why take care of not only ourselves but also our planet? Why is it that I will never understand myself if I switch off from the rest of the people? Interesting concepts does Savater develop throughout his book. I recommend it to anyone who is, at least, a little bit curious like me.
One more thing: after reading this last chapter of Ethics for Amador I can say it has really reminded me of my human qualities and it has helped me understand why we must never forget our common humanity, no matter what occupation you have.
Appendix
By Miriam Rodriguez
What does it mean to live ethically? What is it that I do when I don’t respect other human beings? Why take care of not only ourselves but also our planet? Why is it that I will never understand myself if I switch off from the rest of the people? Interesting concepts does Savater develop throughout his book. I recommend it to anyone who is, at least, a little bit curious like me.
One more thing: after reading this last chapter of Ethics for Amador I can say it has really reminded me of my human qualities and it has helped me understand why we must never forget our common humanity, no matter what occupation you have.
Appendix
By Miriam Rodriguez
Monday, 23 June 2008
The Art of Teaching
The art of teaching, the ability or skill involved in teaching, resembles the art of living in one essential feature: nobody can tell you how to do it better. There is neither a recipe nor a book containing the necessary instructions to succeed in living or teaching well. So, how can we achieve what seems to be an impossible mission?
I think one can study not only to know about the English language itself, but also to learn how to make all that knowledge that is accumulated in the to-be teacher meaningful to students. Definitely, that’s the key to succeed. However, I’m afraid, like in every other job, not everybody is cut out to be a teacher.
To name just a few examples, I would say a person needs to have certain qualities to be a good teacher. If you are narrow-minded, egocentric and a bad listener, for instance, I think it won’t matter how hard you try, you will not be a good teacher because you won’t be considering your students, and that’s the worst mistake a teacher can make.
Epilogue
By Miriam Rodriguez
I think one can study not only to know about the English language itself, but also to learn how to make all that knowledge that is accumulated in the to-be teacher meaningful to students. Definitely, that’s the key to succeed. However, I’m afraid, like in every other job, not everybody is cut out to be a teacher.
To name just a few examples, I would say a person needs to have certain qualities to be a good teacher. If you are narrow-minded, egocentric and a bad listener, for instance, I think it won’t matter how hard you try, you will not be a good teacher because you won’t be considering your students, and that’s the worst mistake a teacher can make.
Epilogue
By Miriam Rodriguez
Sunday, 8 June 2008
Our Space
I always try to make my class as democratic as possible, although I also know students have not been given the chance to vote for me as their teacher!
What I mean by democratic is creating a friendly and cooperative atmosphere where every one of my student is free to express themselves. I also try hard not to have favourite ones and to take them all seriously: I respect everybody for their human condition and not for the level of English they have. And last but not least, I provide assistance to all of them, and if the more advanced students don’t need help, I give them a more challenging task so that they can feel they are learning.
Of course I sometimes fail, I would say MANY TIMES I do. But I am aware of my errors and of the fact that I’m not perfect. I keep on trying and I think that makes a differences. I’m sure my students can tell.
Chapter 9
By Miriam Rodriguez
What I mean by democratic is creating a friendly and cooperative atmosphere where every one of my student is free to express themselves. I also try hard not to have favourite ones and to take them all seriously: I respect everybody for their human condition and not for the level of English they have. And last but not least, I provide assistance to all of them, and if the more advanced students don’t need help, I give them a more challenging task so that they can feel they are learning.
Of course I sometimes fail, I would say MANY TIMES I do. But I am aware of my errors and of the fact that I’m not perfect. I keep on trying and I think that makes a differences. I’m sure my students can tell.
Chapter 9
By Miriam Rodriguez
Monday, 2 June 2008
Encourage Free Thinkers
Most school head figures boast that if their students are disciplined and obedient, they will succedd in life. However, I don´t quite agree with it.
To begin with, although learning is a painful process, students need to get involved and find some kind of pleasure in what they are studying, and, in this way, make use of their freedom to choose, for example, to decide what kind of exercise they would prefer to do. Nonetheless, headmasters fear if students feel pleasure, they will get distracted, and, for this reason, lose their track.
In my opinion, the sensible thing to do for teachers is help their students become free thinkers, and, in doing so, they will be learning to reason things wisely. If, on the contrary, regulations are always imposed on them from the outside and students never get the chance to opt on their own, they will become muppets unable to think for themselves. How will the cope with real life when they finish school?
Chapter 8
By Miriam Rodriguez
To begin with, although learning is a painful process, students need to get involved and find some kind of pleasure in what they are studying, and, in this way, make use of their freedom to choose, for example, to decide what kind of exercise they would prefer to do. Nonetheless, headmasters fear if students feel pleasure, they will get distracted, and, for this reason, lose their track.
In my opinion, the sensible thing to do for teachers is help their students become free thinkers, and, in doing so, they will be learning to reason things wisely. If, on the contrary, regulations are always imposed on them from the outside and students never get the chance to opt on their own, they will become muppets unable to think for themselves. How will the cope with real life when they finish school?
Chapter 8
By Miriam Rodriguez
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