4/27/2021; Week 02: Response to "Is the Great American Teacher Dead?"

Being aware of the educational reality (needs of the students, culture, environment...) is useful to better understand it, and respond to facts that might otherwise seem absurd. The result of this exploration together with the teacher-student relationship can guide educational transformation, as can be inferred from Ivers's approach (Is the Great American Teacher Dead? 2012).

It is almost impossible to review the statistical results of foreign researchers on the educational reality in America without examining our teaching performance and what is our share of responsibility in the space that corresponds to us. Without a doubt, it is urgent to review the teaching commitment.

A teacher can help solve challenges and celebrate successes when he realizes that his work goes far beyond filling empty containers with "new knowledge" because it involves human material. The most significant experiences in the process of acquiring a second language (SL / FL) can be woven into the interests of the students, with the contents or proposed goals that will allow them to find the applicability in a real context. Not in vain Ivers (2012) shares a quote to highlight that: "If there is not a serious connection between education and hunger, injustice, alienation, poverty, and war, then we are wasting time, deceiving ourselves and breaking faith”. The more internal resonance this new knowledge has, the greater the identity, assimilation, and understanding for them.

In particular, I perceive three redeeming lines in a TESOL classroom:

Updating and revitalizing teaching strategies is essential to contribute effectively to student performance.

The best source of information can be obtained from those directly involved in the educational setting.

Teaching practice should favor the pragmatism of language in everyday life, totally distant from the performance of decontextualized activities.

References

Ivers, J (2012). Is the Great American Teacher Dead? Principles to Resurrect Meaningful, Effective, and Consciousness Raising Instruction. Journal of Invitational Theory and Practice, Volume 18.

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