The first thing that needs to be said is that questions serve as doorways through which learners explore the key concepts so as to deepen their understanding (p.106). It is a quite common practice to just ask questions where students must provide an answer that is only focused on the contents dealt in a particular class. This practice lacks what we have been posting so far - understanding - , most of the time students answer without really thinking what new or prior knowledge is being transferred. Here is where teachers must take some time and seek for the so called ‘good questions’. These ones have to trigger meaningful connections with what students are learning or have already learnt.
Even though every single teacher seeks that his/her students relate the contents learnt, it is also true that many of us face a type of student who has not been trained to inquire in the English subject. Most of them were exposed what the authors have been called – ‘the leading questions’ which cannot be the foundation of a design for understanding because they fixate on facts and demand only recall (p 114).
As a conclusion, we must re-think about how English is being taught in Chile and start making changes within our classrooms.
Yes. We have been hearing this "change is coming" for ages...but nothing happens. Who's to blame? The rest? the rest who?
ReplyDeleteStart to make changes in the classroom .... if we go beyond that, changes should come from the national curriculum and educational authorities. It usually happens to me that whenever I try to modify e.g a program, my English coordinator complains due to her ignorance.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the part when you say that students have never been trained to inquire in the English subject. But I really feel that this whole being able to answer essensial questions thing goes beyond that language barrier...Chilean students are not trained to think critically about any subject at all!
ReplyDeleteYou are totally right when you mention that essential questions have to be related to the contents.
ReplyDeleteBut, as you also said, we have to start with a dramatic change in our classrooms.... We have to start to teach them how to make questions and what are the questions that really bring a debate about the topics...