autobiography analysis

Autobiography

I am Oscar, I was born 26 years ago in a small city. As far as I can recall my father was the first person that motivated me to Study. I remember that he told me many times  "Study"  "because it is the only thing that no one can take away from you. He encouraged me to learn different skills and subjects. For instance, he told me - Oscar, "in your life, you need to learn how to drive, dance, and play an instrument". He affirms that those skills are mandatory in life. He also tried to encourage me to learn maths, music, and statistic but it was quite difficult for me. (impossible)

Then, let me introduce my father, he is a teacher in a public school, He has always been studying and improving his professional and teacher development..(.I remember seeing him studying, reading, working in groups, performing, researching and writing with his colleagues. thanks to that continuous professional development my father has had along his life. I had the chance to go with him and attend an English class.  ( he was not very good at English, but he tried to understand it).

That morning, I was happy because he had told me that I could attend a class with him. While I was getting ready he was reading or reviewing some photocopies with vocabulary in English. ( I look at them, they were about means of transportation).I already knew most of that vocabulary that he was struggling to acquire. When we finally arrived at the class. I was a little be confused because I was expecting a classroom with a teacher leading the class. However, It was a lab with many computers and the teacher just checked the activities once the students finished and not while they were doing it.

My father was a bit lost, he did not know or remember any of the words. It was grammar and vocabulary exercises. Those exercises were in a platform, which allowed the students to see a picture and to listen to the pronunciation of the word or sentence. Guess what?  I asked him if I could help him. My dad looked amazed and he asked me " Do you know about that?". Then, I completed most of the words (just vocabulary section). But, there was one that I did not know,  " truck" I Learnt that word with the platform. It had a visual dictionary that showed different pictures with you click on the words.

That was my first language experience. I was amazed and happy, I realized that most of the vocabulary I knew at that stage was somehow learned or acquired while playing games (10 - 12 years). To be honest I do not remember any English class in my primary education.  From that experience, I notice that I had an inner motivation and ease to learn English. Most of my friends who played those games did not pay attention to the input in English of the games and I did pay attention to it. Hence, that interest in the meaning of the words (to understand the language and be able to play the games) allowed me to build my English vocabulary.

My second language experience was in 6th grade. Alvaro Ferro was the English teacher in my school. He was a different "teacher". He always had a smile on his face. He was encouraging you to learn, participate, pronounce and laugh all the time. Most of the students were always expecting what new things or activities he would bring to the classroom. Even to check the homework was awesome with him. He divided the board into three or four sections and randomly picked out three of four students. if you were selected you had to run to the board and complete one sentences he asked you to complete.I think that what made successful that language experience was the effort my English teacher put to motivate his students. Furthermore, He made with us reflect on-action by asking us about what aspect of his class we like or dislike. In my opinion, his identity, beliefs, and practices motivated me to learn  English.

5 years later, my father took me to an English institute. In that institute, I had three really good English teachers and one teacher who I thought was not good enough. the three really good teachers were good at giving examples and offering different explanations for the grammar based program. In contrast, the other teacher was not skilled enough to do that, he had difficulties to offer extra examples and when he was teaching he looked like he was not sure about what he was teaching. that characteristic made his teaching practices ineffective. After a few months, some students started to talk about his classes and they chose other teachers to teach them.

 A year later, I started my undergraduate program. there I found really good teachers, However, I did not put much interest during the classes and sometimes I did not put the effort and time required during some classes. To better explain that, once I understand the grammar and language use I did not practice with exercises. Then, I learned the language but, some skills were not fully developed (listening, writing. One teacher tried to teach us writing. However, I would say that the way he taught was not the most appropriated. I remember that few students paid attention to the class. Few of them did the homework and little time was dedicated to focused on writing. I can affirm that a teacher that inspired is necessary but, a teacher that challenges you is mandatory. Maybe if we challenge our students we can offer them the opportunity to show them how much they can improve in many aspects of their life.

After, I finished my undergraduate program every time, place, school, teacher and circumstance during my teaching practices shaped me. I understand and see the process of teaching as learning how to walk. You have to be very careful with each step you take. some words, attitudes, comments, behaviors can affect your students. When I started my job and life as a teacher I had a good teacher-leader that guided, encouraged, motivated and challenged me. he was all the time pushing me towards teaching in different contexts, even at the university level. after that, he encouraged me to travel abroad. Later, he asked to work on a thesis with him. Finally, he asked to enroll in a master program. he was that teacher who not only inspired me but challenged me to be a different teacher. he was al the time explaining and teaching me different aspects that I lacked at that time.

I think that another actor involved in the teaching process that changes you as a teacher is students. They are the ones who shaped me in many different aspects. Not only as a teacher but as a person, friend, listener, counselor, brother, father, son, etc.  I had to admit that I am not a very sensitive person. But, somehow they have made me feel. students have made felt happy, proud, angry, sad, worried, interested and curious about them. To conclude, I think that as identity is seen as an aspect that is constantly changing. Your role, attitude, thoughts, and behavior are constantly growing up and changing with you. 

"Sponsored" and "Independent" Professional Development

Once I finished my undergraduate program, I felt there were many gaps between what I learned in the program and what I needed to know when working as a teacher. Those gaps were somehow filling up during my role as a teacher. First colleagues gave an example and idea regarding how to do some aspects of the teaching job. Also, The institution sponsored some practices to improve my professional development.

 for instance:

1. -An online course about Prueba Saber. 
2. -Sena course named:  Estrategias pedagogicas para el desarrollo del pensamiento.
3. - Seminario en estrategias neuroeducativas

However, all those opportunities to enrich my professional development were selected by the principal of the institution. Besides, the principal was the one who decided which teachers could have access to those courses and training. Furthermore, none of those courses were focused on teaching English.

Hence, to fulfill all those gaps I noticed after my undergraduate program, I decide to enroll in a master degree program as an independent development. This master program has exceeded my expectations.

-First, It covered all the gaps I had and made me aware of many other issues encountered in the language teaching process. 

-Second, It helped me to understand better the research process when teaching a foreign language.

Language Teacher Education in the Age of Ambiguity

Click here !

Language Teacher Education in the Age of Ambiguity

Reconceptualizing the Knowledge‐Base of Language Teacher Education 

In my view, what Kubanyiova calls education in the age of ambiguity, is a similar landscape to the one we have in our education system. For instance, all the inconsistencies that we found in the guidelines that the government stated for teaching English in the country. Even worse, the policies for teaching in the rural area that seem inconsistent in terms of teaching. Hence, the rationale that she offers is very accurate and well grounded.

 On the other hand, she insists that we need teachers who do not shy away from the politics of the social world in which their practices are located. What is interesting for me is the growth of teachers who are committed to improve their practices and somehow modify those national guidelines to offer their students a better understanding of the real world. To conclude, the next step is to develop a pedagogy that allows us as teachers, to educate and transform those responsive meaning makers, which result even much more difficult but not impossible if we become more engaged with our educational context.

KARDS model

How much effort do you put into your professional development ?