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| Starseeds © Jon Lomberg - Inspired by Carl Sagan's Cosmos |
One of the joys I have found in my new interest in science is that it has brought me into what was a previously unknown world of inspiration, enlightenment and influence. As I am exposed to the likes of Neil Degrasse Tyson, Richard Feynman, and Richard Dawkins, I’m gratified that I have been able to bring their wisdom and intelligence into my life, and hopefully just a little bit will rub off somewhere. But one name sticks out above all others. In the last few months, I have been watching the finest television series I have ever seen, a source of wonder and learning for me which I cannot believe took so long to become part of my life. This series is Cosmos, presented by the legendary Carl Sagan.
I’m still struggling to comprehend how I wasn’t aware of the show before now. I'm a culturally aware person, but somehow it passed me by. I guess jokes like this just went over my head:
In each programme he leads us on a personal voyage through the history of scientific discovery and the universe, known and unknown. The show is aimed at viewers without a scientific background and not only explains the cosmos around us, but also the achievements of the great thinkers of the past, such as Copernicus, Brahe and Kepler.
So as a result of watching the show my knowledge of the universe is increasing, but I'm no cosmologist and I can't claim to understand everything. But there's a lot we can learn from a programme like this even if we don't understand particle physics or string theory. Essentially, in the show, Carl Sagan is a teacher and we are his pupils. Watch the video below to see what I mean. As you watch, you can try and learn about Flatland if you like, but mostly I want you to pay attention to what you can learn from him as a teacher.
If you were one of my students, it is at this point I'd ask you compare your observations with a peer. This time however, we are both learners, so you can compare your notes with mine:
- He's explaining a difficult concept, something many of the viewers will be unfamiliar with. Despite this he isn't at all patronising, treating the audience with intelligence as he diligently and precisely explains the concept.
- He displays an in-depth knowledge and is not shy about you knowing that he is an authority figure when it comes to this subject. In other words, he is clearly the teacher and we are definitely the learners.
- While he treats the subject seriously, he is not without humour. He is very effective at breaking up the moments of seriousness with moments of levity. He handles the tone of the discourse beautifully.
- He is clearly spoken and precise in his language. His ability to deliver a complicated concept in an economical way makes it easier to comprehend.
- He uses practical and clear demonstrations to illustrate his point, again making the idea easier to understand. He's not afraid of being very explicit in explaining what his point is.
- His use of language is particularly interesting. He speaks beautifully and yet you never feel that he is talking 'over you'. In fact, I love the mixture of registers he uses, ranging from "the universe is finite but unbounded" to “the only conclusion is that he's gone bonkers”.
- His body language is open and inviting. He frequently smiles, and you feel more like you're being led on a journey of discovery by a wise uncle then bewildered by overly serious academic.
- He occasionally uses aphorisms, for example “If you want to know what it’s like inside a black hole, look around”. They act as a form of punctuation, summarising the key points that he has just stated or asking the main questions that need to be emphasised. Phrases like this are memorable for the learners, and will enable them to recall key concepts at a later date.
It is vital that we, not just as language teachers but as educators in general, are prepared to look outside of our immediate circle to find influences and heroes. We have much to learn from Sagan and his like and we should not be cowed by his intellectual might and obvious gifts. Rather we should look to his example and and attempt to his follow in his footsteps with a ready heart and an open mind, although, as Sagan himself famously said:
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If there’s an attitude that I want this blog to encompass, it’s right here in this infographic:
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| Taken from here. Originally published in Information Graphics by Sandra Rendgren (Taschen). |
As the image shows us, there are two ways to approach life and learning. You can adopt the approach on the left, the closed minded, “fixed mindset” that prevents us from growing and improving. Every challenge is seen as a threat and any excuse to disengage is taken.
Or, and it's something I’ve been trying is to do, is to choose the second option to push yourself down that right channel, the path of growth. I say push yourself because it’s not easy, it’s hard work and requires you to think outside of your comfort zone. I'm doing this because I know the reward is to reach a higher level of achievement, a greater sense of understanding of myself and the universe, and an increase in my self-confidence.
I’m trying to choose the difficult path to progress rather than the easy path to atrophy. And that’s why this blog exists.
But as language teachers and learners, we can also see how these options can relate specifically to language learning. It is clear that those students who adopt a “growth mindset” have a far greater opportunity for success than those who don’t. In fact, I would go so far as to say that those who choose the left path will never learn a language as they might say they wish.
It’s at this point that I have to reflect on my own language learning and concede that I have often chosen the path of least resistance. I’ve never been a particularly comfortable language student (you can read about my troubles here), and in part this is due to the fact that I’ve never really had a good teacher who could even recognise my difficulties, let alone help me with them. Of course I accept that it is ultimately the students individual responsibility to facilitate their own learning, but as a language teacher I feel it is my responsibility to help them along as much as I can.
The position of a ‘fixed mindset’ is primarily going to be adopted because of fear. The student is frightened of looking stupid in front of the class or the teacher when they have an information gap, or realises that this part of language is something they have struggled with in the past and they don’t want to face it again, or some other reason that prevents learning. So the question I have to ask is how can I change this person’s mindset from fixed to growth?
The first thing that springs to mind is openness. There’s no reason why you couldn’t print off this infographic and use it as the source of a lesson. Get the students discussing their own fears, worries and hang ups. Turn those fears into positive objectives which together you can plan to tackle over the duration of the course.
Create challenges which are in line with their objectives. Ideally you want the students to be coming to you and saying “this is what I want to achieve and I want you to help me get there”. Don’t confuse their needs with your own perception of what their needs are. Giving them a needs analysis survey at the beginning of a course is a great way to do this.
And as well as making sure you recognise their achievements, give them the mechanism to recognise their own achievements. Together, create course checklists, make goals which you pin up on the wall and come back to regularly. Get them to tell you and each other when they have achieved something, instead of it always coming from the teacher. Make sure that appraisal of their progress is a consistent part of their course.
Make criticism an integral part of their studies, and most importantly, make most of it peer criticism. They will expect you as teacher to be the one who tells them how good or otherwise they are doing, but building peer feedback into their course right from the beginning is invaluable. They will need training and guidance, but once they have an understanding in how to give and receive criticism in the correct manner from each other they will begin to use it as a part of the improvement process.
Give them the opportunity to find realistic role models. Discuss their heroes and what they have learned from them. Make them explain these characteristics and get them to discuss how they will try and include their influence in their own lives. This discussion doesn’t have to be limited to language learning, but their lives in general and hopefully the effect of consciously thinking about their influence will trickle down into their language learning.
And finally, don’t be scared of taking yourself down that difficult path and do a little reflection yourself. Does part of their difficulty lie in the way your class is organised? Are your activities focused enough? Do you give them space and time to really achieve their objectives? Are you listening to them? The answers to these questions may be yes, but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be asked in the first place. It’s all part of having a growth mindset.
The original tweet that inspired this blog post:
Welcome to Think!, a new blog which will, I hope, help you to look at language teaching and learning in a different way. The aim of this blog is to take the best ideas from culture and look at how they can influence what we teachers do in our classrooms.
So what do I mean by culture? It’s a very general term and can encompass many areas of human life. In some ways this is its strength, as it allows us to define it as it fits our needs and demands. In the context of this blog, it covers the arts, science, philosophy, sociology, politics, psychology, anthropology and anything else I find relevant or interesting.
In the last year or so, I’ve become fascinated and inspired by these fields and the amazing discoveries that continue to arise. I find myself reflecting on these findings and wonder how they could or will affect my teaching. This blog is a space for me to share these reflections and discuss them with you.
Now I should say that I have no academic background in these subjects, so my conclusions are entirely non-scholarly and completely based on my experiences as a practitioner and enthusiast. I make no apology for this, but it may sometimes result in inaccuracies in thought or understanding. If I make one of these mistakes, feel free to let me know (in a nice way!) by leaving a comment.
This is a journey of discovery for me, a place where I share thoughts, reflections and inspiration. Sometimes I’ll hit home and sometimes you’ll think I’m clutching at straws. I don’t mind that because the purpose of this blog is to examine, question, reflect, improve and most of all, to think!
About me: Originally from Brighton, UK, I have taught English as a foreign language to adults in Brazil, South Korea and Belgium. Currently based in Brussels, I teach business and general EFL to adults. I have been blogging at theteacherjames.com since October 2010. You can also find me presenting the ELTchat podcast, a round up of the latest news for English language teachers.
Photos taken from http://www.flickr.com/photos/planetschwa/99535218/ and http://www.flickr.com/photos/40964293@N07/4160835158/, used under a CC Attribution Non-Commercial licence, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/deed.en_GB.
