Essential questions towards understanding
How can we avoid activity-based and coverage-based design?
The question above posed by Wiggins is of a great significance. He even regards these sorts of activities as curriculum sins. I could also refer to them as unavoidable temptations for teachers. In fact, many teachers and curriculum designers frame units on the basis of content rather than a desired understanding that goes beyond simple facts and knowledge which are easily forgotten. The author points out the vital need of asking our students essential questions which foster inquiry and curiosity. As far as our TEFL area is concerned, we, teachers of English, always start our lessons with a few questions to activate cognition and generate enthusiasm. However, the distinction made by Wiggins between topical essential questions and overarching essential questions is extremely enriching. Sadly, I would say, TEFL teachers might just include yes / no questions aimed at just informing students about the lesson’s objective. By including essential questions in the teaching of foreign languages we could help our students gain a more lasting and long-term learning.
Essential questions for a TEFL curriculum
Wiggins warns us about the danger of asking only topical questions or just overarching ones. He suggests the balance of using both types of questions. Additionally, he insists on the idea of being consistent with the follow-up planning. In other words, if we asked a topical question which is not later sought or covered by an activity, it would be pointless. What is finally highly recommended is the idea of framing our final syllabus on the basis of essential questions. This last idea has turned out to be quite revealing for me. Although most TEFL teachers are not curriculum designers, we could innovate by framing it with such questions. Interestingly enough, TEFL teachers would collaborate and greatly improve the TEFL curriculum avoiding other sins such as too much grammar or only teacher talk.
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I am absolutely in favor of the ideas you have clearly put forward Roberto, and indeed, it is good to see how you take into account the ‘human factor’ in teaching and learning – an issue I am always reflecting on and which is usually left apart from educational debates. Teachers usually commit sins, and as time goes by, it usually happens that they become mere ‘machines of teaching and learning’ and forget a crucial issue, i.e. generating questions that go beyond simple facts and knowledge short-termed memorization and that also foster developing not only cognition but other areas any human being should develop. You are certainly right in the sense that, unhappily, TEFL teachers usually incorporate no more than yes / no questions in their lessons solely aimed at telling students about the lesson’s objectives. And there are many that do not even include questions in their lessons whatsoever.
ResponderEliminarSo it is absolutely necessary to include fudamental questions in the teaching of foreign languages to help students ‘gain a more lasting and long-term learning’, as you suggest.
It is true what you said Roberto, most of the time, we teachers make the same mistakes by asking them yes/no question just to know their knowledge, but we almost never ask on the exact way to get to a real knowledge answer. We need to know how to ask to find out long term learning, but not only as foreing language teachers (as Eduardo mentioned) but as teachers in order to have students (people) who are able to think and develop ideas insted of repeting contents.
ResponderEliminarAs you said Roberto, and I definitely agree with you, if we as teachers of English include essential questions in our repertoire of questions when teaching we will develop a much more long-lasting learning. However, it is not an easy task to be carried out. It is going to take time and the reason for this is that when we plan our lessons and we consider the idea of asking essential questions we have to deeply “think” in all the factors that will contribute our lesson to be successful and our students really understand, i.e. we have to use the right questions, “medium questions” as the author mentioned, which will be probably answered by the students and which will be useful not only for the students’ purpose of learning but also for the teacher’s pursue of teaching and learning.
ResponderEliminarMy dear Roberto... I agree with you. The thing now is how to take this into practice. Let us suppose there is a teacher who has just read about overarching essential questions so he wants to include them in one of his lessons. However, there is a little problem; he does not how to structure them although he tries hard; consequently, he suffers a lot because he realizes he has not been trained to make such questions. Eventually, he will remember his college days and will find out he was taught under a different paradigm. The result: Frustration. I insist on stressing this idea since for me it is directly connected to critical thinking. It is easier to ask factual questions that lead to correct answers in future tests. I think it will be hard to teachers to decide to give the next step towards essential questions at the beginning. Nevertheless, nothing can be that negative, so if we practice enough, training ourselves everyday, we will finally be able to prepare a set of questions to be included in each one of our lessons. But it demands effort, time and desire... Things that most teachers lack nowadays.
ResponderEliminarGood bye fellow!
Hi!
ResponderEliminarWith regards of what you have put forward, I think planning is definitely an area in which teachers in general are weak at.
If we put more effort into improving and even stating those essential questions, as you said, in the warm up of our lessons, the building of strong and more meaningful knowledge would be definitely reached.
However, it is important to have in mind teacher training on this matter, since it is not considered in initial teaching training.
See you!!
“By including essential questions in the teaching of foreign languages we could help our students gain a more lasting and long-term learning”.
ResponderEliminarI think the concept long - term learning is crucial when thinking about the aim of the teaching –learning process. How do we reach this? From my point of view and as you mention, planning seems to be the key to achieve effecting understanding and therefore learning. But, I as I also think that takes effective training since the beginning of teaching studies to be able to apply essential questions in our lesson and engage our own students to do the same. Difficult task, don’t you think?.