Teachers' Attitude

Introduction

Based on experts’ opinion and our personal experiences, the attitude of the professor during class affects the learning process; his/her motivation toward the learning objectives has an important role. Professors’ attitude influence cognitive aptitudes of the students, their enthusiasm during class and also their self-esteem, affecting their motivation. So, in one way or another, the professor must submerge students in actions that will accomplish the goals established by him/her.

Create favorable conditions to learn

Professors have to take into account their students’ problems, feelings, and anxieties in the learning process. These aspects can affect students’ performance positively or negatively. For instance, if the students are facing a difficult situation, they will not pay attention during the class because they will only think in that problem. But the teacher can try to change this negative aspect into a positive one, for example, if the student has an economic problem and the teacher knows that, s/he can use the situation to motivate the student, the teacher can explains her/him that the education is the key to have a better life, that s/he can get a good job and in this way improve his/her family’ economical situation. Also, there are some circumstances in which the students only need to be heard, they need to share their feelings with someone, and after that, they can be part again of the teaching-learning process. It is so important that teachers know a little bit about students’ lives in order to understand their attitude in the classroom and motivate them during the learning process.

The students are really good observers of the teachers’ behavior, so any reaction or expression from the teacher will affect the opinion about him/her, for that reason, teachers have to make students feel that they are very important and this is possible by getting students involved and probably they will learn more. The teacher should be careful about how s/he expresses the ideas in the classroom because it can affect students’ interest in the subject. In some cases, a word, gesture or phrase can set the student against the teacher, consequently affecting the classroom atmosphere. That is why professors have to establish a pleasant relationship student-professor to build confidence and better communication. Teachers have to let students express themselves as they want to and give the opportunities for it. Teachers who love their job and show their dedication and passion about their subject are the ones who make the students to admire that passion and also be interested during class.

The management of the learning process, the cooperation, and the maintenance of a positive classroom climate is linked to teachers’ abilities to set an appropriated tone and gain learners respect which is essential in producing optimum learning. Furthermore, the teachers’ attitude in selecting the contents, materials, method, strategies and evaluation affect in different ways the students’ learning, because his personality without an appropriated balance could cause problems in the students’ learning process and understanding during the class. One way to know and overcome those situations is the experience in which the teachers learn by practicing how to get the class control.

Also, the perception that students have about themselves is important because it influences their personality and their role in the classroom. It is necessary to strengthen students’ self-esteem in order to improve the students’ learning, if they have confidence in themselves; they can express their ideas and opinions, participate in the classroom activities and interchange knowledge without giving importance if they are going to be criticize or not. So, one of the goals of the teaching learning process should be to improve the self-concept that the students have about themselves.

According to experts, students acknowledge is affected by their affective filter. The affective filter is defined as the emotions that students experiment during the learning process, such as anxiety, nervousness, even fear. If a student is anxious, his/her affective filter will increase making difficult to learn and/or acquire the language. On the other hand, if the learning environment is comfortable enough for the student, his/her affecting filter will low, letting the language to be acquired and/or learned.

Motivation in Second Language Learning

In some way, the teachers must get students interested in activities that will make them reach the objective. To do so, professors must motivate their students. Motivation is a combination of effort plus desire to achieve the goal of learning plus favorable attitudes forwards learning. In a cognitive perspective, people can choose the way in which they behave and they have control over their actions. It could say that it does not matter how much effort the professor makes to involve the student in the process but, at the end he is who makes the final decision to learn or not. On the other hand, motivation involves a three step process:

•         First, motivation could be internal or external; it could be by the teachers’ attitude or personal interests and difficulties.
•      Second, fixations are actually involved in deciding to do something.
•       Third, people need to keep on the effort required to complete the activities on their own fulfillment.

For that reason, that is a process; there is no place for motivation if every step is not complete successfully. As a final point, the motivation itself could be affected by facts in the classroom, by the social context as a whole, and mostly by the professors’ behavior in class. People participate in an activity not only because they are interested in the activity itself, but because performing it will help them to obtain something else that they want. Therefore, when the only reason for performing an act itself relies on passing an exam or obtaining some practices right the motivation is likely to be extrinsic. On the other hand, when the performance cause interest and gratification and the reason for performing the activity lies within the activity itself is likely to be intrinsic. Most of the times, students’ actions are probably a mixture of extrinsic and intrinsic motivation. When it is intrinsic, learning is part of the personal enhancement and it could be a permanent learning process because students learn by their own desire, but if students learn because of extrinsic motivation, it could become into a competition and what could be forgot easily.

Although learning depends on students’ decision, teachers can influence on that choice. If the teacher knows how to use the students’ interests, goals, feelings, and their context in the development of the class, the teacher can get the students’ attention and motivate them to learn the language. Also, if there is a good relationship between the teacher and the student, the classroom atmosphere is positive and the activities are attractive, the students will be interesting on be part of the class. The teaching-learning process includes all these factors and teachers should take them into account when they make the plan. It is important to try to motivate students and increase this motivation in every class, teachers must remember that learners are the center of the process and all the things that they do should be for the students’ improvement.

Then, teachers should understand that being an educator is more than have knowledge about the subject, that their attitude affects their students, they are a model for learners, and they can make the difference in every student. It is necessary to love what they do, teachers must love to interchange knowledge, be a friend of the students, help students to face their academic and personal situations, reinforce their confidence, increase their self-esteem, motivate the learners and be motivated by them. All these aspects are part of being a teacher, and maybe we cannot be the friend of all our students, but if we can help some of them, we will know that our effort has been effective. All those attitudes would not be possible if teachers lack vocation and love for their job.

Educational Innovations

Since 20^th century teachers are trying to improve their teaching method in order to help students’ learning. Some of the new approaches have been extended around the world meanwhile others have failed. Why does it happen? Why is important to create new ideas in the teaching process?    

Applied linguistics must provide teachers with the tools to determine whether new pedagogical ideas will success or not.  But applied linguistics is not working on it; this paper has the purpose of providing teachers with essential information to answer those questions. According to the author, there are two vital aspects that must be taking into account: first, universities which prepare language teaching professionals must include educational change in their curriculum as an indispensable element of their preparation. Second, curriculum and teachers’ development are inseparable, for that reason educational change includes excellent teachers to improve the classroom.  Social aspects influence the possibility of change too; teachers must analyze the social and cultural characteristics in order to apply a significant change. Some regions support innovations while others reject it.  

Innovation on education starts since 1960s because of the optimism of the teachers at that time. Nowadays, teachers are more pessimistic than optimistic, for that reason current teachers are just beginning to realize innovation as an educational study. We agree that innovate is a difficult issue, and sometimes teachers’ innovations do not endure long time. People concerning on educational innovation are searching to find more successful procedures to implement innovations and keep it long time. But some people who criticize it argue that all innovations do not complete their original goal.  However, it is important to continue in the innovation process as part of the teachers’ integral development because of the environment’s changes. Teachers can do a critical inform related with researches and practice. It helps them to overcome common problems, borrow ideas from some disciplines’ research traditions and obtain useful experience related to resolve innovation’s problems. Teachers can use the valuable information and modify their pedagogical practice.

Innovations in second and foreign language teaching 


Innovation examples

The British Council’s international development work

            The British Council develops a teaching program called the English Language Teaching Officers (ELTO) program.  ELTO trains local teachers and administrators to transform imported pedagogical ideas into appropriate solutions to local problems. The goal of ELTO personnel is to modify how teachers think and behave in the classroom. ELTO focus on teacher instead of students, it prepared teachers in order to work and make their classes student-centered. The idea is that teachers understand and support learner–centered instruction to use it in the classroom. Besides, teachers must pay attention to the possible impact that socio-cultural factors can have on an innovation’s success, because it differs from one place to another.

The notional–functional syllabus 

            In the 1970s, Europe experimented many social changes, it caused that the Europe’s Council recognized the importance of been bilingual.  Europe’s Council developed new syllabuses in order to adapt it to the new socials needs. Also, they adapted the curriculum according with the needs of adult learners, because they are different from secondary school students.

            The notional –functional syllabus was innovative because it is based on learner –centered, and it was analytic rather than synthetic syllabus. An   analytic syllabus takes into account the social purposes that learners have for learning the new language, learners must interact with and analyze real life situations that are significant to their needs. On the other hand, the notional –functional syllabus was very popular in 1970s and 1980s; because it was developed by applied linguists who were well prepared to develop a new syllabus, after once these specialists had finished the theoretical parameters of the notional –functional syllabus they classify these parameters into categories in order to put in order teaching materials. Finally, the new material was transmitting to teachers.

The process syllabus

            The process syllabus is innovative syllabus because, it is an analytic syllabus, it applies problem solving tasks; the process syllabus is situated within a curricular approach to organize language instruction; and the materials, methodology, and types of assessment used in a course are not programmed; content, materials, methodology, and assessment are negotiated between the teacher and the student during the course. It takes into accounts learners’ interests and needs. 

The natural approach

            The natural approach was first developed in USA to meet the language learning needs of the learners. Many of its ideas are based on monitor theory by Krashen’s Monitor theory, which consist of five hypotheses:
1. The acquisition-learning hypothesis: adults can learn a second language if they activate the subconscious learning process and the development of formal conscious knowledge about the grammatical rules, named matalinguistic awareness.

2. Conscious learning must be used just to monitor output that has been generated by the acquired system.
3. The input hypothesis states that learners acquire syntax and vocabulary by receiving and understanding input, they guess and infer syntax and vocabulary that would be hard to understand.
4. The natural order hypothesis: there is a natural order to acquire the grammatical structures of the new language. It occurs when adults acquire the language rather than they learn the language.

5. The affective hypothesis: Self-esteem, anxiety, and social and psychological distance, can affect the learning process. If students are self-confident when they interact with native speakers, they can receive good input.
            The natural approach suggests the use of the oral communication as a way to learn grammar, teachers should allow linguistic competence during the process, and error correction should focus on meaning, grammatical rules should not the goal yet.

The procedural syllabus
            It is also called communicational syllabus, it is innovative because it was developed with a content that was not linguistically based; it developed a meaning-focused methodology in which students learn language by communicating; and it avoids using form –focused activities in the classroom, grammar rules. The most important goal is to communicate.

Task –based language teaching 
            Task-based language teaching focuses on analytic activities and material. It helps to work with different groups using top - down activities in which students develop inferring skills.
The content based approach
            Teachers use imaginative activities as games and songs to teach in a creative and effective. The content –based approach lays on the learners’ mastery of the language and subject.
Implications for educational change
            Curricular innovation is influenced by sociocultural aspects, the personal characteristics, the attributes of innovations, and the strategies used to improve the learning process in a particular context.
A theoretical framework for understanding innovation: who adopts what, where, when, why, and how?
            A diffusionist perspective on curricular innovation includes social characteristics, social system variables, and the attributes of innovation; to informs adopters by means of the technology or common way of communication, to recognize the steps that adopters can follow in the process of accepting an innovation; identify all the consequences around the innovation; and analyzing how the innovation can be designed, put into practice, and preserved.
            “Who” know the social positions of different participants? “What” define curricular innovation? “Where” is innovation socio-cultural context? “When” an interaction between time and the number of people that adopt an innovation. “Why” attributes those successful innovations possess. “How” classifies different approaches that help to change.
Characteristics of a renewed and innovative pedagogical practice

            It should be creative, active, not be routinized. It should allow a communicative atmosphere, interactions between teacher and students, and students- students, autonomy. It should take into account specials needs, students’ differences, context, real world. The teacher must use different strategies, methods and techniques according to cognitive target. Also, s/he can use all the schools and community buildings.

Paulo Freire’s Biography

Paulo Freire’s Biography

Karen Angulo

Susan Castillo

Johanna López

Mª Gabriela Morera

Universidad Latina de Costa Rica

Paulo Freire

Biographical Infromation

Name: Paulo Reglus Neves Freire

Birthdate: September 19^th, 1921

Birthplace: Recife, Brazil

Died: 1997

General Background: Due to the experiences of his family during the Great Depression, which started in 1929, Freire concerned for the poor as well as his perspective on education was influenced by the situations knowledgeable by his family. Freire enrolled at Law School at the University of Recife in 1943, where he also studied philosophy and the psychology of language. Rather than a career in the law, however, he became a secondary school teacher of Portuguese. In 1944, he married Elza Maia Costa de Oliveira, a fellow teacher, with whom he had five children. In 1946, Freire became Director of the Department of Education and Culture in the Brazilian State of Pernambuco. It was in this role, working primarily with the illiterate poor, that Freire began to develop a non-orthodox philosophy of education and literacy. His original work in the 1950s and early 1960s was deeply connected with the question of education for development, and particularly how to link education and citizenship building. After several political and social difficulties he had to overcome, Freire was accused of being a communist and a subversive; he was jailed for seventy days and then offered exile instead of continued imprisonment. He was not to return to Brazil until 1980. Thus exiled from his homeland, he moved first to Bolivia and few months later to Chile, where he worked for the United Nations. In his earlier work in Brazil, Freire had been exposed to the theoretical paradigm of popular education. The new theories of development and political theory that he encountered while in Chile completed his formative period (Gadotti and Torres, 1992; Torres, 1990), the foundation that would make him one of the most prominent popular educators in the history of the region.

On his words

“Teaching is a political process. It must be a democratic process to avoid teaching authority dependence. The teacher must learn about (and from) the student so that knowledge can be constructed in ways that are meaningful to the student. The teachers must become learners and the learners must become teachers” (Lyons, 2001). 

Freire talks about that education should see students like subjects, rather than objects, and not like a bank where teacher deposit all information into their students. Knowledge is not a set article of trade that is passed from the teachers to the students.  He says that teachers must make students to think and question everything they learn, so in that way they can construct knowledge from knowledge they already possess. Teachers must learn how the students understand the world so that the teacher understands how the student can learn and have humility, coupled with love and respect for their students (Lyons, 2001).

The teaching-learning process cannot be separated from the context in which the students grow up; they should be linked in order to get a successful and meaningful learning. Teachers should take into account the environment in which students live, its incorporation within the class is a must. By these means students can use what they have learned in their daily situations and reinforce the new knowledge with the previous one, making it meaningful and relevant for them. Educators need to know what happens in the world of the children with whom they work because it affects the students’ learning. 

Education has not been an opportunity for all the people, in the past; it was only for the high class population. Freire tried to change this situation; he desired to provide greater opportunity for the poor and oppressed people of the world, for this reason, he made his best effort to help people to be part of the education. He had a goal and he fought for that, it is stated in Lyons (2001) that Freire taught 300 people to read and write during a month and a half. He knew the poverty and the hunger, and he wanted to change this situation and show to the population that there is a better way to live, and that the key for this better world is the education.  

Schools and high schools are considered as second houses for the students, in which they share with other people, learn to deal with the differences among them and respect them; in these institutions they acquire different values to use them in their lives. It is so important to promote the value of respect among the students; they should understand that every human being is equal to the other one, with the same opportunities to be educated and improve their lives. Freire tried to teach this value in order to motivate his students to apply it in every situation, people should understand that nobody is better than the other one, no one is ignorant, and no one knows everything. But teachers should take into account that if they want to teach a principle like respect, they should apply it in their classes, so if students are in a respectful climate they are going to acquire it. Teachers should remember that schools are means for promoting values and beliefs which are imposed by the characteristics of a society. 

Another important point that we can stand out about Freire’s work is that he emphasized that “it is not possible to be a teacher without loving teaching” (qtd in. Lyons 2001). People, not only teachers, should love what they do because if you really care about your job, you will try to make the best in every activity, you look for different opportunities to improve every day, you like to share with others what you know, it is seem as a opportunity to grow personally and professionally, not as an obligation. So, it is not enough to have a lot of knowledge about a subject, or to say that you like your job, it is necessary to show by actions what you say.

Also, it is important the contribution that Freire gives to the meaning of dialogue. It is necessary to listen to our students, to learn more about them, their goals, their learning styles, their preferences and the most relevant aspects that surround them. Teachers should know their students, and it is not possible just by figuring out or assuming, it is necessary to talk with students in order to get to know them for real. Dialogue is so important to keep a good environment in the classroom, to improve the teaching-learning process by means of the feedback, and to help the students to reach their goals. Also, dialogue gives the opportunity to discuss about different topics, to state their personal point of view and it provides enough information of students’ perceptions and helps them to improve their communicative skills.

References

 John Lyons. (2001). Paulo Freire's Educational Theory. Retrieved from

http://www.newfoundations./GALLERY/Ferire.html

Moacir Gadotti and Carlos Alberto Torres (2009). Paulo Freire: Education for Development. Retrieved from

http://www.siduna.una.ac.cr:2062/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=3&hid=15&sid=37c600f1-266d-4c55-9d8c-83c4b0875404%40sessionmgr11