The document discusses the importance of interaction in teaching and the shift from traditional knowledge acquisition to a more participatory learning approach. It highlights the impact of technology on student engagement and emphasizes the need for teachers to foster emotional and social connections in the classroom. Furthermore, it addresses the role of teachers in facilitating a learner-centered environment that promotes self-actualization and effective listening skills.

1. “Do I actually have to
interact with students as
well as teach them?”
Valéria Benévolo França

2. During a training session being conducted by my colleague Guilherme
Pacheco, he was asked by a relatively inexperienced teacher: “Do I
actually have to interact with students as well as teach them?”
This question caused a degree of discomfort. One would have thought
that recent graduates, fed on a diet of “constructivist” and “learner-
centred teaching” approaches would „ve hardly asked this question.
But this novice teacher was truly shaken. She was still trying to come
to grips with handling the learners, the teaching context and her own
understanding of her role as a teacher.
Her question set me thinking: what was her interpretation of what it
meant to teach? How did she understand the role of interaction ? The
only clear thing was that the learner did not occupy centre-stage in her
lessons.
There was a degree of isolation between the teacher and learner.

3. The pervasiveness of technology: are we isolating
ourselves?
I began wondering whether the pervasiveness of technology, with
its possibility of actually promoting a degree of isolation
(earphones isolating us from the outside world and external sounds
and the impact which a tablet can have in the way we
work, especially for chidlren, who seem to lose themselves in apps
and find it difficult even to look up from the tablet) could already
be changing some patterns of interaction within society.
I know this may be understood as quite a radical comment and
believe me, I am a great advocate of technology, but there are
issues we need to reflect upon as educators .
Plus we have the recent additions to the clasroom in the form of
the IWB. Based on lesson observation it becomes clear that
whilst the potential of the IWB to engage and stimulate
language learning is tremendous, they can actually create a very
teacher-centred classroom

4. Metaphors for learning
Anna Sfard (who studies human thinking) proposes two metaphors for learning.
Acquisition Metaphor vs. Participation Metaphor
Anna Sfard, On two metaphors for learning and the danger of
choosing just one, 1998
Anna concludes that we still need both metaphors AM & PM since they lead to
different & important learning experiences.
But thinking back to our teacher at the start, which metaphor do you think she
probably had as her reference for her teaching?

5. An existing metaphor for learning: a more traditional context
Acquisition Metaphor
“The language of “knowledge acquisition” and “concept
development” makes us think about the human mind as a
container to be filled with certain materials and about the
learner as becoming an owner of these materials.”
Anna Sfard, On two metaphors for learning and the danger of
choosing just one, 1998, p.5

6. The learner as a receptor of knowledge
“It is the politics of a “jug and mug”
theory of education, wherein the
faculty (the jug) possess the
intellectual and factual knowledge
and cause the student to be the
passive recipient (the mug) so that
the knowledge can be poured in.”
Carl Rogers, The Politics of
Education, 1977

7. What are the differences in these learning experiences?

8. A safe and clean cooking experience?
What learning experience does this app
provide? It establishes a context & the child
is “theoretically” learning via trail & error.
But a “taster” in the app gives her reaction to
the final product: “Not bad” said in a pretty
emotion-less voice. What type of feedback is
this? Who says this taster reflects the child‟s
own personal taste?
What affective involvement does one have by draging and droping ingredients
into our make-believe sandwich or sundae? Is the child actively involved?
In addition, I can drag the ingredients into the sundae, but if I want to change
my mind, I can just undo the action. Can I do this in real life? What am I saying
to children...what lessons will they learn from this? There is no “undo” button in
life. When I‟m cooking & add the wrong ingredient it changes the recipe. I can
learn from this.

9. Learning by doing & getting dirty
This experience places the learner in centre stage – the
focus is on the learner, and the teacher / guide /
facilitator is scaffolding the learning experience through
social mediation and by doing the activity itself.
This helps me get back to the teacher‟s question about
the need to interact.
Yes, she does need to interact & this is a fundamental
aspect within the humanistic tradition in teaching – the
need to have healthy relationships with other classmates
(and the teachers.)
The cooking activity taking place in real life involves dialogic interaction, that
is dialogue which leads to the discovery or construction of new hypothesis.
We need to dirty our hands as teachers and learners. This makes it memorable
and poignant.

10. A new metaphor for learning: collaboration
Participation Metaphor
“The talk about states has been replaced with attention to
activities. In the image of learning that emerges ...the
permenance of having gives way to the constant flux of doing.”
Anna Sfard, On two metaphors for learning and the danger of
choosing just one, 1998, p.8
The moment we begin understanding that there can be a possibility for dialogic
interaction, we‟re also saying that a new metaphor for learning is needed. It
does not focus on the having of knowledge but rather on the flux of doing, of
doing things through activities, activities which are contextually embedded &
allow for social mediation.
Bonds are created between individuals & others. The dialectic nature of learning
is highlighted. You take part and make a move towards being a part of a team.

11. Elements within Humanism
- Feelings: personal emotions & esthetic appreciation (creativity). Rejects
things that cause discomfort or behaviours which cause anxiety/stress.
- Social relations: Encourages friendship, cooperation, collaboration. Allows
for social mediation.
- Responsibility: Importance to scrutinise, criticise and correct. Self-
responsibility for own learning.
- Intellect: knowledge, reason & understanding.
- Self-actualization: quest for the full realization of one s deepest qualities.
Seeks uniqueness and not conformity. To get to know your real self
Personal growth, including realizing one’s full potential, is one of the primary
goals of education.
“...become the self which one truly is...” – Carl Rogers
Stevick, E. Humanism in Language Teaching, 1990, pp23-24

12. The demand on teachers
- The teachers’ focus is on the learner and each learners’
developmental readiness to engage in the learning process.
Looking at the whole person.
- The learning process will make use of problem solving
activities.
- The learner should be engaged affectively (i.e. emotionally)
as well intellectually (affect).
- The teacher needs to be aware of the teachers’ role in class
so that it is just enough to stimulate, engage and foster learner
autonomy. The scaffolding of tasks needs to be thought of
carefully.

13. The demand on teachers
-The teacher needs to be flexible and aware of motivation
factors.
-The teacher must be open to listen.
- The teacher needs to be aware of his/her self in order to
stimulate the self-actualisation process amongst learners.

14. The ability to listen
Look at the images. Share any memories these images might evoke.
Now turn to another person and tell them about your partners‟ thoughts.
Was this an easy task? Were you able to listen well to them? If not, what impeded
your ability to listen?

15. The ability to listen: losing it
- There are ways to record (in writing , audio & video) what you
are listening to. Playback has affected how we listen to things.
- The world has become a noisier place, but there is also
excessive visual stimulus. Creates a cacophony of images &
sound.
- We no longer have enough patience to listen to long streams
of communication, only sound bites.
Julian Treasure – “Five ways to listen better.”
In his TED talk he argued we are losing our ability to listen. The
implications for us language teachers are tremendous.

16. The ability to listen: losing it
“That's why we need to teach
listening in our schools as a
skill. Why is it not taught? It's
crazy. And if we can teach
listening in our schools, we can
take our listening off that slippery
slope to that dangerous, scary
world that I talked about and
move it to a place where
everybody is consciously listening
all the time - or at least capable of
doing it.”
Julian Treasure – “Five ways to
listen better.”

17. Telling stories: learning about oneself
Emotionally charged moments
As teachers we need to know, or at least be willing to get to
know ourselves.
I cannot expect learners to engage in activities which will
demand things of them cognitively and affectively if I’m not
ready to embark on this journey myself.
THIS CAN BE SCARY!
DO I WANT TO DO THIS?

18. Hidden treasures: telling stories &
emotionally charged moments

19. valeria.franca@culturainglesa.net
Twitter: @vbenevolofranca