The author reflects on how their thinking about teaching has changed from a focus on teaching to a focus on learning. They used to think the teacher's role was to be the center of knowledge and impart that knowledge to passive students. However, they now see teaching as a service to students and their learning, families, and communities. The author also used to view the curriculum as a document to guide teaching, but now sees it as a tool to guide student learning. Overall, the author's paradigm has shifted from teaching to seeing students as individuals at the center of the educational process.

1. Foundations of teaching 1
“I used to think...,
now I think...”
by Lorena Freiria

2. The issue that has caused a deeper
impression on me was the pivotal move of
paradigm from teaching focus to learning
focus. Traditionally teachers have been
educated to be the centre of the process.
Teachers had to know it all and plan their
lessons accordingly, that is to say to show how
much knowledge they have acquired in order
to let the pupils get to that knowledge through
listening passively. However, much has
changed in this field.

3. I used to think that being a teacher was about
vocation, will and professionalism, but now I
can say that that is not enough if we don´t think
of this career as a service. Service to the
learners, who need of our job to get a better
education to help them grow happily and
healthily, with an open mind and ready to
interact with the world. Service to their families,
to support the cultural baggage provided at
home and to value parents’ teachings. Finally,
service to the community we live in, in which
our students will be soon immersed as
individual citizens.

4. I used to think the job was teaching, but now I believe it is about learners and their learning. This mere
disctinction brings about three implicancies. Firstly, teachers are no longer the main actors, and their
knowledgeability must be not only about educational matters (such as the subject matter and teachers’ tasks and
skills) but about the individuals they have to work with. Secondly, distinguishing “the learner” from “learning”
makes me think about the central role of the learner as a person, who is also a child, a friend, a son and has many
diverse features, such as age, psychological development, feelings, interests, previous knowledge, groups of
belonging, etcetera. The idea of pupils being part of several worlds at the same time is clear enough. Thirdly, the
focus on learning as a skill to develop is a consequent result. Thinking about how to learn instead of thiking about
how to teach is the result of this change of paradigm. To consider it a task to reflect on as well as a skill to develop
is a way of showing its importance as tool and goal in education.

5. I used to think Curriculum was a document ellaborated to guide the teaching process, now I think it
is an insight into learning and how to make students profit from their schooling in an efficient and
fair way, providing for minimum standards which are a guarantee of equality and fairness.
Curriculum is not to something static to be used from the document to practice but something in
constrution, from the student to the document.

6. I used to think a major part of planning and
developing lessons was about thinking how to
teach new content, now I think it is about
reflecting what we want for our children, what
we know about learning, what we consider
important for them to learn and what is the best
way for them to reach certain goals, to think
about how they think and to acquire a culture
of learning that will help them to keep growing
into adults and future professionals.

7. I used to think being a professional was related to the acquisition of knowledge, an update in the
field of studies as well as in the field of the practice. Even though the moral and ethical standards
remain the same, now I have the believe that being a professional is also taking into account the
value of education for the good of society.

8. I used to think that who we are need not to be relevant to our pupils. However, now I can say that
knowing who we are and what we can do is what makes us better teachers. By knowing ourselves
better we can understand how our mind works, how we acquire knowledge, how we relate to
others, how we connect with our environment. If we know ourselves and our skills we can become
better facilitators of other people’s learning.

9. To sum up, if there is a change of focal point from teaching into learning, the
whole teaching learning process will be something different. The old roles
will be transformed turning the learner into the centre of education and the
teachers into promoters of this change.

10. Acknowledgements (images)
Teacher
school.discoveryeducation.com - 500 × 749 - Search by image
math teacher math teacher
Student
http://www.aiche.org/sbe/community/students/chapter-benefits-requirements
curriculum
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gforsythe/8527950743/sizes/l/in/photostream/
diploma
http://sweetclipart.com/graduation-cap-and-diploma-682
thinking
thinking cap - Clip Art Gallery
school.discoveryeducation.com - 230 × 337 - Search by image
thinking cap thinking cap