Additional Qualifications and Reflections

 A big part of my approach to teaching is my own learning. I feel like it's important to always question my methods and to look for different ways to improve myself as an educator, as well as the learning experiences for my students.

Today I begin a new learning adventure with the Teaching English Language Learners, Part 2 Additional Qualification course. My goal is to complete my Specialist this year, so I thought that this was a great start. Also, taking this AQ would help with my "mourning the loss" of my ESL courses (see previous post here for more info), so really, it has a double purpose in my professional life.

As I was navigating the D2L (course site) program, the instructor suggested a journal or a blog to help document and reflect on my learning to help make it more long-lasting and meaningful. Right away, I figured that this was the perfect outlet - I'm struggling still with my new teaching assignment, so this way, I can blog in a purposeful and helpful way, without fear that my difficulties or struggles will take over each post. So here I go: an excuse to keep up my blogging, and a great outlet for reflections!

This evening's first reflection has me examining my experiences learning a foreign language, as well as teaching a foreign language. It is interesting because, as an Ontarian, I took French from elementary school all the way through OAC (aka Grade 13 back in the day). I also took a grade 10 Spanish class, and a grade 10 Italian class in high school. After high school, I then went on to university where my degree was Honours Specialist in Spanish Language and Literature.

Throughout my language courses, each different course and teacher offered a different approach. In high school, it was fairly focused on grammar, with a smattering of dialogs, and for the last 2 years of French we did some short literature texts. For the most part, though, instruction was all about grammar and written output. It wasn't about culture, or interacting, or authentic learning opportunities.

I certainly don't fault my teachers for that; I feel like this was the way of language learning for many years. And to be honest, I excelled at this formulaic way of learning a language, so I certainly wasn't complaining.

University, however, was a wake-up call. All of my professors came from Spanish-speaking countries, and English was definitely their second language (if not third, fourth, etc.). My classes were taught in Spanish, and I was expected to read poetry, literature, articles, etc. in Spanish. I was also expected to produce written texts like essays, research papers, poetry responses, etc. all in Spanish. This shocked me at first, but I quickly formed a study group with some peers and we became lifelong friends as we worked together through these courses.

While it was difficult, I wouldn't change my degree. I got to learn more about the culture and history of the Spanish-speaking world than I anticipated, and certainly more than I did in my many years of French instruction. It taught me so much about who I wanted to be as an educator, and the value of culture in a language classroom.
To this day, whether I am teaching Spanish or English (ESL), I try to incorporate culture, whether it be music, films, literature, history, etc. in order to teach more about the language. A language is far more meaningful if you can create personal connections to the language for your students, so I strive to do exactly that as I work my way through the curriculum expectations.

Stay tuned as I continue to reflect on my learning throughout this AQ course.