A quality teacher or an entertaining one.

A Good Learning Process Depends on a Didactic Teacher, not on an Entertainer

María Eugenia Guapacha Chamorro

Institución Educativa República de Israel

Universidad del Valle

           

Nowadays the teaching process has been criticized by experts in education and even by people who have no knowledge about this field.  To come up with the fast-coming changes and new trends, many (traditional) teachers resort to dynamic and fun activities to make their lessons look more modern without changing deeply or modifying at all their teaching and linguistic views.  They unwillingly fall into a trap, that of entertainment or show business in class.  In this kind of attitude, making good lessons and having the students enjoy seems to be sufficient, for the teachers feel they have improved their teaching and that seems to be corroborated by the students’ liking their lessons.  It must be understood that mere entertainment is not enough; teachers need a sound didactic view to support what they do.

In ancient times, the teacher was considered  a master, a person who had all the knowledge related to his/her field.  Students did not have many options to choose; they were just limited to “swallow” what they got from their teachers.  Other sources and materials were restricted as well.  Close relationships between teachers and students were not necessary for each individual had his/her own responsibility in each process; teachers in charge of their teaching and students in charge of their learning. Classes were not supposed to be fun but hard work; and this view worked well: the students learned. this poses a question: are cognitive and affective aspects important in a teaching-learning process?

Being a teacher deals with several aspects that have to do with education.  A teacher should select an appropriate approach method, and procedures in order to involve and engage his/her students into their learning process.  He/she should be skilled in managing the didactics in his/her area that in this case is teaching a foreign language.

It is here where some confusion arises since many people confuse didactics with dynamic or fun activities.  A good teacher with a suitable didactics in class chooses a set of techniques and develops a plan, contents and methodology for his/her students to teach taking into account the theory and pedagogy.  Dynamic activities have to do with movement and they are close to games. Currently, with the influence of Pedagogy trends, schools and teachers are required to offer a good atmosphere to their “clients” that involves teachers to offer a good education and establish close relationships with students and parents.

In my point of view, this affective component (emotional factors, social relationships between teachers and students) helps learners feel comfortable when studying and approaching teachers.  These affective factors are relevant to build a good relationship but they are not mandatory; what really concerns  teaching is the proper didactics,  not just having fun in class which is not conducive to learning.  

 Many teachers are being forced to change their tendencies; of course if those tendencies are obsolete they need to be updated.  The point is that teachers might be  expected  to become  “clowns” in class, someone to entertain students to make their learning process meaningful and funny.  We do not need teachers dressed up like clowns with a huge red nose, big colorful clothes and long shoes who make students laugh all the time with a marvelous show.  We need creative teachers giving magic classes with new ideas and projects at school; a person who interacts with students and makes their learning easier through activities and tasks for them to solve.  We need teachers using technology in class and really entertaining pupils with fantastic stories and readings and talking about future and culture.  We need teachers who are updated in their field and are qualified to teach.

All in all, what we really need in our schools and universities are teachers capable of defending their point of view related to teaching;  a professional with proper methods and techniques which help their pupils love what they are learning; creative and fantastic teachers with a deep sense of respect for their learners, for their values and learning styles. We do not need merchants of education, liars offering courses and ideas that are not valuable in terms of relevance and educational process.  An effective teaching is not necessarily fun; good teaching is not mere entertainment; quality teachers are not entertainers, a teacher-centered lesson is not necessarily boring, games in class might be helpful but they should not replace meaningfulness and purpose.  A good teacher is an entertainer but an entertainer is not a good teacher; the difference is between means (fun, dynamic activities) and ends (learning).