Docentcompetenties en ontwikkelingen

Artikel 3: Docentcompetenties en ontwikkelingen

1. A breakdown of related points of interest with regard to ICT in the classroom:

Based on my experience teaching and the literature from class, I believe that the issues facing 21st century students and teachers are multifactorial and constantly evolving. I reject out of hand the point Burbeles (2016) makes about the ‘sui generis’ of the term for ‘new education’ as being misleading--there is nothing that comes close to the communicative and social power ICT has in our lives in all of human history. As this relates to the classroom is something I think that also goes without saying, and thus is the ‘over promotion’ of the ‘new’ in ‘new education’ a neo-luddism that can be dismissed by anyone who has experience trying to teach a student in 2019 without recognizing the central role ICT and the internet have in her life. The interdependencies of different learning competencies mean that a linear approach to teaching students with regards to the ‘old guard’ educational standards will fail along axes of relevance and application if not carefully considered. In practice, and by way of example, one only needs to look at rote grammar learning in an English class to see the disconnect this kind of approach can cause in terms of student learning and end-goal subject competencies. Linguistic competence in English isn’t enough by way of learning the present perfect out of a textbook: the role English plays in student identity and expression and how this plays out in passive linguistic understanding (Netflix, YouTube consumption) and active use (travel, study, work, online interaction, gaming, etc.) leads to a complicated need for a globalised understanding of English’s role for Dutch ESL students (Edwards, 2014; Blommaert 2010).

In terms of competencies, 21th century skills (Binkley et al., 2010), life long learning competencies (Law, Pelgrum, & Plomp, 2008), key skills (European Commission, 2002), sleutelvaardigheden (Van Zolingen, 1995) en kerncompetenties (Onderwijsraad, 2002) are all discussed in ‘21e-eeuwse vaardigheden:achtergronden en onderwijsimplicaties’ as key issues of both academic and practical concern in education. Based on problem solving, creativity and up-to-date ICT use and knowledge, it seems obvious to any student that without an explicit approach to incorporating these skills into student’s learning, they will be left adrift and behind when going into secondary education and the world outside school. The institution of school itself is then something that shouldn’t be viewed as a separate entity in the world of a student, but as part of the process of the ongoing development of digital spaces and social and technological progress of which students should be considered a key part of. The old adage that ‘students are the future’ should be then ameliorated to perhaps the following motto: ‘students make the future’. Though this means the future and direction of society (and how it connects with itself and the world around) will be oneday on their shoulders as a burden and responsibility to bear, it means also that motto should include our roles as educators and the onus on us to ensure student success, leading thus to the bumper sticker motto with regards to my teaching philosophy for ICT being: ‘teachers are the future, but students will create it’.

2. Teaching goals

Based upon the ‘SMART’ approach to teaching competencies in the classroom, I would like to examine the process for teaching listening and reading comprehension in English for Dutch 6VWO students. I believe these two passive forms of the language learning are good points of departure with regard to how ICT use can improve the lesson approaches and bring goals for my teaching in-line with student motivation. For listening comprehension, using for instance YouTube is a basic addition to the more traditional CITO luistervaardigheid lesson, wherein a student can watch something in a medium, dialect and modus that is more viable for their English listening competencies than an out-of-date BBC newsclip one usually finds as way of preparation for the CITO exam. Additionally, in terms of motivation, allowing for this kind of approach to passive English input practice in my lessons will keep kids sharper longer. For the 5 parts of SMART this means that a lesson for my students listening to their favorite YouTuber and then answering prepared questions on the video will (hopefully) allow for an achievable, specific, realistic and time-saving way to bring the competency into a student’s frame of understanding to prepare them for the final exam. As for reading, using e-books, i-pads/phones for English reading competency in place of traditional bound paper books means a simple switch in hardware can lead to more engagement during my lessons. I have noticed that the same book or short story provided for in an electronic format gets read many more times over than the book or paper handout. This might seem overly simple, but it is in this simplicity that the simple change in tactile approach to reading media can lead to more English read, understood and absorbed in the lessons. These two above proposals for simple changes are keys to success in my lessons now, and are easily disseminated by colleagues in the department (and school) for those who see their value going forward in our quest to educate our kids.