FIXing Hazırlık… (Pt 01 of 03)

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Have you ever been on the sharp end of a question like that?

It’s a bit ‘rude’, innit?

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BUT…that’s exactly the question (OK…I used the term ‘smarty-pants’ to convey the stress and intonation used…as well as some of the facial expressions I saw) that I have been asked in a number of conversations since I started:

…in the last few posts I have being doing:

• Is Hazırlık BROKEN?
• Is it our ‘Curriculum Thunking’ wot is BROKEN?
• Could it be our understanding of ‘Quality’…that is BROKEN, perhaps?
• So…Hazırlık is BROKEN! – Time to play…

(BTW – ‘hazırlık’ is the Turkish term for the English Language Preparatory Programmes run by many universities here…just so you know)!

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Perhaps, I should just remind those people what my dear friend Hannibal ‘does’ with rude people…

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I know, I know…I shouldn’t get upset by these types of questions. I know I have put myself in the firing line by popping my head out of the box. 

…just wait till I do the series on what actually happens in faculty departments!

 

 

The thing is that…this type of question started to be dropped into my in-box and the comments section of the posts before I’d even got to the second blog post. Some of them were not as rude…they were genuine questions, from genuine people…facing many of the genuine ‘problems’ that I was trying to draw attention to.

Questions like:

…fair enough!

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The thing is…these questions reminded me of the wonderful work of Peter Block (esp. his perspective-shaking book – THE ANSWER TO HOW IS ‘YES’).

For Peter, these types of questions are (usually) a defense against getting an ‘improvement effort’ started, a defense against change.

…so sad! …so true! …so common!

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Now, I’m not so sure that everyone who asks a HOW-question is running from the truth (or is trying to postpone actually doing something about a problem). However, Peter’s questions are used a heck of a lot by people in our hazırlık schools (and the guys that ‘control’ these schools with their ‘decision-making’) – especially those with those heady job titles we discussed.

Very few of these hazırlık stakeholders, for example, ask one of the ‘alternative questions’ suggested by Peter:

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…I wonder why, acaba? We’ll come back to this – promise!

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Instead, many hazırlık stakeholders (including LEARNers…and their parents) ask questions like this:

This question tells us a lot.

• Firstly, that these stakeholders are more interested in an ‘answer-orientated’ approach to ‘quality education’ – you know, ‘quick fixes’ or ‘magic bullets’.

• Secondly, that they have more ‘faith’ in others (esp. foreigners…and, even better, foreign consultants) than they do in themselves and their own abilities.

• Thirdly, that all it takes to ‘fix’ a problem is to do a bit more “alıntı, çalıntı and mış-gibi yapmak” (the Turkish translation for “borrowing, ripping off, and faking-it-till-you-make-it”).

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Silly…misguided…(and) just plain dumb!

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These people often jump to other questions (when they stumble onto a ‘solution’ they can ‘import’) – questions like these:

Mmmm…we were asking why so many Mütivelli Heyeti Başkanlar (Chairmen…and they are often ‘men’…of the Board) wanted to increase contact hours and class size!

Now, you know…

You see, many hazırlık stakeholders want the ‘cheapest’ version of the ‘quick fix’ possible – without really lifting a finger (for hazırlık that is…the Engineering Faculty can, as a rule, get whatever the bloody hell it wants). The question about length of time required kinda gives this away, too!

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…my favourite question is this one:

What were we saying about the blame game?

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…after all, it’s so easy to point the finger…when you do not really want to ‘fix’ stuff. Of course, we all want to give the impression that we…us…ourselves…have no trouble going the extra mile (to put LEARNing at the heart of our decision-making).

…it’s just THEM…THEY…those (bloody) OTHERS – that ‘stop’ us!

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And…if that don’t work, we always have the other…

…up our sleeves!

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The combination of a culture of blame (along with its sister culture – ‘CYA’) and our unquestioning worship of “how-to” pragmatism (constantly asking “how” – rarely “why”) basically means that most of our hazırlık schools are doing more and more about things that mean less and less – for both LEARNers and EDUcators!

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The first of Peter’s alternative questions (the one I promised to come back to) has much to do with my current theme:

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The question:

…is one for all stakeholders – teachers, administrators (including Rectors and the Mütevelli Heyeti), testing and curriculum specialists and LEARNers (no…they are not angels either). Rather than pointing the finger or passing-the-buck, this question asks us all to take personal responsibility for whatever might be ‘broken’ across our hazırlık schools.

Yes, ‘being’ truthful – before ‘telling the truth’!

Peter tells us that other questions can help us get to this question:

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…questions that recognise we need to ‘question’ our ‘purpose’ – and how well we might be meeting that purpose…and how far we believe (in our heart of hearts) that it is possible to create new kinds of LEARNing institutions (and workplaces) grounded on more positive values, such as respect, trust and listening…

…questions that require us to look at the reasons we have been putting off the ‘fixes’ all of us know are in the best interests of the individuals and communities that live, LEARN and work in our institutions:

…and commit to ‘do’ whatever it takes to make these things happen!

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Yes…even LEARNers…especially with LEARNers!

This is where you scroll back to the top…while I draft Pt 02 of 03!

So…Hazırlık is BROKEN! – Time to play…

I told you all (at the very start of this little series)…we’d come back to this!

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You know how to play, yes?

We pick an individual (or group)…and start pointing fingers:

…where to begin – with allthingshazırlık? 

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Even though we human beings have been playing this game for years…and (in education) we have elevated it to an art form – the first ‘target’ is usually the same!

TEACHERS!

I mean, come on!

They are all bloody lazy…been doing the same kinds of thing for years. They refuse to change…just look at how many of them are still not using technology in their classrooms. Shiriously, I mean…we offer them all these workshops and development opportunities…and they just sit there!

I guess it might be OK if they actually got decent results…but look how many of their students are failing all those lovely tests and exams we have developed for them.

That Jeff Bliss kid on YouTube (you know the one with the lovely hair) is so right…most teachers are just in it for the pay cheque…nothing inspirational, nothing that makes kids think…nothing!

Fire them all!

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You know what I really think! Don’t you?

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I did promise to uphold George Orwell’s advice in this series…

Yes, there are some teachers out there that are lazy and do not care (as in any profession)– they might even deserve to lose their jobs.

So, “deal” with them on a case by case basis – do not tar and feather a whole community for the sins of the few!

And, please…please…for crying out loud…do not believe everything you see in the blogosphere (esp. on this blog)…or anything from the so-called ‘EDUreformers’ (esp. if they owned a software firm…or still own a construction company)!

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Hang on a tick there, Tony! We are supposed to be playing the game…we do NOT apologise in this ‘game’!

Sorry, forgot meself there for a minute…well, if we are gonna play properly – we might as well start at the top.

Mmmm, where is the top, acaba?

• The SYSTEM (whatever that is) is ‘crap’!
• ADMINISTRATORS are ‘crap’!

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OK, OK…but we meant the ‘top…top’:

• YÖK is ‘crap’!
• The UNIVERSITY EXAM is ‘crap’!

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…didn’t you say something about the serenity prayer, earlier?

Let’s just stay with the easy stuff:

• RECTORS are ‘crap’!
• DEANS are ‘crap’!
• DIRECTORS are ‘crap’!
• DEPUTY DIRECTORS are ‘crap’!
• CHAIRS are ‘crap’!
• DEPARTMENT HEADS are ‘crap’!
• COORDINATORS are ‘crap’!
• LECTURERS are ‘crap’!

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Hang on…we work at a Vakıf University!

• The MÜTEVELLİ HEYETİ is ‘crap’!
• The MÜTEVELLİ HEYETİ BAŞKANI is ‘crap’!

Wait a minute…didn’t these kids study English at school?

• PRIMARY TEACHERS are ‘crap’!
• SECONDARY TEACHERS are ‘crap’!

And…what about all those ‘sweat-shops’ – parents paid them a bloody fortune?

• DERSHANE TEACHERS are ‘crap’!
• PRIVATE TUTORS are ‘crap’!

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Are we forgetting anyone?

• PARENTS are ‘crap’!

…all of them are ‘idiots’! And, there’s really something about all those ‘sonradan görme’ parents, you know…the ‘new rich upstarts’ – the ‘kültürsüz nouveau riche’ we all love to hate!

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Ahhhh, we forgot one group – a very important group!

• STUDENTS are ‘crap’!

…they are lazy, never want to do any work (let alone homework or those wonderful online practice activities we give them)…always on their bloody phones! All they want to know and ask is “Hocam, is this gonna be on the test?” …then get straight to Facebook or Instagram. We were never like that when we were younger…what’s wrong with them?

I mean do they not care about LEARNing…at all?

Sound familiar? Bet you have even said a few of these things yourself, yes?

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Oh, yeah – before we wrap up! And, what about those stupid books we have to use?

• PUBLISHERS are ‘crap’!
• TEXTBOOK SELECTION COMMITTEES are ‘crap’!

Selection what?

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Feel better?

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So, how much have we ‘fixed’?

 

Could it be our understanding of ‘Quality’…that is BROKEN, perhaps?

If you knocked on the door of all of the 175+ institutions of ‘higher LEARNing’ (HEIs) we have here in canım Türkiyem, you’d be pushed to find ONE that would publicly disagree with the words of Jedi Quality Master Deming!

This is only natural!

Look at all the wonderful communications we find on their web-sites, the messages stuck on the side of buses and bridges, the huge one-page adverts we find in every ‘quality’ Sunday newspaper:

Oh, yes…and ‘DIFFERENT’…gotta be ‘DIFFERENT’!

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I mean afterall…what parent would want to send their darling, little Arca (or Ayşe) or Dogükan (or Ali) to a university that proclaims it wants to be a pretty ‘average’ school…or worse…is prepared to wash all its dirty linen in public – for the sake of student LEARNing!

Here’s an idea…

If you are planning to choose a university for the fruit of your loins over the next few months, why not visit and ask the schools to ‘define’ what quality means to them – seriously!

You never know…

…one of them might actually listen to you!

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If they do and tell you something like this…

or even…

…push them – ‘cos these schools do love their ‘smoke and mirrors’!

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If the school is ‘smart‘, they might say something like this:

…these universities are pretty good at the old ‘alıntı, çalıntı and miş-gibi yapmak’ business!

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If you do get a reply like this (miracles do happen – and there might be a ‘quality team’ out there that actually does their ‘homework’), ask them how they actually assess the needs of their students and how these needs are used to develop and renew the curricular they use – you know, to align what is ‘taught’ with what students are supposed to be able to do with what they LEARN…and keep on LEARNing after they graduate!

I dare you!

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If the school is an English-medium school (a HUGE ‘selling point’ for most Turkish universities), ask them how their departmental academics communicate with the hazırlık team (and ‘how often’) – to ensure that the ELL programmes at the university are relevant, meaningful and motivating.

While you are at it (and if you are feeling ‘naughty’)…you might even ask how many Deans or Heads of Department even know where the hazırlık building is…

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Then…ask them if their Senate or Mütivelli Heyeti (Board of Trustees) has any plans to:

1) Increase the number of contact hours that the teachers in hazırlık are expected to do each week!

2) Increase the average class size across their hazırlık programmes!

3) Increase the (sad, sad) salaries that most hazırlık teachers are paid!

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OK, that was a bit unfair of me…but, in my defence, my inbox is overflowing with mails from schools around the country since I started this little ‘dizi‘  - and they ain’t about pay increases, I’ll tell you that much!

However (and I will run down Atatürk Bulvarı…and pretty soon…İstiklâl Caddesi…naked - yes, in my birthday suit), if the Rector or Mütivelli Heyeti Başkanı (Chairman of the Board of Trustees) has not also (recently) told the Hazırlık Director at these schools to ‘get accredited’- and sharpish!

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Hey, just me…

…here!

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BTW…if I ‘disappear’ over the next few days, the first people who should be questioned are all those ‘educators’ that carry the heady title Mütivelli Heyeti Başkanı – especially the ones that have ‘interests’ in construction, furniture and paper-products, as well as anyone that owns a ‘dershane’ (yes, I know that’s a long list of suspects)!

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Don’t get me wrong…I am not against accreditation bodies or standards – quite the opposite!

I just get a little worked up when I hear schools throwing around terms like ‘Quality Assurance’…‘Excellence’…‘Highest Standards’…when what they are really concerned with is …

…rather than LEARNing – of both the student and institutional variety!

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You see…it doesn’t really matter what a university (or hazırlık school, for that matter) says about itself!

Sorry, to burst that little bubble, guys…

What matters (and I mean really matters) is what others say about how you ‘do business’!

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What did we say many teachers and students are saying these days…something about covering a curriculum that does not exist…something about Lise 6 or 7…

So, tell me again…how EXACTLY will increasing teacher contact hours…improve QUALITY and STANDARDS?

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For me…

For me…real quality is not about ‘faking-it-till-you-make-it’ by asking (and answering) dumb-ass questions…

…it’s about asking powerful questions:

…powerful questions that matter!

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For me…real quality is not about ‘prestige’ (or ‘beating’ the school down the road)…

…even our educational ‘giants’ screw up!

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For me…standards are critical:

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…but not when we regard them as:

…to be ‘ticked off’ on some silly checklist!

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Our ‘institutions of higher LEARNing’…need to ‘get real’…they need to ‘get together’ (across the ‘whole career’ of our LEARNers – not disciplinary lines)…they need to ‘get informed’ (and really inform ‘others’ – not engage in shameless self-promotion) about what matters in allthingsquality - more, they need to ‘get consistent’!

They need a new ‘perspective’ on quality…and this requires a wee ‘shift’…

or two:

or three…

or four…

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Just.. 

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But…but…Tony:

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Well, we have to get it right with allthingsquality…

…and you can take that to the IMF!

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But, hey…what the hell do I know?

My citation index in the field of allthingsengineering is pretty crap – and, worse than that…I’ve never owned a software firm…or…construction company!

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…ONE thing I do know…

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Is it our ‘Curriculum Thunking’ wot is BROKEN?

Where were we?

Ahh, I remember…we were discussing the importance of:

…and Hazırlık (ELL Prep Schools)!

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The two conferences I noted in Part 01 of this post were, in fact, a breath of fresh air – we rarely see ELT events with themes that touch on Curriculum or Quality / Standards. Many of our conferences (and we have a LOT of them here in Turkey, we do…ask the publishers who are hassled to foot the various bills) are often little more than PR vehicles for the schools that put them on. Far too many of them operate like a show n’ tell or pot luck gathering – fronted by the same big names, the same faces and the same themes.

Sorry…just

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Maybe a conference about technology is just ‘sexier‘ than a serious discussion on the challenges we face in the areas of curriculum and assessment…maybe what the conference pundits tell us is right – “all teachers want are practical ideas to take into the classroom on Monday morning…and to be kept amused for a few hours” (I really hate it when people say this – with a passion)!

Maybe, we do not want to take a closer look at how our institutions are doing business, what type of smoke and mirrors really come into play in our curriculum thinking or why our students are so switched off by what we are doing in our classrooms.

I’m not sure either!

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OK – coming back to the first of these conferences I mentioned. The idea of a conference centred on ‘a LEARNing Curriculum’ was just up my street – and the fact that the team at Beykent University (in Istanbul) went with this theme just made me feel chuffed to bits…

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One of my opening slides was this one:

Only an idiot would disagree with this!

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Luckily, there were none of them around at the Beykent Conference - at least none of them came to my session. It’s funny, isn’t it? How the people who really need to come to conferences are exactly the people who are usually absent!

The slide touched a few hearts (and minds, I hope)…I heard more than few saying how true it is…and a lot more bemoaning the fact that their institutions just did not ‘get’ this type of thunking!

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However, I also noted that these statements are a wee bit motherhood’ish – they sound great…but are of little value if we do not take a closer look at ourselves:

I asked the administrators and teachers that came to my session whether they felt that the curriculum framework they had in place at their schools was ‘golden’ – you know, something they could be proud of!

All but a handful admitted that they did not have a ‘curriculum’  per se (shock-horror) – many used the phrase “contents page of our textbooks” to describe their course outlines, syllabi and pacing documents.

This was not a surprise…of course! We all know this (again, even at some of the so-called ‘top’ schools)…it’s just one of those things we do not talk about very much. I mean, we have far more serious worries. Take, for example, the current pressures to ‘graduate’ all those false beginners that walk through our doors every September – when the conventional ‘wisdom’ (I use this word very loosely) goes something like this:

Only an idiot would insist that our prep programmes can do this – successfully!

But, we try…boy, do we try!

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Sure, everyone is banging on about the importance of the CEFR (‘irresistible force’ that it is) these days…but what happens when it hits an ‘immoveable object’?

Raymond is still winning…

…and the war on ‘LEARNing-by-gap-fill-exercise’ has definitely taken a ceasefire – across many schools!

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But, what happens when we bring these two facts of hazırlık life together – when we look at the consequences of placing unrealistic demands into a curriculum-free zone? I tried to highlight this by asking conference participants if we ELT professionals are guilty of the ‘twins sins’ that more and more of our primary and secondary colleagues are being forced to commit:

 Guess what they said?

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In the absence of an effective curriculum framework (or clear ‘purpose’), we continue to ‘do’ the simple past on Monday…‘do’ the past continuous on Wednesday…and finish the week on Friday by ‘doing’ the present perfect (as well as every single activity in ‘the book’)!

How we ‘do’ even one of these in a week is beyond me – and, what the hell does it mean to ‘do’ a tense anyways???

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And, then there’s the assessment…all the exams, tests and pop quizzes we tag onto this type of curriculum practice. Even though…in our hearts of hearts…we know:

…we weigh, we weigh, we weigh!

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It’s almost as if the only ‘strategy‘ we have to maintain our ‘quality standards‘ is the mantra…

…and, when this fails to get our students from A to B (actually, A1 to B2…in 9 months), the best ‘improvement‘ programme we can come up with is…

But, then…I’m jumping the gun on tomorrow’s post!

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The GAMES we play……………. (Pt 01 of ???)

As an EDUcator (and, perhaps moreso, as a TEACHer EDUcator) I am not interested in surface or superficial LEARNing…I am interested in “real” LEARNing… deep LEARNing…transformational LEARNing (even).

I have never been a “fan” of educators or institutions that simply say they want to be “different” – I have always found that this perspective on LEARNing is more about “What’s NEW” rather than the more important consideration of “What MATTERS”.

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“Winning” has also never really interested me – though I must admit I hate “losing”!

COLLABORATION beats COMPETITION hands down – always!

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I have also always been more interested in LEARNing that “makes a difference” to the lives of LEARNers – and I push this little “envelope” of mine a little further and actually “define” LEARNing as anything that:

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This is perhaps why I struggle with the way some EDUcators over-emphasise “games” in LEARNing.8

The recent resurgence of games and their role in LEARNing (or to use the sexier, upgraded term “gamification” – the global, cultural phenomenon) and their impact on the brave, new world of technologically-enabled EDUcation (and ELL – English Language LEARNing) has really got me thunking over the past few months.

Just do a search on the term (yes, right now…on Google) and see how many “hits” you get.

It’s scary stuff…for a “word” that ain’t even in most dictionaries, yet!

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I was at an ELT Seminar recently (and why do we call them ELT…not ELL seminars, anyways) and witnessed something a bit “surreal”. A younger “digital cheerleader” and TEACHer I have seen on the “circuit” – did a session on “Gamification in ELT” – he got a half-decent crowd (buzz-words will always have that effect)!

Almost immediately – the first words out of his mouth were “TEACHers need to forget all their language syllabi – and teach English ONLY through games”…

You can imagine the response!

Rotten tomatoes whizzing past my ears (I like to sit in the middle row at seminars – all the “bad kids” sit at the back)…the room echoed with loud “Turkish tuts“…and quiet whispers of “Manyak…yaa!“

He didn’t seem to care…I got the impression that he was not a very good “listener”. He had a “speech” about a “sexy” topic…and he was gonna “deliver“! Mmmmm…

I did!

The thing is…and remember I’m pretty patient (tolerant, too)…he really annoyed me. Actually, the suggestion that “games” should “replace” solid LEARNing and TEACHing practice in the classroom…was the thing that got me!

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This is a job for “Super-Blogger”!

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My aim is not to get into the definitions, history and trends of gamification (that’s been done to death on many other blogs) – but, as ever, Wiki to the “rescue”:

Fair enough!

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The rationale for the “explosion” in gamification in both our leisure activities and workplaces is equally easy to get our heads around:

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I mean, come on, even Ben Franklin “got” it (way back in the day…really back in the day – in 1750):

…in matters of LEARNing!

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As an EDUcator, my “gut” tells me:

This is why I talked about “resurgence” – good EDUcators have known for years that “games” can and do help promote effective LEARNing.

The thing is, I also “know” that:

This is probably why I detest the phrase “EDUtainment” (especially when used to describe what TEACHer LEARNing opportunities “should” be “all” about)…but I (still) use it all the time when I speak to others.

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Yes, for me –

– but is should not be the “goal” of EDUcational experiences!

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I guess my challenge is that I am trying to reconcile myself with the notion of gamification at the level of “beliefs” or the fundamental “assumptions” that drive what I do as an EDUcator (or, perhaps, “how” I do it).

Like many thunking EDUcators (who operate in more “formal LEARNing contexts”), I still struggle with many of my beliefs…that’s the God’s-honest truth…especially when it comes to my own beliefs on informal LEARNing (or what is sometimes called “self-INSTRUCTion” or “self-TEACHing”) – even though I view myself as a very talented “self-TEACHer”!

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What do I mean here?

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It’s difficult for me (as a TEACHer) to separate my own intuitive assumptions about LEARNing from the stuff I am still LEARNing from the (emerging) “science” of good LEARNing and the notions that (rightly or wrongly) are functioning as the engine of change in EDUcation these days.

It is equally difficult for me to see the difference between what I have LEARNed (over years and years) about the “artistry of good TEACHing” (for myself, often by myself – by “failing”…a lot) and the things I have LEARNed (and continue to LEARN every day) from my interactions with those that I “LEARN” (OK – you know I mean “teach” there)!

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Whoa! Heavy!

What the hell has happened to the Tony we know and love?

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As I said, “FUN is a SERIOUS business” – but LEARNing is “seriouser”!

With this in mind…I thought it was time for me to “thunk” over what happens if and when I am confronted with “ideas” that could (eventually) remove or replace “formal TEACHing and LEARNing” (in a face-2-face institutional context)…that’s what some “gamification cheerleaders” are saying these days! That’s what my young “digital gamification cheerleader” was banging on about!

Especially, when we thunk about ELL…or even “Chinese Language Learning” (the other “disruption” that keeps me awake some nights), if it comes to that.

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I “know”, in my heart-of-hearts, that what Carl Rogers said:

…makes more sense in ELL than it might in “other” disciplines.

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Classroom interaction is a very “poor substitute” for immersion in the culture and the day-to-day happenings of an actual English-speaking environment (this is how I LEARNed Turkish – after dropping out of a couple of “courses” because the TEACHers were driving me up-the-bloody-wall)!

A pile of lessons on lexico-grammatical structures and skills-based strategies (in a very “artificial” classroom environment) can never match (blow-for-blow) the struggles of balancing life, study and work (not to mention a relationship with someone you fall in love with – and having to dance around the pitfalls of a “mixed-marriage-to-be”) on some distant shore…without your mum and dad to protect you!

As I said…this is how I LEARNed Turkish!

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What I keep coming back to is the basic “truth” that Language LEARNing is bloody hard work…but it’s hard work that can be made easier when there is a bit of “fun” involved…and when we hit the sense of “flow” that comes from engaging in “real” problem solving and the feeling of “success” that comes from solving those problems (feelings that are magnified when you know you did it…on your own)!

What I have just described there is exactly (maybe not word for word) what the gamification cheerleaders are saying about “doing ELL” through games!

At an intuitive level…I agree…but then again those bloody “belief-thingies” get in the way!

As such, I thought it might be a good idea for me to explore my own “beliefs” – and check out why it is that the term gamification (and the prospect of games replacing formal LEARNing) “scares” me so much.

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I believe:

• All students can learn…and, indeed, have the right to LEARN and be LEARNed by others. 

• LEARNing is (a lot) more than “knowing” – it is about doing something with what we know and our ability to continue to LEARN and grow after “formal EDUcation” is over. 

• LEARNing is a complex process that involves the whole person in a constructive, situated and collaborative exercise of sense-making. 

• LEARNers develop knowledge, skills and attitudes best when they are connected “to” and transformed “by” their LEARNing – in addition to “taking responsibility” for that LEARNing. 

I do…I really believe these things!

…and I can show you “evidence” of this…through what I “say” and “do” in my interactions with others! Hopefully, a few of those others (those that “know” me in the non-virtual world) will vouch for me on this!

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I also recognise that I (yes, even me) was “socialised” by my experiences within “institutions” and systems of “formal” EDUcation. This is why I mentioned the second point above. Many of my beliefs on LEARNing have been shaped by my LEARNing within these formal institutions – and by the fact that TEACHing plays an important role within the schools, colleges and universities that have made me the EDUcator I am today.

This having been said I do not subscribe to the view that dominates the way many of these institutions “do business” – this being that the “means” (TEACHing) are more important than the “ends” (student LEARNing and SUCCESS).

 

Hence, I also believe:

• The best EDUcational institutions maintain an unshakeable focus on student LEARNing and success in everything they do, they have a “living” mission (rather than one that is little more than “wall decoration” for visitors) and a “lived” educational philosophy (that they “walk” every day). 

• A focus on “student engagement” is also the key to successful LEARNing in “formal LEARNing environments” and that this engagement has two key components: the time, effort and other activities students put into their studies and the ways in which an institution allocates its resources and organises LEARNing opportunities to encourage students to benefit from such activities. 

• The primary role of EDUcators and institutions is to support LEARNers to achieve success – read that again (nuff said)! 

• TEACHing and LEARNing are two sides of the same coin – the LEARNing of students (in an institutional context) is largely dependent on the quality of TEACHers, the TEACHing they receive and the level of student engagement created by TEACHers. 

• The best institutions (and their TEACHers) do not simply “cover” their curriculum – they “UNcover” it by listening to their LEARNers, by hearing their LEARNers…and by adapting themselves and what they do to the reality of LEARNing environment in which they operate. 

• Curricular should be (a lot more) more than a “TEACHing plan” – TEACHers and institutions should conceptualise of curriculum as the expression of “educational beliefs in practice” and must think of curriculum in terms of the “whole educative process” (rather than simply “content” or a document that collects dust on a shelf somewhere)! 

• Many of the dispositions required for successful LEARNing are the same as the positive behaviours and dispositions that characterise effective TEACHing professionals (yani, the best TEACHers are also the best LEARNers). 

• Effective TEACHing is grounded on a multi-dimensional set of abilities: what teachers know and understand about LEARNing, how they prepare to TEACH, what they expect of students, what they do when they TEACH and assess LEARNing, how they treat students, and how they evaluate their own practice and improve as professionals. 

• Highly effective TEACHers help all students to identify their individual LEARNing goals, perform at their highest levels and achieve success. 

• Highly effective TEACHers view students’ strengths and weaknesses as opportunities for LEARNing – and (actually) encourage their LEARNers to “fail” (by modelling this themselves as “real” people – not as infallible “knowers”). 

• Great TEACHing involves articulating and generating enthusiasm for LEARNing and modelling the skills of a lifelong LEARNer. 

• TEACHing grounded on a ‘just-in-case’ model is not as effective as TEACHing at times when students need to and are highly motivated to LEARN (a ‘just-in-time’ model).

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Whoa! What the hell has happened to Tony, shiriously?

…why have you “kidnapped” him and replaced him with this “BOT-version”?

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My beliefs have been further shaped (nearly there, guys) by my own “imagineering about the future” – what I believe is important for the future of LEARNers as we race into the brave, new word of 21^st Century LEARNing (yes, I “hate” the phrase, too – but you get what I am saying).

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These beliefs are:

• Knowledge in the 21^st Century is expanding so rapidly (bla,bla,bla!) and, just as students can’t LEARN everything about a “discipline” (especially “language”) or even everything across a range of disciplines (trans-disciplinary LEARNing is the “way ahead”) during their school or university career, TEACHers can NOT (and should NOT) try to TEACH “everything”. 

• Facilitating “real” student LEARNing (that continues to “evolve” after “graduation”) must involve developing students’ critical thunking, independent problem-solving and performance capabilities (towards the same multi-dimensional sets of abilities that make for great TEACHers). 

• EDUcational institutions need to make technology integral to LEARNing and adopt new digital technologies to achieve TEACHing practices more appropriate to 21st Century LEARNing. 

• 20^th Century institutions will only survive into the 21^st Century, if they can adapt (and re-adapt) themselves by first creating and nurturing institutional cultures that are open and responsive to meaningful change and real LEARNing – the days of creating institutions for TEACHers and administrators are well and truly “over”, boys n’ girls! 

• To survive – schools, colleges and universities must realign their processes, policies and practices around the notion of student LEARNing (and put that LEARNing at the heart of their decision-making) – because “survival is not mandatory” and systems that place their “means” over LEARNer “ends” will also go the way of the dinosaurs!

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What is it about all these beliefs that might account for the “bad taste” that many of the current discussions on gamification leave in my mouth?

Many of them do, in fact, seem to support the “theory” that gamers and EDUgamers work with…

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Actually, after getting all those thunks on “paper” and re-reading them…

I suddenly feel very “naked”!

Is that part of the problem, acaba?

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Mmmmmm…

 

LEARN to “SPEAK” İngilizce…in 10,000 hours (this time)!

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Yes, you would thunk that, wouldn’t you?

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Especially if you had read my more “uplifting” post – LEARN to “SPEAK” English…in 15 hours (maybe even 2)! – a week or so ago!

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It’s funny, isn’t it, how we all respond to different types of “news” in such radically different ways:

…we don’t like so much!

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When I wrote that original post, I was still under the influence of all that “Christmas Cheer” we hear so much about – around this time of year!

BUT, in a darker corner of my grey matter…another “number” was hiding there …lurking …stirring - a much BIGGER number!

Besides, you have to admit…a title suggesting you can “LEARN a language in 15 hours” is gonna get you a lot more “hits” on your blog!

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THAT number!

Damn you…Anders…Anders Ericsson!

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WHO?

Hang on…just hold your horses, there! I thought the “10,000-hour geezer” was called Malcolm…Malcolm GLADwell?

Damn him…even moreso!

WHY?

Shiriously…I was not so “GLAD” or “WELL” when I first read about “that number”…really bummed me out (and all my summer LEARNing plans) a couple of years back!

Anders…is a decent bloke (have a look at his seminal paper – HERE – if you have a 2-hr commute in front of you).

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Malcolm (and “his dog” – yes, the secret is “out”) drew on Anders’ work with the “10,000-hour rule” in his book “Outliers” – he claims he wrote the book because he could not find a decent way to explain the careers of really successful people – people like Bill Gates or the Beatles.

But, we all know his dog wanted a lakeside property in Medina!

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Anyways:

The “rule” states that if you want to be really “GREAT” at something, you gotta invest around 10,000 hours to attain that “GREATness“!

…with the Lads from Liverpool, it was “playing time” in Hamburg!

…with Bill Amca, it was “programming” (though Steve Jobs may disagree)!

…with ME, it was going to be “classical piano”, “igloo-building” and “knitting”…all till that fateful Summer!

Damn you… Malcolm…Malcolm GLADwell!

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Those of you that know the blog…from back in the day…know that one of my very first posts was entitled:

How many hours does it take to LEARN English, Hocam?

Whoopsidaisies! …that’s the Turkish version.

Try this ONE…

 

Now, in that post…and remember it was one of my first…so do not give me a hard time about the poor quality of images (had only clocked up 25-30 hours by then)…I was trying to see if the “guided learning hours” (GLHs) suggested by ELT publishers and their textbook writers could, in fact, lead to GREATness in ELL for our LEARNers here in Turkey.

Those numbers (or “classroom hours”) were a bit like this (in terms of the main “CEFR Levels“):

A1 – 80-100 GLHs

A2 – 180-200 GLHs

B1 – 350-400 GLHs

B2 – 550-600 GLHs

C1 – 750-800 GLHs

C2 – 1000-1200 GLHs

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According to these “textbook experts” – all a LEARNer (wishing to become an “expert” in the English Language) has to do is “sit” in a classroom for a “maximum” of 1,200 GLHs (and by “guided” we mean…by a TEACHer…armed with nothing but a “textbook” – a CD player and a projector, perhaps)!

Yes, you would say that, wouldn’t you?

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I have said more…a LOT more!

And, to be fair, some textbook writers do say more…a few of them “add” (in very small print…in the TEACHer’s Book) that EL LEARNers do need to do a fair bit of “self-study” (whatever that is) – from the “workbook” no doubt!

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Could it be that Malcolm (and Anders) are “wrong“? Or…is it the case that those “pesky textbook writers”…and their “evil-doer approach” to marketing and flogging their “wares” have been leading us, well and truly, up the garden path?

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Let’s do “the Math”!

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Come on, Tony – you know all we ELL / ELT folk are a bit “thick” when it comes to the “old ‘rithmetic“!

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Not to worry…

ENTER stage left…

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Sarah Eaton, a wonderful ELL Consultant from Canada – and a fellow “Jedi blogger“.

I have mentioned Sarah a fair few times on allthingslearning - and she has often extended more than a helping hand to little ‘ole moi with my bouts of bloggery!

Sarah did a great paper on the time required to become “an ELL expert” – and published a version on her own blog (Literacy, Languages and Leadership).

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In her paper, she suggested a number of “scenarios” (you know how I loves me “mini-cases”):

Scenario #1: One 3-hour adult education course per week x 8 weeks = 24 hours

Scenario #2: One year of language learning in school = 4 hours per week x 12 weeks x 2 semesters = 96 hours

Scenario #3: 1 year of consistent, dedicated self-study (or homework) at 1 hour per day = 365 hours

Scenario #4: One year of total immersion in the new language (Assuming that in a 24-hour day, we allow 8 hours for sleeping per day) = 16 hours per day x 365 days = 5840 hours

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Sarah then applied the “10,000-hour rule” to each of her scenarios to see exactly how long it would take the LEARNers in these scenarios to achieve “expert ability” in a foreign language…like English:

Scenario #1 – Adult education classes – 416 courses of 24 hours per course. If you did 2 courses per year, you’d need 208 years to become fluent.

Scenario #2 – Foreign language studies at school – 96 hours of classes per year = 104 years to achieve fluency.

Scenario #3 – Dedicated self-study – An hour a day, every single day of the year = 365 hours per year = 27 years

Scenario #4 – Total immersion – Approximately 2 years

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Go to the image (at the very top of the post)

- YOU know what to “say“!

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Sarah does a grand job of fleshing out the ideas behind her numbers (and the complexities such numbers might “hide”) – have a look at the full paper HERE.

One of the things I like (at the end of her paper) is also how she “re-frames” the questions LEARNers should ask.

Instead of ASKing:

“How long will it take me to become fluent in English, hocam?”

…she suggests that LEARNers need to ASK:

“How do I get my 10,000 hours of study and practice to become fluent in English?”

Wonderful question! 

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However…

…is, basically (for both of us), that the “classroom” and all the GLHs on the planet are NOT going to help our LEARNers become “experts” in English or English Language LEARNing (perhaps…the more important of the two).

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Both Sarah and I also make the point that it is (kinda) impossible to accurately calculate the hours needed to LEARN a language - as ELL depends on factors such as the LEARNer’s language background, levels of individual engagement, the LEARNer’s age and motivation (even “gender” - yes, girls still do generally kick ass in the right environment), and the amount of study and exposure outside the classroom!

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…I also focussed on the quality of “TEACHing” (something many “commentators” often forget to mention) – another “inconvenient truth” here in Turkey (as in many other countries)!

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We all know, don’t we, that:

Especially, in matters of allthingsELL!

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We also know (don’t we) that “hazırlık” or “prep school” is about (a lot) more than “just” language LEARNing – university-level EL LEARNers also need to be helped to “de-tox” and focus on personal development, self-study (& reflection), self-assessment and “personal accountability” (in addition to classroom-based GLHs) to realise “effective language LEARNing“.

Not exactly what you might call a “piece o’ cake”…

This is especially the case if most of the recommended GLHs we are told about are given over to “grammar rules and transformation exercises” or are grounded on teachers “spoon-feeding” students discrete skills worksheets – rather than expert instruction in skills development from their TEACHers, meaningful reflection and self-assessment on the part of LEARNers and timely and focussed feedback.

The real problem is that 25-30 hours a week of being “trapped in a hazırlık classroom” for so many months is just “too much”  (many TEACHers would agree with this).

Sorry – to have to “pop” this little bubble – BUT…this is not an “effective way” to conduct the “business” of language LEARNing.

Hey, and we haven’t even got to the issue of “section or class size” – come on, can we really create  an effective language LEARNing environment for groups of 25+?

We (just) know ALL this – on a “experiential” and a “moral” level….in our heart-of-hearts!

OR….we SHOULD!

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We TEACHers (and institutions) need new questions for 2013…heck, we have needed these new questions for years! Yes, language LEARNing is complex…yes, it is tough…yes, it requires “effort“!

But, we ain’t gonna tackle these issues with more of the same-old-same-old - “bumping up” the number of contact hours in a given week, creating a 3rd “summer break semester” (or 5th “summer school module”).

I suppose we could consider – “dropping standards” to allow more students to get a “free pass” into freshman without fully evidencing the levels of language proficiency we know are required on English-medium academic programmes…

We could…but no-one would ever do “that”…would they?

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It is “collaborative effort” on the part of both TEACHers and LEARNers that will make the “real difference”…

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I hope it doesn’t take us 10,000 hours to work that little “secret” out!

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BIG Questions for ELL…in 2013!

The BIG Question:

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…could be applied to matters of LEARNing and TEACHing.

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Actually – as I was drafting (the original version of) this post, I (quite accidentally) discovered that Scott Thornbury is using a very similar title for his new e-book (to be published very shortly by The Round).

Scott’s idea is a pretty cool one - “re-engineering” a number of the core posts from his great ”A-Z of ELT” and helping those lovely guys at The Round realise their goal of creating more bridges between the blogosphere and the world of conventional publishing.

This is why I felt I (just) had to re-blog a new, re-imagineered version of this post – to lose the Xmas “feel” I went with originally!

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Scott’s book is already shaping up to be a great addition to our ELT Library -  you can get a “taste” (or a “tease”) by clicking HERE.

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…YOU guessed it !

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There is a bit of a problem with much of this “library”  of ours - a library that publishers have been helping us build up since the late 1970′s…a library that, I would argue, misses a great deal of the the “wood” for the “trees” (trees all those conventional publishers are busy “chopping down” on our behalf)!

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TEACHers do, of course, need books n’ stuff to help with their LEARNing.  

I’m not suggesting we should go all “Fahrenheit 451” on our favorite volumes and works of EDUliteracy. I’m saying perhaps we need a different “perspective” on how we look at the “business” we are in – and how we “do” that “business” around the globe through the books we read!

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Let me elaborate…with some BIG NUMBERS!

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Before we get to the numbers (and people)…let’s start with a question:

How many English Language LEARNers are there – on the planet?

A tough one - I know!

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Well, if David Graddol is even close to being half-right - around a third of the world’s population (yes, I said 33.33% of around 7,018,500,000 human beings) – are trying to LEARN English – right now!

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…give or take a million or so (and their dogs)!

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If you (as I have just done) also do a quick Google search for the acronym “ELT“, you’ll get around 37,800,000 potential bits of “bedtime reading”. However, when you do a similar search for “English Language LEARNing” – Google can only come up with around 1,910,000 pages for you to ignore.

And, “yes” - I know you can get just over 62 million pages of digital reading, if you use the acronym. But, then again…take a closer look at some of these hits – not all ELL “hits” are equal!

BESIDES…if you try “English Language Teaching”…the world’s favourite search engine will cough up 171 million results for you.

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Yani, almost three times as much “stuff” on TEACHing…than LEARNing!

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Now, this may not be much…when compared with the 252,000,000 results that you can potentially browse when you type the two little words “Justin“ + “Bieber“ (and do not even ask me what happens when you type ”Lady Gaga“)!

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…the point is…

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English Language TEACHing is BIG business…a huge “industry”…and we ain’t even touched on “textbooks” just yet!

An industry, for example, that nets the UK almost £1,500,000,000…every, single, bloody year! Not too shabby…not too shabby at all…just don’t get me started on global sales of the Top 50 publishers!

Let’s just say Amazon and Kindle have NOT delivered on their “promise”…yet!

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The BIG question I have, when I consider these HUGE numbers…numbers that relate to LEARNers and their LEARNing (or SPENDing)…is this:

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Why do we call it the “ELT Industry” – not the “ELL Industry”?

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I said, a wee bit before, we ain’t touched on textbooks…so I guess we should.

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English Language LEARNers spend king’s ransom after king’s ransom on these lovely “paper-based LEARNing opportunities” - but we hardly ever hear them being described as the cornerstone of the “ELL Industry”.

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Or, did I just miss the memo?

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I very rarely hear students talking about “my” textbook. It’s more a case of (the more “distant” phrase) “our” book - you know, the one the TEACHer “uses”. The vast majority of TEACHers do appear to have more “ownership” of the textbooks they use in class - than the students that cough up good money for them (or, at least, take the time to photocopy them – as they are found to be too expensive for many cash-strapped students).

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As it’s these same TEACHers that control the “pace” of “textbook page turning” in our classrooms (I don’t think I have EVER heard a student ever say “Let’s turn to page 15″)…

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…I guess the whole ELT thingy really does make sense, after all - yani.

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The BIG problem is…as my “birth-father” (the gossip is “working”) has noted:

Scott…and many of his mates…”get” this!

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TEACHers like Scott “favour dialogue over transmission” and recognise that the process of NOT trying to fill “empty vessels” on a 24/7 basis is best facilitated by ASKing questions.

This is why he has promised us a “question-driven” approach in his new book – and some of the “teaser questions” he’ll be looking at are:

• How do you achieve ‘flow’ in your teaching?
• What makes an activity ‘communicative’?
• Is there anything wrong with rote learning?
• Can you teach well without planning?
• Do rules help?

These are wonderful questions…and I’m sure many TEACHers will be very eager to read Scott’s ”answers”. 

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Fewer, I fear, will take the time to reflect on his ”questions for discussion” – many will totally miss the real point behind the book (IMHO).

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…am I thunking in such a dark & gloomy manner at the start of a bright NEW YEAR?

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Well, it’s quite simple really! I do not have much of a choice…the way things stand at the moment.

The ELT Industry is made up of “suppliers“ (who seek to push their wares into this “market” of almost 234,000,000 LEARNers) …and “providers” (institutional players like our schools, colleges and universities).

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Both of these sets of “stakeholders” have to be “seen” to have all the ANSWERS.

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If they were seen to be more about “LEARNing” (than being “LEARNed” and “expert”)…they might not make as much money or “get” as many students!

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Peter Block has been telling us for years that it is this “take” on ”what matters” that keeps luring us back to the Dark Side.

This “fascination” we have with allthingsanswers – drives our relentless search for the next “big thing”, “quick-fix” or “magic bullet”. The “obsession” we have with an “answer-orientated” way of doing “business”…prevents us from really “seeing” the (LEARNing) wood for the (TEACHing) trees we noted earlier!

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That “business” in ELT is still dominated by the interests (or “convenience”) of our INSTITUTIONS - the things…the fixes….the bullets we focus on are, more often than not, all about the TEACHing.

Very few of our institutions take the time to ask the questions we need to ask - probably because the questions themselves are just “too” important! Instead, our preference for “quick-fix” TEACHing recipes all too often does little more than advance the culture of “alıntı, çalıntı and mış-gibi yapmak” (the Turkish for “borrowing, ripping off, and faking-it-till-you-make-it”) – rather than meaningful attention to student LEARNing and SUCCESS.

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Now, around about 500 words ago, you probably got a very crisp mental image of “me” in your head – just another guy having a rant! Just another guy having a bitch an’ a whine – with no bloody “answers”!

Isn’t that the whole point…the whole problem?

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Well, to prove I do mean “well”…I want to challenge all our “ELT Institutions” with a few “BIG Questions for ELL…for 2013″.

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Your “mission”, should you choose to accept it, is to put one of these questions (every week) on the agenda of your regular “meetings” – and come up with your OWN answers…through your OWN conversations…with those that “matter” at your OWN institution!

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Let’s start with a couple of “easy” ones:

Why (all over the globe) are “lessons” always around 50-55 minutes in length – shirously, in every country?

Why are so many of our classrooms organised in rows that “point” at the TEACHer (in fact, why do we still have classrooms at all)?

Why (in many classrooms) do TEACHers do more “talking” than the LEARNers?

Why do so many institutions (and their TEACHers) still “ban” mobile devices and “smart phones” in the classrooms?

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This one still bakes the noodle of many an administrator:

Why do some institutions still believe that (relatively) untrained and inexperienced “native speakers” are better than qualified and experienced “local” practitioners?

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This one could keep decision-makers awake at night:

Why do ELT institutions (and TEACHers) still approach English Language Learning as something that can be “taught” or “delivered”?

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These ones might hit home for a few of them, too:

Why do so many of us (TEACHers) still complain that we do not have enough time to “cover” the material?

Why do so many schools operate with a curriculum that is little more than the “contents page” of a textbook?

Why do so many institutions allow publishers to select their themes and texts – rather than letting the LEARNers do it?

Why do so many institutions still work with the premise that “if we do not assess it, the LEARNers will not do it”?

Why do institutions still assume that students will LEARN more English if we test them more often?

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And a couple on TEACHer LEARNing:

Why do schools and universities still believe that TEACHers can “LEARN” from one-shot, one-way workshops (especially if they serve no other purpose but to keep TEACHers busy during holidays)?

Why does ELT (as a “discipline”) still LEARN so little from other disciplines?

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Hey…you never know…ASKing questions like these…might, just maybe, help us co-create a few ANSWERS…that help Google balance things a wee bit more in 2013!

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N.B: One of the most comprehensive discussions of trends in language education is presented by David Graddol, in his excellent monograph “English Next”. In this, he builds on his innovative analysis given in The Future of English (1997) – and also offers a great deal of insight into helping us understand where the “business” of ELT (and ELL) is going.

LEARN to “SPEAK” İngilizce…in 15 hours (maybe even 2)!

Mmmm…this one is gonna get me in trouble, again…ain’t it?

But, not sure with whom…this time!

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Recently, I’ve been thunking a lot about “successful language LEARNing” – you might have seen a couple of the recent posts I have been doing… “bouts of bloggery” that I have been trying to squeeze in between my bouts of “ferry-hopping” with my big, little girl (and her mummy) here in big, bad Istanbul!

Yes, I am a “rovving blogger” for a couple of weeks!

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When ELL professionals think about these things – “SUCCESSful LEARNers” that is - we tend to turn to the “experts” – experts like Jack Richards:

…BTW, this is a “video-based” post (sorry, should have said this before)!

So, bookmark it - if you do not have around 35 minutes to check out all the lovely videos I’m planning to use…and “share” in this post.

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I love Jack…I do! He LEARNed me so much when I was a young(er) TEACHer… despite his matching “shirts n’ glasses” (Sorry, Jack…read that first sentence again)!

If you listen (and watch) very carefully…he says a lot of very smart things. Smart things he LEARNed from one of his students. A lot of smart things that (even more) smart TEACHers “know“…but sadly do not always “apply” to their classroom TEACHing.

Watch the video again…go on (it’s not that long)! Ask yourself:

How many of the things that Jack’s student “does”…do you “effectively” (that’s a key word here) build into the classroom LEARNing opportunities YOU develop for YOUR own LEARNers?

…and, I do not mean what you simply “tell” your students is “a good idea”!

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Essentially, what is at the heart of Jack’s “advice” is the BIG idea in Lauren B. Resnick’s seminal article “From Aptitude to Effort: A New Foundation for Our Schools” - or her “Third Possibility“:

“…that EFFORT actually creates ABILITY, that people can become smart by working hard at the right kinds of LEARNing tasks – has never been taken seriously in America or indeed in any European society, although it is the guiding assumption of EDUcation institutions in societies with a Confucian tradition.”

(Resnick, L. “From Aptitude to Effort: A New Foundation for Our Schools.” Daedalus, Fall 1995, 124(4), 55-62).

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As Lauren pointed out  (almost 20 years ago – WTH will we ever LEARN to listen to folk?) - the “secret” to LEARNing (LEARNing languages even) is really all about the “EFFORT”.

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…not a TEACHer’s effort…the LEARNer’s (own) EFFORT!

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OK, and to be fair, Lauren does tell us that “expert instruction” (along with clear expectations; fair evaluation; payoffs for success; the time needed to meet LEARNing expectations) and “the right kinds of LEARNing tasks” - are all very important!

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The thing is…me (still) thunks…we TEACHers so rarely ask LEARNers what the “right kind” of LEARNing tasks are!

And, while the voices of experts, like Jack and Lauren may be good for TEACHer LEARNing – we really need to ask why it is that so little seems to “change” in the way we TEACHers (and our institutions) “do” the “business” of LEARNing.

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I have said before:

…it still is!

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Maybe, and this is just a shot in the dark here, we need different ways to promote both TEACHer and LEARNer LEARNing – and maybe “expert” instruction from “experts”…is not the way…for LEARNers!

For example, take a look at this little video:

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Wouldn’t you just LOVE to have 20-25 “clones” of Alex in every class?

Maybe not! We already have enough TEACHers on poor salaries, 11-month contracts…and no benefits!

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And, if you have a bit of time on your hands, this one, too:

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Yeah, I get suspicious of these “promo-type” videos, too!

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BUT, there’s a lot of food-for-thought in there…a LOT of food-for-thunking!

I’m guessing…students might “feel” more…about these types of “materials” – the “trick” is for classroom EDUcators to turn them into “REAL LEARNing tasks”!

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I’ll be honest (when am I ever NOT?), as an EDUcator…some of these things still scare the beejeebers out of me!

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You mean I have to forget all “my” years of “TEACHing experience”?  

Wot? I have to discard all those “masters” courses I took (and am still paying for)?

You mean I have to re-thunk my “perspective” on TEACHing?

OK – maybe NOT totally!

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…but, considering our “success” levels (not just in Turkey…around the globe) – guys, we have to “do” something “different”. And, more importantly, we have to help our LEARNers “detox” and “head into the LIGHT” (no, not “that” light – the light of “REAL LEARNing”)!

We just have to LISTEN more!

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Last week, I was introduced to a young Turkish guy – named Alpay. He was a student a few years back – studying American Culture and Literature. He got so frustrated that his “high school” and “prep school” experiences were just not doing it for him…he could not “speak”…and his TEACHers…were just not helping him…at all!

He couldn’t (like Alex) travel around the globe with his parents. He did not have a great deal of spare cash (he also had to do a 2-hr commute to school everyday – and another 2 hrs back)…but he came up with his own “solution”.

He managed to scrape together enough dosh to get himself a second-hand iPod…not an iPad…not an iPhone…an iPod! He began downloading…music, TV shows, movies…and “dedicated” his 4-hrs on the bus to watching and listening to his “collection”!

The results “spoke” for themselves…when he chatted with me and my friends.

I was impressed! VERY impressed!

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His “efforts“… his “wants” and “needs” were met through an iPod…and a bit ‘o time on an Istanbul bus – not a classroom!

OK – I can hear some of you mumbling (under your breath): “He’s special, Tony – don’t be so naive”!

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Every LEARNer is “special”!

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This morning…I showed all these videos (and the rough draft of this post) to my big, little girl…she is a student and is getting ready to graduate this year.

I trust her “thunks” in matters of allthingslearning…like most students (as opposed to her TEACHers) …she is the only one that truly “knows” about “her LEARNing”.

I asked her to “rank” the videos in terms of the “impact” they might have on Language LEARNers. You know what she said first?

I want to “meet” this Alpay guy…I want to “talk” to him!

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LEARNers do NOT LEARN because they “STUDY” a lot…

…they LEARN because they “WANT” to!

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The (classroom) TEACHer’s “job” (then) is…to “co-create” a classroom environment that places this at the very forefront of LEARNers‘ minds…and not by (simply) “telling” them that “study” and “hard work” will always “win out“…

…or coming up with “systems” that “force” them to do what they do NOT “want” to do!

There…I said it!

Students are sick to death (they are, you know…just ask a few of them) of TEACHers “preaching at” them (from the “pulpit” at the front of the classroom) about the virtue of “study”.

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“Tell me. I may not get it, I’m sure to forget it.
Show me. I may get it, I’ll remember it for a little while.
Have me do it. I’ll understand it, it may stick for awhile.”

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I found this “upgraded” version of that old Confucian chestnut this morning (Thx Mohan) – my big, little girl wanted to qualify this a wee bit:

Let me “TALK” to someone that “knows”!

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Could we, as TEACHers, “do” something “more” with these thunks – a New Year’s resolution or three, perhaps?

All I Want For Christmas…

…is a wee bit more of a focus on ELL…rather than just ELT!

Yes, that is English Language LEARNing…not the gene or the enzyme.

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And, as it is almost Chistmas, I guess “turkey” might have been a better choice than “chicken” – I know, I know! Baby Jesus, Mary and Yusuf…everyone is a critic!

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Actually, I was planning to use the title “BIG Questions in ELL (for 2013)” for this post but, quite accidentally, discovered that Scott Thornbury is using a very similar title for his new e-book (to be published very shortly by The Round).

Scott’s idea is a pretty cool one – “re-engineering” a number of the core posts from his great “A-Z of ELT” and helping those lovely guys at The Round realise their goal of creating more bridges between the blogosphere and the world of conventional publishing.

The book is already shaping up to be a great addition to our ELT Library -  you can get a “taste” (or a “tease”) by clicking HERE.

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…YOU guessed IT !

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There is a bit of a problem with much of this “library” - a library that publishers have been helping us build up since the late 1970′s…a library that, I would argue, misses a great deal of the the wood for the trees (trees all those conventional publishers are busy “chopping down” on our behalf)!

TEACHers do, of course, need books n’ stuff to help with their LEARNing.  

I’m not suggesting we should go all “Fahrenheit 451” on our favorite volumes and works of EDUliteracy. I’m saying perhaps we need a different “perspective” on how we look at the “business” we are in – and how we “do” that “business” around the globe through the books we read!

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Let me elaborate…

…as if an objection or three would stop me!

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Before we get to the numbers (and people)…let’s start with a question:

• How many English Language LEARNers will be hoping that a big, fat guy (all dressed in “red” and hungry for minced pies) will “break into” their homes tonight – and leave them a copy of Raymond Murphy’s “English Grammar in Use” (the new, revised, upgraded, on-line version – of course).

A tough one – I know!

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Well, if David Graddol is even close to being half-right – around a third of the world’s population (yes, I said 33.33% of around 7,018,500,000 human beings – give or take a million) are trying to LEARN English…as I sit here and worry about whether I can find a “hindi”  big enough to feed all my relatives here in big, bad Istanbul tomorrow afternoon!

“Noël Baba“ really did show a lot of “investment savvy” by picking up all those shares in CUP, Pearson and Cengage over the last 20 years! Damn my principles…

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OK – I smell a roll with all these BIG numbers…let’s see if we can’t find some more legs for this post!

If you (as I have just done) do a quick Google search for the acronym “ELT“, you’ll get around 37,800,000 potential bits of “bedtime reading”. However, when you do a similar search for “English Language LEARNing” – Google can only come up with around 1,910,000 pages for you to ignore.

And, “yes” – I know you can get just over 62 million pages of digital reading, if you use the acronym. But, then again…take a closer look at some of these hits!

BESIDES…if you try “English Language Teaching”…the world’s favourite search engine will cough up 171 million results for you.

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Yani, almost three times as much “stuff” on TEACHing…than LEARNing!

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Now, this may not be much…when compared with the 252,000,000 results that you can potentially browse when you type the two little words “Justin“ + “Bieber” (and do not even ask me what happens when you type “Lady Gaga“)!

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…the point is…English Language TEACHing is BIG business…a huge “industry”…and we ain’t even touched on “textbooks” just yet!

An industry, for example, that nets the UK almost £1,500,000,000…every, single, bloody year! Not too shabby…not too shabby at all…just don’t get me started on global sales of the Top 50 publishers!

Let’s just say Amazon and Kindle have NOT delivered on their “promise”…yet!

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The BIG question I have, when I consider these HUGE numbers…numbers that relate to LEARNers and their LEARNing (or SPENDing)…is this:

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Why do we call it the “ELT Industry” – …not the “ELL Industry”?

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I said, a wee bit before, we ain’t touched on textbooks…so I guess we should.

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English Language LEARNers spend king’s ransom after king’s ransom on these lovely “LEARNing opportunities” – but we hardly ever hear them being described as the cornerstone of the “ELL Industry”.

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Or, did I just miss the memo?

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I very rarely hear students talking about “my” textbook. It’s more a case of (the more “distant” phrase) “our” book – you know, the one the TEACHer “uses”.

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The vast majority of TEACHers do appear to have more “ownership” of the textbooks they use in class – than the students that cough up good money for them (or, at least, take the time to photocopy them – as they are found to be too expensive for many cash-strapped students).

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As it’s these same TEACHers that control the “pace” of “textbook page turning” in our classrooms…I guess the whole ELT thingy makes sense, yani (BTW - I don’t think I have EVER heard a student ever say “Let’s turn to page 15″)!

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The BIG problem is…as my “birth-father” (the gossip is “working”) has noted:

Scott…and many of his mates…”get” this!

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TEACHers like Scott “favour dialogue over transmission” and recognise that the process of NOT trying to fill “empty vessels” on a 24/7 basis is…best facilitated by ASKing questions.

This is why he has promised us a “question-driven” approach in his new book.

Some of the “teaser questions” he’ll be looking at are:

• How do you achieve ‘flow’ in your teaching?
• What makes an activity ‘communicative’?
• Is there anything wrong with rote learning?
• Can you teach well without planning?
• Do rules help?

These are wonderful questions…and I’m sure many TEACHers will be very eager to read Scott’s ”answers”. 

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Fewer, I fear, will take the time to reflect on his ”questions for discussion” – many will totally miss the real point behind the book.

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…am I thunking in such a dark & gloomy manner on Xmas Eve?

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Well, it’s quite simple really!

The ELT Industry is made up of “suppliers“ (who seek to push their wares into this “market” of almost 234,000,000 LEARNers) and “providers” (institutional players like our schools, colleges and universities) – and both of these sets of “stakeholders” have to be seen to have all the ANSWERS.

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Peter Block has been telling us for years that it is this “take” on “what matters” that keeps luring us back to the Dark Side. This “fascination” drives our relentless search for the next “big thing”, “quick-fix” or “magic bullet”. This “obsession” with an “answer-orientated” way of doing “business”…prevents us from really “seeing” the (LEARNing) wood for the (TEACHing) trees we noted earlier!

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That “business” in ELT is still dominated by the interests (or “convenience”) of our INSTITUTIONS - the things…the fixes….the bullets we focus on are, more often than not, all about the TEACHing.

Very few of our institutions take the time to ask the questions we need to ask – probably because the questions themselves are just “too” important!

Instead, our preference for “quick-fix” TEACHing recipes all too often does little more than advance the culture of “alıntı, çalıntı and mış-gibi yapmak” (the Turkish for “borrowing, ripping off, and faking-it-till-you-make-it”) – rather than meaningful attention to student LEARNing and SUCCESS.

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Now, around about 300 words ago, you probably got a very crisp mental image of “me” in your head – or perhaps thunked “What an EDUScrooge or ELTGrinch”!

I mean…it’s Christmas Eve…for crying out loud!

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Well, to prove I do mean “well”…I’m going to gift all our “ELT Institutions”…with a few “BIG Questions for ELL…for 2013″.

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Now, I’m not sure how many I will be able to produce (before I have to rush out to buy that “hindi” I told you about earlier)…so here we go:

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Let’s start with a couple of “easy” ones:

Why (all over the globe) are “lessons” always around 50-55 minutes in length – shirously, all over the world?

Why are so many of our classrooms organised in rows that “point” at the TEACHer (in fact, why do we still have classrooms at all)?

Why (in many classrooms) do TEACHers do more “talking” than the LEARNers?

Why do so many institutions (and their TEACHers) still “ban” mobile devices and “smart phones” in the classrooms?

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This one still bakes the noodle of many an administrator:

Why do some institutions still believe that (relatively) untrained and inexperienced “native speakers” are better than qualified and experienced “local” practitioners?

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This one could keep decision-makers awake at night:

Why do ELT institutions (and TEACHers) still approach English Language Learning as something that can be “taught” or “delivered”?

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These ones might hit home for a few of them, too:

Why do so many of us (TEACHers) still complain that we do not have enough time to “cover” the material?

Why do so many schools operate with a curriculum that is little more than the “contents page” of a textbook?

Why do so many institutions allow publishers to select their themes and texts – rather than letting the LEARNers do it?

Why do so many institutions still work with the premise that “if we do not assess it, the LEARNers will not do it”?

Why do institutions still assume that students will LEARN more English if we test them more often?

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And a couple on TEACHer LEARNing:

Why do schools and universities still believe that TEACHers can “LEARN” from one-shot, one-way workshops (especially if they serve no other purpose but to keep TEACHers busy during holidays)?

Why does ELT (as a “discipline”) still LEARN so little from other disciplines?

Hey…you never know…ASKing questions like these…might, just maybe, help us co-create a few ANSWERS…that LEARNers might recognise as a “real” Christmas present!

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P.S: Father Christmas – if you are reading this, all I really want…is an iPhone5! I have been a good boy…all year! But, if you cannot manage that…world peace, an end to poverty and equitable access to education for every little girl on the planet will do just fine.

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P.P.S: Everyone Else - One of the most comprehensive discussions of trends in language education is presented by David Graddol, in his excellent monograph “English Next”. In this, he builds on his innovative analysis given in The Future of English (1997) – and also offers a great deal of insight into helping us understand where the business of ELT is going.

The “LEARNing Academic” Vs. The “LEARNing Publisher”…

…and never the twain shall meet?

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A few days ago, one of my favourite “guest-bloogers” (actually, I’m begining to think he has become a permanent “squatter“ on the ‘ole blog) – Laurence, did a great post for me.

The post was entitled – Going to the Dogs!

Now, this was probably all my fault…because I had suggested (in an earlier post) that he might enjoy the company of those wicked, wicked “ELT dogmatistas“ we hear so much about these days.

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Laurence is not an ELT expert per se – but he works with groups of “future ELT Teachers”…to improve their speaking and communication skills. I have seen him in action – he does a grand job!

In his guest post, he did a wonderful job of reflecting on how his own philosophy of LEARNing and TEACHing “mapped” onto many of the tenets of Dogme ELT – as personified in Teaching UNplugged (by Luke Meddings  and  Scott Thornbury  – 2009).

However, what was really interesting came a bit later…

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A “publisher”! 

Yes, a “real” Sith Lord……called Tim, read the post and added a wonderful comment.

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Now, I’m sorry – but who the hell would take a Sith Lord called ”Darth Tim” seriously?

I would…now!

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Both Laurence and Tim talked about the “A-ah” moments they are experiencing…no, “living” – as LEARNing takes a bigger, and bigger role in how both of them “do business”.

Tim, for example, noted:

Discovering the ethos of Dogme and how it puts learning at the centre of its thinking has altered my perception as a publisher well and truly.

Even Luke….sorry… Scott  picked up on that juiciest of comments and a few of us had a little tweet-fest!

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I also had a little “A-ah” moment…of my own!

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I wondered (acaba)…what would happen if I put this LEARNing Academic and this LEARNing Publisher together…in the same room!

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BUT…I had a wee problem!

Those of you that know the blog…and Laurence…know that he lives and works in Ankara.

Like me – he is a hanım köylü!

Tim, on the other hand…while being very involved in H.Ed projects for the Turkish “market”…is based in Cambridge – and is very much the sert erkek…

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Wot to do?

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What about if we put them in a virtual “coffee shop” – with a strong cup of Turkish kahve (“sade”, of course)…I thunked to meself.

Would it turn out like this:

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…or would something “beautiful” happen? 

Judge for yourself!

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GUEST POST 

by

Laurence Raw & Tim Gifford

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Laurence: I’m intrigued that we should be meeting like this. I’ve not actually met an ELT publisher before; my stereotype of them is that they’re more than happy to sell their existing materials to unsuspecting customers, but less willing to listen to them – unless, of course, they happen to be big names who can sell books. But it’s nice that we’ve got together to discuss the Dogme movement, even though I’m still not sure exactly what it signifies. Any views?

Tim: … in a way the Dogme movement could be described as being like a cup of coffee: it’s rich and invigorating. It offers both stimulation and comfort to the educators that enjoy it. But it’s also prone to being branded and commercialised by “my kind” as another edu-commodity when in fact everyone’s preferences and contexts are different. Imposing educational ‘tastes’ doesn’t benefit anyone, in the same way that assuming how people like their coffee isn’t going to get great results.

Laurence:  Only if publishers use the name all the time, without actually investigating what it signifies.  Since writing my last post, I’ve been mentioning Dogme to both learners and educators; their initial reaction is one of mystification, as if it were some new kind of technique or strategy that departs from prevailing approaches to language teaching.  But when you get down to it, we’re not really talking rocket science here; just a re-emphasis on learning and collaboration, rather than an overreliance on textbook learning.  Perhaps you’ve got a different view?

Tim: That’s what I’m getting at. My past experience of ELT publishing has been the “mass production” approach which entailed including gratuitous references to assessment frameworks or developments in education within our products in order to make them more attractive to teachers and directors. There was very little consideration given to actually understanding what these materials or concepts were or what they’d mean to the student sitting at their desk in a classroom halfway around the world. But that was “how it was done”.

Laurence:  Which strikes me as exceptionally intriguing. In my youth, I always assumed that a textbook was there to help learners find out “how it was done” - whether it was learning French, doing comprehension exercises, or finding out about biology (a subject I was never very good at).  It seems that, from the view of conventional publishing, a textbook is rather like the Emperor’s New Clothes; so long as it looks good, and draws on prevailing – some might say modish – frameworks, then it might sell and hence prove suitable for publishers.  This is why I am so against the idea of textbooks per se.  They are often an impediment to, rather than a resource for learning.  But I’d really like to know: what is it about Dogme – or the strategies associated with it – that proves so attractive for you?

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Tim:  What struck me as I started reading about Dogme was that there was a learner involved in this arrangement who was having assumptions made about their learning needs and behaviours without them being consulted at all. The textbooks, materials and references we were piling into these learning environments weren’t doing anything to assist the student in their learning journey, and were in fact perpetuating the “course book is king” principle.

Laurence:  But isn’t that what publishers need to do in order to ensure a profit? What interests me above all about dogme-inspired learning approaches is that they are “bottom-up” rather than “top-down” in conception.  Your term “piling into” is a significant one, suggesting that in some ways publishers are trying to impose from the top, rather than listening to the views from the bottom. I’m not being critical of these policies; it’s what all publishers do, whether they’re involved in ELT or any other branch of learning.  So, how do you think you can accommodate Dogme-inspired principles into future publishing strategies?

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Tim:  It’s essential that publishers “walk the walk” alongside the teachers and directors they publish for as well the students that are, ultimately, the end users in this educational process. Rather than creating and selling content and components to shore up a brand or to “glamify” the annual sales catalogue, they need to immerse themselves in the realities and motivations of the learners they are going to be in contact with via their materials. The key words here are responsibility, responsiveness and respect; publishers need to recognise and fulfil the responsibility that their position requires, and appreciate that their involvement in the process doesn’t finish once the order has been delivered.

Laurence: I think it’s necessary to go beyond these terms, to be honest with you. I really believe that publishers, just like many educators, have a sketchy grasp of the “realities and motivations” of learners in different contexts, chiefly because they don’t want to listen. “Responsiveness” only comes about if everyone is prepared to be responsive to everyone else in a communal situation. I’ve attended so many conferences where publishers’ representatives exist solely to sell books to teachers, and don’t really take the trouble to listen to what is being discussed, especially in informal discussions. The publishers I really like working with are those who take the trouble to listen, to criticize, to negotiate, and thereby reshape the ideas of those that they try to serve. Sometimes this can lead to what diplomats call “a full and frank discussion” but at the end of it, both readers and publishers end up having learned something about themselves, their approaches, and the validity of what they are doing. In other words, we’re back to what I believe lies at the heart of Dogme learning principles – negotiation and cooperation are useful in themselves as ways of advancing knowledge, understanding, and more significantly, LEARNing – a question of adapting oneself to changing educational conditions.

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Tim: Absolutely, and that’s LEARNing that can and must happen for all involved, I think.

Laurence: So we are on the same page! But, I have to ask – as a publisher – what do you think “Dogme-inspired” materials should “look” like?

Tim: Ahhh, now there’s a question…

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…to be CONTINUED…