Between other aspects of curricula (based on the reading of the extract
of the book “Key Concepts for Understanding Curriculum” by Colin J. Marsh, posted
by our teacher on the Virtual Campus) during our last lesson in class we were
talking about the possibility of curricula as a descriptive or prescriptive subject.
Definitely we conclude that it is a wider, creative and in some way
flexible subject. Although, we need to take into account the main points
established in contents and underlying principles that comprise the curricula
for Primary School Teaching:
1-Royal Decree, 1513/2006
2-Individual specifications by
Comunidades Autónomas (additional and complementary requirements)
3-Royal Degree, European Framework of
languages (minimum syllabus, methodological rules, minimum grammar aspects by
level, topics, objectives)
It is not a prescriptive subject because curricula is not a “step by
step” subject. Being prescriptive imply the lack of creativity. Everything is
fixed, what and how to do things. A methodology that not success for all
capacities or needs.
Curricula it is not an instruction manual for
perfect results. It’s a wide range, not a detailed program to be followed.
There are many aspects to be
included when teaching children. When planning, we teachers have to be in
accordance with the official curriculum but this curricula is general and does
not take into account the particular needs of our students.
We, as teachers, deeply believe in
the importance of the integral development of the children, including not only
the contents but also their personal needs and feeling. We must start from a
humanistic approach in which the affective and human values are taking into consideration;
we also believe a language can be taught through communicative purpose.
Humans are social and in this aspect
communication is inherent and essential to its being. Through communication
children can develop techniques to solve problems, cohabit, tolerance… in other
way; they learn to live in community.
According to Littlewood and Johnson
(1981, 1982), the theory of learning of this communicative approach principles
can be discerned from their practices. So that, when planning an activity one
should take into account the following:
1.The communication principle:
activities that involve real communication promote learning.
2.The task principle: activities in
which language is used for carrying out meaningful tasks promote learning.
3.The meaningfulness principle:
language that is meaningful to the learner supports the learning process.
If we focus learning from
interaction and communication, as these are its primary function, we may
succeed into a meaningful learning and into reaching the basic competences.
Also to be consider is the support
we use to show our children the contents they are about to learn. Our students
will need to learn the linguistic forms of the language, its meaning and how to
use it or its function.
The notional-functional approach
gives the children an adequate method for the acquisition of the basic
structures to communicate in different context: greetings, descriptions, complaining,
etc.
This methodology can easily fail in discordance
with our pupils interests and self-needs of communication. That is why a
teacher will have to produce activities that will be complemented by other
approaches. An eclectic approach when teaching will be more connected also with
the multiple intelligence theory, which says that different people learn
through different ways (8 different intelligences).
Following, we show and activity
where the notion and function of the
language we are going to teach are exposed through an audiovisual support and using repetition (some drills can be useful especially at early stages) and with a purpose that connects with the
children interests and needs; to play a game.
Education is the greatest
investment a country can do. The great challenge for society this new XXI
Century is not developing the military industry, being above over other nations
or winning sports competitions. The great challenge for society is becoming a
community where freedom, respect, solidarity, self-realization, social
protection and innovation; and this goal only can be real with people highly
trained and with a big education.
Schools are freedom factories and, in this point, the
figure of the teacher takes capital importance.
The teacher of this new century must
be a friend who guides the children to get their own way, a person in which
they can trust and who teaches the value of respectful and solidarity; a figure
who is really far from the classic dictatorial teacher from last centuries and
with a teaching based on repetition and obedience:
And in this new society,
communication is a capital point, communication between persons and nations;
so, the study of foreign languages becomes an important objective in school.
About languajes, the absence of a
common language in the world (the idea of the Esperanto unfortunately has not
been successful) and the big cultural, economical and military influence of the
United Kingdom and specially the United States of America has made the English language
becoming de facto the most common
language, with Spanish and French behind it.
As Spaniards, the study of foreign
languages was centered in French during a big part of the last XX Century and English
actually.
Unfortunately, the study of foreign
languajes in our country has big deficiencies in the method –we only have to
compare the bilingualism in the countries of the north Europe and the low level
of our students, even after having studied English for years at school- and
elements like dubbed films don’t help in the learning.
Our method, based in the grammar,
like the ancient study of the old Latin language, makes the use of the language
something dysfunctional. The language is alive and must be used in life, because,
otherwise, becomes something useless with no identification with the children's
life.
The new teacher of the XXI century,
when faces the teaching of MFL must make the children enjoy the subject with an
active learning and giving them the freedom for being creative. The use of the
new technologies and audiovisual resources shall help in this task.
The most important, making the
children feeling the learning like something from them, something that shall be
with them forever and that will be useful in their lives.
This is our great challenge: help
educate people and open frontiers of understanding between cultures.
