Learn how to learn or else
How many times have you seen the dawn? How many successful companies do you know? Now, do you understand how and why such things happen? See, that is exactly the same answer you may get from a seasoned teacher like me, when you ask him or her: why we have successful students. Beats me! And when I say seasoned, what I mean is that some of us have become competent through trial and experience. But as far as understanding what are the underlying causes for this or that. Nope. What I want to do in this text is to share my feelings, believes/” knowledge” and behaviors regarding this topic, both as a teacher and as a student. Afterwards, I would like to explore the aspects in which this course has changed or rather, is starting to change the way I see it all.
To start with, I have to say that I was an average student in Mexico City, who thought that the good teachers were gentle and interesting. Unfortunately, in my elementary and middle education I only found a couple of these cases. Later on, I found out that my luck was not going to change in the vocational school I decided to attend to. Teachers in general were Engineers or Bachelors who hated to teach. Probably the worst cases were those who taught Mathematics. There, I discovered my inability to understand the simplest equations, leave alone calculus and whatever goes in between. The explanation was clear, I could not understand because my teachers were lousy, period. The problem was that out of the blue, a nice, patient and enthusiastic old teacher appeared. It demolished my alibi, the guys who were able to understand the “bad teachers” (let me get back to them later) were not only able to understand even more, but also thrilled, and I was still stuck in that miserable, dark well. I was not really cut out to study something related to mathematics. After three years of suffering ( and honestly playing hookey regularly), I graduated. As I was leaving my old school the last day, I heard some noise coming from the auditorium, it was a lecture, about a major in psychology, an Argentinean lady was talking about it, she explained how much it was centered in the human being, his emotions etc, etc. I was fascinated, that was my stuff, not cold circuits and even colder derivations.
Once registered in the University, I felt free and happy of being as far as possible for Pythagoras and his followers. But surprise, I learnt that the program included: Mathematical Logic, Mathematics I, II and III, Statistics I and II and finally a course on SPSS. What the…? It nearly cost me the degree. I managed to course every other subject I could, until it was clear there was no way out. I passed the first course, but the following three were a nightmare, I failed a couple of times each.
Then, in sheer desperation I did something I cannot regret… And here it comes to my mind a joke I read:
A student comes to a young professor's office hours. She glances down the hall, closes his door, and kneels pleadingly."I would do anything to pass this exam," she says. She leans closer to him, flips back her hair, and gazes meaningfully into his eyes. "I mean," she whispers, "I would do anything..."He returns her gaze, "Anything?""Anything."His voice softens, "Anything?""Anything," she repeats again. His voice turns to a whisper. "Would you ... study?"
Well, not exactly. I decided to buy a series of book(lets) called Schaum’s, starting with algebra and so on. Every now and then, I asked my girlfriend (now my wife) who happened to be good at maths, to explain why something was the way it was, she used to tellme to focus on the procedures and not on the ultimate reason of everything. The fact is that, the more I insisted in knowing why, the less I progressed toward my goal. Finally, I accepted what I had to do. Every single night, after work, from 11:00 p.m.to say 1:00 a.m. I practiced my factorial rules, tried to understand what the functions were. Finally, I could pass all of them. I won’t lie, I barely passed, but I did. I got a degree, but my aversion for mathematics was still there. However, my discipline paid off. Now I don’t remember a single thing of that, but after taking the course I am seriously considering to delve into that old Shaum’s series and see if I can listen to that music you talk about, who knows, I may get an interesting upgrading to my brain. By the way, every time I recall this anecdote I can’t help almost listening to one line in the lyrics of ”Mighty, mighty” by Earth, Wind and Fire, early seventies):
“ …in our hearts lie all the answers, to the truth you can’t run from”
Years later, I studied a master’s degree in psychology, and again, Statistics made me suffer. In spite of the fact that I finished all the credits, I never faced the final challenge: The Thesis. Do you want to know what procrastination is? Well, there you go. Twenty three years after concluding that master’s, I am still considering if I can do it or not. You may think I don’t have a topic of my interest. Wrong, I clearly know that I want to work on” Motivational and attitudinal aspects underlying the failure in (L2) language learning”. No research is carried out in my country in such field. I am convinced that the lack of motivation, due to the blind spot on the role of English, in this case, in their future, along with a weird political correctness according to which learning English is "uncool", make me think it could provide me with a solid foundation to launch an Attitude changing program, which in turn, could lower the barriers some public college students have set up against English, making it easier for the EFL teachers to deal with their job.
Sometimes I tell my student the following joke:
A mother mouse and a baby mouse were walking along, when all of a sudden, a cat attacked them. The mother mouse goes, "BARK!" and the cat runs away.
"See?" says the mother mouse to her baby. "Now do you see why it's important to learn a foreign language?"
But they seem not to get it.
After all I have said, I know, I know, I can hear you saying:” what are you waiting for?” Once, a friend of mine, who had Karl Popper as his tutor in Germany, told me: “To write a thesis, one day you write a page, and the next one another one and so on and so forth” If only I had already taken this course then, I would have understood what I knew deep inside. Let me explain, as a former climber I knew only too well that focusing on the process and not the product makes perfect sense. Otherwise, thinking in how much is left, becomes too painful, compared to the simple step after step that will eventually take you to the summit. Honestly, I am considering the steps I have to take in order to achieve this goal, including a Specialization offered by Coursera and the University of Amsterdam. For sure, whatever I do, “Pomodoro Technique” will be the keystone of my work.
Probably, at this point you are wondering: when is this guy going to refer to the promised topics? In fact, I am telling you that this course has given light on why many things seem not to work, when they should.
Allow me to give you a couple of examples of other areas where this course could have made me understand why things were not working or even better, why they worked and I was not able to get why.
Among the many jobs I have had, teaching courses on “team formation”, "leadership” and related topics was an interesting, yet disconcerting one. There was something that always bothered me and it was the fact that no matter how much effort everybody invested in such courses, whatever change achieved by the participants washed away after some weeks in most of the cases. Teaching them the reasons and allowing them to feel the effects of what we were experiencing was not enough. Why? In a minute, please.
I once decided to take my chances as an EFL Teacher. Rumor has it that my command of English was very poor. In the 70’s when I studied English, it was far from something well established here in Mexico. That is why I had to find out a way to improve my English on my own. I started studying grammar in a book called “ First Certificate Language Practice” by Michael Vince, which explains very carefully each rule of say, a tense or a form, and then provides you with plenty of practice (deliberate practice, I would say), I bought a novel ( The daughter of the red deer. By Joan Wolf.) And started reading a text plenty of vocabulary I frequently ignored. Finally, I got as many T.V. series and films in English as I could, being careful to have the C.C. option. That way a journey started, when I saw it was helping me, I decided to ask my students to attempt it. It was an immediate success. I did not know, and I would learn it later, that a linguist called Stephen Krashen had established a pair of theories. The Acquisition Theory and the Input Theory, they alone explained why my procedures worked, anyway, the theories did not tell me all I needed to know. The grammar book offered the deliberate practice and focus mode required, and we know that practice makes permanent, and believe me, it does. The novel, when the person is eager to read, gives us the kind of zombie that keeps grinding on vocabulary and re-cycling grammar. On the other hand, films and T.V. series set excellent conditions for diffuse mode in which auditory and visual memory help establish new neural circuits without a great effort. Nowadays, I prepare candidates for international certifications, and regular testing, both with quizzes and full past papers are taken every now and then, with incredible results. Now I know why. Thanks for that All this, opposite to what some students sometimes beg for, huge lists of vocabulary or verbs they promise to cram on. I consider this the kind of practices that promote the illusions of competence in my field.
Eugene Raudsepp wrote: “ If you want to develop your creativity, establish regular work habits. Allow time for the incubation of ideas, adhere to your individual rhythm. Violations of this rhythm can retard your creative efficiency”.
Very well, but as much as I like Raudsepp, his advice lacks exactly the same as my friend’s: the mechanics, the real knowhow. That nitty-gritty the course gave us, the clue to understand what is behind the failures and successes. The right timing:, Pomodoro as well as finish time planning. My courses failed because we assumed that understanding and feeling was enough, but establishing habits takes much more than that, otherwise zombies take over again, no values, approaches or procedures can be changed this way.
Let me pose some conclusions:
· I was not taught how to master my habits. But I am learning every day.
· Successful students, somehow have their zombies at bay.
· In my country, all you need to teach in a university, is a BA., BS or a BE and only recently, a master’s degree.
· Bad teachers are so, not only when they don’t love what they do, but also when they ignore what lies beneath ( both, their hatred and the learning process)
· I now know, how to make Schaum´s count even more..Promise, I'll do it.
· My research now, has to take under consideration brain’s biochemistry principles as well as habit settling techniques.
One last anecdote:
I do not know what happens in other countries, but in Mexico there are three main challenges when it comes to teaching: teens, depressed people and, of course teachers. I mean, probably there must be outstanding exceptions, but it is very tough to teach someone who is convinced that everything has been said beforehand, or who is really eager not to learn anything at all. Eight years ago, I was teaching a course on Creativity and Innovation in education, and the final assignment was to teach a lesson they had already taught for a long time, in a very innovative way, creativity was valued over efficiency. However, an old accountant, did the following:
Opened a notebook, started reading the first page, then the second one and ended up with the third one. He closed his presentation with this remark: “And this is how I have taught this lesson for over 30 years, there is no need to change what is perfect” No chance he can accept new options.
Let me give you an image for Einstellung: The face of the mind behind the formula E= mc², Albert Einstein next to a human lung. Would it work? Sorry if not.
All the concepts used in this article come from the MOOC: Learn how to learn and the book A mind for numbers. How to excel at math and science. Barbara Oakley, Ph.D.Jeremy P Tarcher/Penguin. 2014. USA. para modificar.
Jorge Zárate
October 29, 2014
To start with, I have to say that I was an average student in Mexico City, who thought that the good teachers were gentle and interesting. Unfortunately, in my elementary and middle education I only found a couple of these cases. Later on, I found out that my luck was not going to change in the vocational school I decided to attend to. Teachers in general were Engineers or Bachelors who hated to teach. Probably the worst cases were those who taught Mathematics. There, I discovered my inability to understand the simplest equations, leave alone calculus and whatever goes in between. The explanation was clear, I could not understand because my teachers were lousy, period. The problem was that out of the blue, a nice, patient and enthusiastic old teacher appeared. It demolished my alibi, the guys who were able to understand the “bad teachers” (let me get back to them later) were not only able to understand even more, but also thrilled, and I was still stuck in that miserable, dark well. I was not really cut out to study something related to mathematics. After three years of suffering ( and honestly playing hookey regularly), I graduated. As I was leaving my old school the last day, I heard some noise coming from the auditorium, it was a lecture, about a major in psychology, an Argentinean lady was talking about it, she explained how much it was centered in the human being, his emotions etc, etc. I was fascinated, that was my stuff, not cold circuits and even colder derivations.
Once registered in the University, I felt free and happy of being as far as possible for Pythagoras and his followers. But surprise, I learnt that the program included: Mathematical Logic, Mathematics I, II and III, Statistics I and II and finally a course on SPSS. What the…? It nearly cost me the degree. I managed to course every other subject I could, until it was clear there was no way out. I passed the first course, but the following three were a nightmare, I failed a couple of times each.
Then, in sheer desperation I did something I cannot regret… And here it comes to my mind a joke I read:
A student comes to a young professor's office hours. She glances down the hall, closes his door, and kneels pleadingly."I would do anything to pass this exam," she says. She leans closer to him, flips back her hair, and gazes meaningfully into his eyes. "I mean," she whispers, "I would do anything..."He returns her gaze, "Anything?""Anything."His voice softens, "Anything?""Anything," she repeats again. His voice turns to a whisper. "Would you ... study?"
Well, not exactly. I decided to buy a series of book(lets) called Schaum’s, starting with algebra and so on. Every now and then, I asked my girlfriend (now my wife) who happened to be good at maths, to explain why something was the way it was, she used to tellme to focus on the procedures and not on the ultimate reason of everything. The fact is that, the more I insisted in knowing why, the less I progressed toward my goal. Finally, I accepted what I had to do. Every single night, after work, from 11:00 p.m.to say 1:00 a.m. I practiced my factorial rules, tried to understand what the functions were. Finally, I could pass all of them. I won’t lie, I barely passed, but I did. I got a degree, but my aversion for mathematics was still there. However, my discipline paid off. Now I don’t remember a single thing of that, but after taking the course I am seriously considering to delve into that old Shaum’s series and see if I can listen to that music you talk about, who knows, I may get an interesting upgrading to my brain. By the way, every time I recall this anecdote I can’t help almost listening to one line in the lyrics of ”Mighty, mighty” by Earth, Wind and Fire, early seventies):
“ …in our hearts lie all the answers, to the truth you can’t run from”
Years later, I studied a master’s degree in psychology, and again, Statistics made me suffer. In spite of the fact that I finished all the credits, I never faced the final challenge: The Thesis. Do you want to know what procrastination is? Well, there you go. Twenty three years after concluding that master’s, I am still considering if I can do it or not. You may think I don’t have a topic of my interest. Wrong, I clearly know that I want to work on” Motivational and attitudinal aspects underlying the failure in (L2) language learning”. No research is carried out in my country in such field. I am convinced that the lack of motivation, due to the blind spot on the role of English, in this case, in their future, along with a weird political correctness according to which learning English is "uncool", make me think it could provide me with a solid foundation to launch an Attitude changing program, which in turn, could lower the barriers some public college students have set up against English, making it easier for the EFL teachers to deal with their job.
Sometimes I tell my student the following joke:
A mother mouse and a baby mouse were walking along, when all of a sudden, a cat attacked them. The mother mouse goes, "BARK!" and the cat runs away.
"See?" says the mother mouse to her baby. "Now do you see why it's important to learn a foreign language?"
But they seem not to get it.
After all I have said, I know, I know, I can hear you saying:” what are you waiting for?” Once, a friend of mine, who had Karl Popper as his tutor in Germany, told me: “To write a thesis, one day you write a page, and the next one another one and so on and so forth” If only I had already taken this course then, I would have understood what I knew deep inside. Let me explain, as a former climber I knew only too well that focusing on the process and not the product makes perfect sense. Otherwise, thinking in how much is left, becomes too painful, compared to the simple step after step that will eventually take you to the summit. Honestly, I am considering the steps I have to take in order to achieve this goal, including a Specialization offered by Coursera and the University of Amsterdam. For sure, whatever I do, “Pomodoro Technique” will be the keystone of my work.
Probably, at this point you are wondering: when is this guy going to refer to the promised topics? In fact, I am telling you that this course has given light on why many things seem not to work, when they should.
Allow me to give you a couple of examples of other areas where this course could have made me understand why things were not working or even better, why they worked and I was not able to get why.
Among the many jobs I have had, teaching courses on “team formation”, "leadership” and related topics was an interesting, yet disconcerting one. There was something that always bothered me and it was the fact that no matter how much effort everybody invested in such courses, whatever change achieved by the participants washed away after some weeks in most of the cases. Teaching them the reasons and allowing them to feel the effects of what we were experiencing was not enough. Why? In a minute, please.
I once decided to take my chances as an EFL Teacher. Rumor has it that my command of English was very poor. In the 70’s when I studied English, it was far from something well established here in Mexico. That is why I had to find out a way to improve my English on my own. I started studying grammar in a book called “ First Certificate Language Practice” by Michael Vince, which explains very carefully each rule of say, a tense or a form, and then provides you with plenty of practice (deliberate practice, I would say), I bought a novel ( The daughter of the red deer. By Joan Wolf.) And started reading a text plenty of vocabulary I frequently ignored. Finally, I got as many T.V. series and films in English as I could, being careful to have the C.C. option. That way a journey started, when I saw it was helping me, I decided to ask my students to attempt it. It was an immediate success. I did not know, and I would learn it later, that a linguist called Stephen Krashen had established a pair of theories. The Acquisition Theory and the Input Theory, they alone explained why my procedures worked, anyway, the theories did not tell me all I needed to know. The grammar book offered the deliberate practice and focus mode required, and we know that practice makes permanent, and believe me, it does. The novel, when the person is eager to read, gives us the kind of zombie that keeps grinding on vocabulary and re-cycling grammar. On the other hand, films and T.V. series set excellent conditions for diffuse mode in which auditory and visual memory help establish new neural circuits without a great effort. Nowadays, I prepare candidates for international certifications, and regular testing, both with quizzes and full past papers are taken every now and then, with incredible results. Now I know why. Thanks for that All this, opposite to what some students sometimes beg for, huge lists of vocabulary or verbs they promise to cram on. I consider this the kind of practices that promote the illusions of competence in my field.
Eugene Raudsepp wrote: “ If you want to develop your creativity, establish regular work habits. Allow time for the incubation of ideas, adhere to your individual rhythm. Violations of this rhythm can retard your creative efficiency”.
Very well, but as much as I like Raudsepp, his advice lacks exactly the same as my friend’s: the mechanics, the real knowhow. That nitty-gritty the course gave us, the clue to understand what is behind the failures and successes. The right timing:, Pomodoro as well as finish time planning. My courses failed because we assumed that understanding and feeling was enough, but establishing habits takes much more than that, otherwise zombies take over again, no values, approaches or procedures can be changed this way.
Let me pose some conclusions:
· I was not taught how to master my habits. But I am learning every day.
· Successful students, somehow have their zombies at bay.
· In my country, all you need to teach in a university, is a BA., BS or a BE and only recently, a master’s degree.
· Bad teachers are so, not only when they don’t love what they do, but also when they ignore what lies beneath ( both, their hatred and the learning process)
· I now know, how to make Schaum´s count even more..Promise, I'll do it.
· My research now, has to take under consideration brain’s biochemistry principles as well as habit settling techniques.
One last anecdote:
I do not know what happens in other countries, but in Mexico there are three main challenges when it comes to teaching: teens, depressed people and, of course teachers. I mean, probably there must be outstanding exceptions, but it is very tough to teach someone who is convinced that everything has been said beforehand, or who is really eager not to learn anything at all. Eight years ago, I was teaching a course on Creativity and Innovation in education, and the final assignment was to teach a lesson they had already taught for a long time, in a very innovative way, creativity was valued over efficiency. However, an old accountant, did the following:
Opened a notebook, started reading the first page, then the second one and ended up with the third one. He closed his presentation with this remark: “And this is how I have taught this lesson for over 30 years, there is no need to change what is perfect” No chance he can accept new options.
Let me give you an image for Einstellung: The face of the mind behind the formula E= mc², Albert Einstein next to a human lung. Would it work? Sorry if not.
All the concepts used in this article come from the MOOC: Learn how to learn and the book A mind for numbers. How to excel at math and science. Barbara Oakley, Ph.D.Jeremy P Tarcher/Penguin. 2014. USA. para modificar.
Jorge Zárate
October 29, 2014