In a recent mini survey of 17 language teachers from 10 Anglican schools, I asked them to list 3 qualities they hoped a graduating student from their school would demonstrate. The responses, visualised in the above Word Cloud, were not surprisingly similar; the most commonly nominated qualities sitting under the broader concept of 'hospitality'. But could there be a gap between what we aspire to develop in our students and what our current framework of mandatory outcomes and assessment criteria actually promote? Can we make a difference by being more intentional in our pedagogical approaches, while still respecting course requirements? David Smith, in his article Hospitality, Language Pedagogy and Communities of Practice, suggests a variety of forms the concept of hospitality may take in the practices of the language classroom. I have summarised his ideas below:
Of course, our pedagogy alone cannot develop Christ-likeness in our students, but it can act as an encouragement or a hindrance to that goal. Through our intentional choices we can help close the gap between what we aspire to and what we may actually produce.
2 Comments
Rachel Moore
11/10/2016 08:59:37 am
Thanks Libby! A great focus for the term ahead!
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11/10/2016 12:33:16 pm
Thanks Libby ... we had a PD yesterday with focus on what a Christian school looks like and there are many tensions, but it is good to have David Smith's ideas for languages classrooms!
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