Teachers' Net Uruguay: Speaking activity at liceo #1

It is often said that the most important asset of any enterprise is the talent and enthusiasm of its workforce. Education is no exception to this premise.
Being teachers such a vital element in the educational process, when designing policies aimed at getting better academic results, what policymakers must not forget is that teachers are no different from employees in the private sector. They want to succeed in their jobs and they demand the tools, the respect, and the sense of empowerment necessary to reach this goal.
As University of Washington scholar Dan Goldhaber stands, "It appears that the most important thing a school can do, is to provide its students with good teachers".
But teachers are known to improve when they analyze, evaluate, and experiment with colleagues in purposeful learning communities (Fullan, 2001). Fullan also suggests that the school level change strategy is developing professional learning community within schools and emphasize the importance of strong teacher community. Therefore, teachers need to be enabled and encouraged to establish a community of learners among themselves (Lave & Wegner, 1991). Maclaughlin and Talbert (2001) also indicated that a collaborative community of practice in which teachers share instructional resources and reflections in practice appear essential to their persistence and success in innovating classroom practices (p.22).
Building up organizations that are able to learn – according to Kofman and Senge- requires basic changes in the ways people think and interact. “The heart of the learning organizations are communities of commitment. Without communities of people genuinely committed to the organizations’ goals, there is no real change”.

domingo, 18 de abril de 2010

Speaking activity at liceo #1

Last week I was invited to witness teacher Andrea Fernandez and her 1BD 5's speaking activity at liceo #1 (Artigas) .

It was a very enriching experience; the students were engaged in the activity and all of them managed to introduce themselves and give their classmates all sorts of interesting data about their families and lives . Each and every student participated; some of them showing great creativity and a natural gift for speeches.

Andrea did a great job; she monitored and gave students some hints without "intruding" on what they were doing, so as to avoid breaking the "natural flow".

Thanks, Andrea! It was a memorable experience.