Paulo Freire, author of the book
“Cartas a quien pretende enseñar” addresses his written work to the teachers. The
book is home of ten letters concerning different points about the process of
teaching and learning, the characteristics of a good teacher, first day at
school, the relationship between teachers and students, the difference between
speaking to students and talking to them, discipline, among others.
On the first letter, Freire
highlights different points:
Teaching and learning as a
process that cannot be separated. He refers to this, as the fact of a teacher
learning through their teaching.
Learning is a shared
responsibility by the teacher and by the learners. He compares this to the act
of reading and writing. He explains that when a person writes, part of their
job is to make the written work understandable for the reader. However, is also
the reader’s duty to understand what the author is trying to convey by his
words. Similarly, he says, one of the challenges of a teacher is to awake
curiosity on the students to learn, but also the students have the
responsibility to participate on the process of their own learning.
Assessment not necessarily means
a passing grade, but a reflection about the teaching process in order to
improve it.
I would like to state briefly a phrase which I
agree with and which relates to Fraire’s idea about the process of learning and
teaching.
‘The
teaching is to the teacher, and it comes back most to him’ by Walt Witman. When
I finished my studies at university, I thought I was completely ready to face
the challenge of teaching. However, just as my short experience as a teacher
has lasted, I have realized of all the things I have learnt about. By this learning I do not only mean the
things that should be done in a classroom, but the experiences, the anecdotes, the
joy, and the lessons (positives or negatives) that students can bring to us.
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