Learning Depth
I was going through a few of my old draft posts and found this gem from Clarence Fisher: Blogging Depth. Ouch! I totally see how this relates to everything "learning" don’t you? Are we out there "surfing" our curriculums, or are we slowing down to dive deep?
I think ESL classrooms are no exception, and could greatly profit from teachers who refuse to surf. Language learning is a long-term engagement that would would only get better and more meaningful if we just slowed down. Course books hate that. At least the ones I’m stuck with do. They seem to delight in dropping hit and run grammar bombs. Students are rudely introduced to the grammar theme, are invited to lightly play with the rule in the few activities that come after the rough explanation, and then bam! You’re off like a shot into the next activity. It’s a polaroid moment."Schoolwork up 50%. I’d be very interested in knowing where this stat came from. Courses filled and well padded in around the edges with goals of all types. So many pressure groups, so many governments and departments each with their own agenda, each needing to justify their existence, their philosophy, their view.
Surfers abound in this type of environment, but depth of perception falters."(Fisher, 2005)
Point I’m pondering now: What would happen if you speant a few weeks diving deep into the Present Perfect or Wh- questions? What if you actually had extended, authentic encounters around the grammar or language point? That’s easy! It would rock. But do we have the time?
