When it comes to teacher-student interaction in the classroom, we very often mention teaching and learning. Odly enough, we also frequently talk about teaching as if it were possible for it to exist without the learning which must result and about learning as if – in its turn – it were not dependent on teaching. The fact is that true teaching and true learning in the classroom are inseparable and cannot together exhaust the complexity of the moment when the teacher and his or her students meet to interact, for – in articulation with teaching and learning – there must be development.
But what is development? What is teaching? What is learning? It is commonplace to talk about things without having a necessarily clear idea about them, even if they are as obvious as they might appear. That is why questions like “what is this or that?”, when asked by somebody who is committed and serious about searching for answers, are often somewhat disturbing and hard to respond immediately. Before anything, in order to define development, one needs to say that it can be thought of as having two different levels: one is real while the other is potential.
The real development level (RDL) is made up of those activities which students are able to handle on their own, without the teacher´s help. In this case, the teacher is justifiably dispensable… Now, the potential development level (PDL) can be described in terms of those activities which students can only handle with the aid of the teacher. In this other case, the teacher becomes indispensable and that is why students go to school to meet him or her! The distance between these two levels is called zone of proximal development (ZPD), that is, a learning “region” that generates the “proximate” development which can only come into effect after the potential is turned into real development, in which students become capable of handling, on their own, those things which they could only handle by initially counting on their teacher´s help.
Teaching, then, is precisely that: a planned systematic act on the teacher´s part to continually engage students in activities which – left alone – they are not able to handle. This act must be accompanied by the teacher helping students overcome their difficulties in order for them to be successful. Learning, in its turn, is an act which demands on the students´ part no less planning and systematicity in trying to handle the activities proposed by the teacher. Obviously, in doing so, students need the teacher´s assistance and mediation so that they will be able to go beyond their current possibilities. Thus, we can come to the conclusion that teaching envolves a professional teacher who puts his or her students in a never-ending learning situation so that, with his or her mediation, students´ development is about the only possible result. This development should then be alternately a point of arrival (PDL) and a point of departure (RDL). This way, students take steps to go forward, one at a time.
The application of these concepts allows us to, deeply and from various standpoints, reflect on and discuss about our concrete teaching practice in the classroom, considering favorable or unfavorable conditions in which students´ lack of discipline and respect – for instance – are so often the rule, not the exception. In my next posts, I will dedicate myself to this kind of application. I invite the readers to follow me.
But what is development? What is teaching? What is learning? It is commonplace to talk about things without having a necessarily clear idea about them, even if they are as obvious as they might appear. That is why questions like “what is this or that?”, when asked by somebody who is committed and serious about searching for answers, are often somewhat disturbing and hard to respond immediately. Before anything, in order to define development, one needs to say that it can be thought of as having two different levels: one is real while the other is potential.
The real development level (RDL) is made up of those activities which students are able to handle on their own, without the teacher´s help. In this case, the teacher is justifiably dispensable… Now, the potential development level (PDL) can be described in terms of those activities which students can only handle with the aid of the teacher. In this other case, the teacher becomes indispensable and that is why students go to school to meet him or her! The distance between these two levels is called zone of proximal development (ZPD), that is, a learning “region” that generates the “proximate” development which can only come into effect after the potential is turned into real development, in which students become capable of handling, on their own, those things which they could only handle by initially counting on their teacher´s help.
Teaching, then, is precisely that: a planned systematic act on the teacher´s part to continually engage students in activities which – left alone – they are not able to handle. This act must be accompanied by the teacher helping students overcome their difficulties in order for them to be successful. Learning, in its turn, is an act which demands on the students´ part no less planning and systematicity in trying to handle the activities proposed by the teacher. Obviously, in doing so, students need the teacher´s assistance and mediation so that they will be able to go beyond their current possibilities. Thus, we can come to the conclusion that teaching envolves a professional teacher who puts his or her students in a never-ending learning situation so that, with his or her mediation, students´ development is about the only possible result. This development should then be alternately a point of arrival (PDL) and a point of departure (RDL). This way, students take steps to go forward, one at a time.
The application of these concepts allows us to, deeply and from various standpoints, reflect on and discuss about our concrete teaching practice in the classroom, considering favorable or unfavorable conditions in which students´ lack of discipline and respect – for instance – are so often the rule, not the exception. In my next posts, I will dedicate myself to this kind of application. I invite the readers to follow me.
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