María Victoria Sánchez Samblas

Reflections on Teaching

Examine your role as a teacher

First, I have to say that one of the first feelings I experienced upon beginning to teach classes this
semester, was that of perceiving how external circumstances, the institution in which you teach, the culture,
the society or academic tradition that produced your students or in which they have been educated, can
bring you to reflect on your role as professor in the classroom.
In my path teaching Spanish classes, I have always focused on giving priority to communication
between students and facilitating an open and relaxed climate in class. However, my Spanish 102 class
has caused me to consider many other aspects. First, I have reflected on the weight of institutional factors
on the role of the professor. This is the first time in which I’ve worked with a method and some criteria of
evaluation selected by the institution in which I teach. Although I have a lot of liberty, the manner in which
they assign me evaluation dates according to the sequence of the content is a novel thing that influences
the rhythm of my teaching and the time that I dedicate to each subject. This is incredibly different that
personally creating one’s materials or curriculum.
However, there is another more important and decisive aspect: this course has caused me to
question in a positive manner the focus of my teaching and to learn the needs of my students. In
agreement with my formation as a L2 Spanish professor, and my personal attitude, my focus has always
been communicative. Following Richards and Lockhart (pg. 103), within this communicative focus I have
always felt like a “facilitator of communication.” In addition, I am part of the real communication process and
of the learning inside of my class, in which I am, of course, also learning. I have always felt like a guide, a
resource for my students rather than an omniscient or authoritative presence. I have observed with
understanding mistakes, though of course warning my students of them. I believe that this choice of focus
has let my experiences take very different contexts than the one that occupies us.
Upon beginning this course, I believe that my students were disoriented and perplexed. For the
majority, they had proceeded learning a controlled Spanish, with a traditional focus where the professor
was an unquestionable figure, and where they represented a passive role inside the classroom, receiving
information, completing homework and realizing the same things. At times, I worried about the idea that my
open attitude about dialogue would give them the impression that Spanish classes are not rigorous or that
they are not learning anything and are wasting their time communicating in class. Because of my new
situation, I have revised my attitude in class, trying to adapt to my new context. I did not pretend to radically
change my focus, but I intend for the students to positively value the type of learning I presented them with.
In this manner, I always offer explanations of every activity that we do in class. If I propose an oral exercise,
I explain to them beforehand my objectives, the function, and the grammar they are practicing. I believe
that this can facilitate the transition from one focus to another, and at the same time, I have observed that
their attitude in class has improved. It opens them to communication, showing a more active attitude in
class. Also, my rigorous collection and correction of homework demonstrates to them that the class is not a
waste of time, and teaches them to value the class as a place of communication, without seeing in them a
neglect of the functions of the professor or a loss of knowledge. I hope that with this they understand that
they have not abandoned grammar and the type of more traditional exercises and study, simply that at
times, not always, they must take them out of the context of the class because they are more effective if
they work them at home.
I hope that being forced to communicate is good for them and that they learn to communicate in
Spanish because that is what the majority of them really want to learn.