Labels work as a linguistic formaldehyde, especially when we
use them to classify people. The influence of a word is immense and it predisposes
our attitude; we can become prisoners inside those steady descriptions. The noun ‘student’,
for instance, makes us imagine a naive mind that has got much to learn and needs
guidance. This is possibly true but, can a student also teach? I believe so. I
would affirm that pupils could learn concepts better if they currently explained them. I was asked to think of a method that might motivate students to
learn, and this idea came to my mind. The evaluation system explained below is
applied to foreign language subjects.
When students are asked to teach –that is to say, when they
have to take the opposite role,– they
notice how limited their knowledge is. Nevertheless, as they are now teachers
and not students, there is a subconscious feeling of mastering the information.
It may be a slight sense of power; even though, it is much more encouraging
than the passive attitude that pupils expect from themselves in front of a
lecturer. Moreover, while explaining something, your mind organizes the
information, creates schemes and notices the actual relevance of each point
with a different perspective. For these reasons, changing roles is an enriching experience.
The next question is: Why would they feel the motivation to
teach? Some of them will appreciate idealistic words about the value of
education, cultivation, enlightenment, sharing knowledge... Whereas others will not care at all. We can
also give them scientific reasons and explain the psychological basis of this
method, but some students will have no interest. Because of this, we need to
focus on human essential egocentrism and survival instinct. This method consists
in making the students explain their own grammar mistakes in order to pass the
subject. My proposal may sound too demanding, thus I am going to explain it
with more detail.
As I said before, I picture a class in front of me waiting
to learn another language in one semester (from September to February). During
this period of time, they would have to take two writing exams –for instance, one
in October and other in November. They would not know their marks. In December
or January, I would reveal that they have the possibility to revise both previous exams and correct their mistakes, so their final mark would come from
their latest versions. Plus, they would have to explain every self-correction.
Apart from this, there would be another final writing test in February.
Besides, after analysing and correcting October exams, I would have asked students
to explain in one lecture precisely one grammar point they had failed in their exam.
In conclusion, students should realise that learning and
teaching are closely related and this frontier can be trespassed whenever they want
to. There should not be strict roles in education and pupils ought to be given
more credit. We are so concerned about our inferiority as students that we even
feel ashamed if we have to talk in front of our class or show control on the
subject. The moment learners have to teach, they will discover how to manage
the information from a different point of view; some of them will even play
with ideas and feel that longed-for passion about the subject. Lastly, here is a great thought by Einstein that summarises the whole idea: “You do not really understand something unless you
can explain it to your grandmother”.
Exercise: Writing an essay.
