HAVING comfortably settled into the social and academic life at Bishop Grosseteste University I have noticed a lot of dynamics about teaching and learning in the university when I reflect on my experience so far.
These are worth reflecting on because my experiences have been significantly different from what I experienced at the university where I studied toward my undergraduate degree.
The first thing I noticed about the teaching at BGU is that it's generally activity-based: learning is a very practical and exciting experience. In virtually all the lessons I had in the first semester, I did either individual or group activities. This happened both in TESOL and Global English.
The lecturers introduced the learning objectives/content, provided the context and allowed us the students to own our learning while they supervised. For instance, during my undergraduate years I learned all the language teaching methods in theory, but in BGU our tutors and lecturers are more concerned about guiding us to use the ideas of the teaching methods/theories to teach; they avoided spending the whole time describing what the theories are. This way, we engaged with the theories in very practical terms - which, in my opinion, is actually how it should be.
Another aspect of the teaching and learning process I have found very important, in fact the most important, is the evaluation and feedback system. Lecturers constantly monitor the progress of students through periodic evaluation and feedback. After each activity/task, the lecturers provide immediate feedback which informs the students on their strengths and shortcomings, and how to consolidate or improve respectively.
This way, I don’t get stuck with anything for too long before my lecturers offer solutions through their constructive feedback, which reinforces my confidence in learning. This is quite unlike what happens in my undergraduate university where the feedback only comes at the end of the semester, thereby creating a wide gap between what the students know and what they should know.
Closely related to the above is the good student-teacher relationship in BGU. I have found the way lecturers relate to students in and outside the classroom very rewarding. This relationship puts the students in a very relaxed and confident mood. Apart from the fixed lesson periods, all other activities are negotiable between the students and the teachers. The lecturers highly respect the opinions and dignity of the students, and this engenders mutual respect between both parties at all times.
But what I have found strange is the fact that exams are not taken on my course. I have always believed that it is important to test the performance of students under examinations conditions. This helps in dealing with confidence issues. But again, perhaps, it is this way because of the practical nature of instruction in the university.
On the MA Education with TESOL programme, I would recommend additional language modules to enrich the knowledge of those training to become English teachers. This is very important, given that some students on the course do not have any knowledge of Linguistics or English as a discipline. I do not know how one can be trained to teach what they do not know themselves.
By and large, the experience so far has been a rewarding one. I look forward to second and third terms which I hope will be as good as the first semester.
With what I have learned so far and the much I still have to learn, I am confident that BGU and MA Education with TESOL were both good choices; by the time I complete my programme next year, I hope I will have struck a balance between my previous theoretical knowledge and my current practical skills to become even more effective as a 21st century teacher of English in the context of a second language.
