Para culminar nuestro seminario... una reflexión!

As we come near the end, it is good to look back and ponder upon all the contents explored in class. This seminar has allowed me to become more of a reflective individual rather than an indifferent and reactive student. In the following reflection I will give a small summary of what was done in class, how I felt about it, my achievements. And questions on how I will use the acquired knowledge for useful and relevant practice in the future.

The learning events can be summarized in three major categories: (1) the curriculum and the Institutional Educational Project (PEI), (2) the various educational policies in our country, and (3) the second language acquisition in addition to linguistic culture and language policy. Starting with the curriculum and the PEI, we analyzed the components of a curriculum such as the objectives, the resources used to create one, the audience it is designed for and lastly the fundamental characteristics that make a good curriculum also taking into account the aspects mentioned by an important Spanish psychologist, Cesar Coll. I felt this topic was presented with clarity and I thought it complemented the objectives we have sought in class: to become aware of every process, to question and encounter new boundaries. The activity that most stood out to me and had a significant learning experience was going over the readings Enfoques curriculares para el siglo XXI by Rafael Rodriguex Rodriguez and El Currículo una construcción permanente by author Daniel Hernández. These readings efficiently pointed out what makes a good curriculum such as flexibility, educational quality, and community-based projects. In the previous semesters I hadn’t reflected on how essential it was to have a good curriculum for carrying and helping every learning community reach individual and cultural objectives. 

The educational policies we went over in the seminars, Ley 115 and Decreto 1860, allowed me to see that our country really strives to remedy and defend the right to education. Moreover, I believe we should look at the positive aspects of these laws that seek to guarantee an organized governing body that will stimulate more proficiency in the schools. As I mentioned in my caligram, these laws drive and protect education in our country, however, as a future teacher I asked myself how I might put them into practice: will they be relevant and protected in my classrooms? Will my students experience an education that will meet their needs? Sometimes laws can create an ideal that will never fit to reality. I think structure is important, but I think we should be careful not to miss the real purpose and what educators are for. Hopefully when I become a teacher I will remember what I learned during these seminars and be active and not indifferent to our students’ needs. 

This is why I enjoyed very much the part where we learned about methodologies because it is where the teacher can interact with his or her students in creating new challenges and environments that will have everlasting impressions in their lives. After learning about curriculum, laws, and methodologies I have come to consider that teaching is a very serious job!

In the future I would like to be a teacher who helps become the learner the best that he or she can be. I know it will be beneficial to understand how all these concepts work in real life and I will definitely be more aware of the upcoming demands teaching requires, it is hard work! This seminar has changed my perspective on teaching; it has helped me question standards, be more tolerant and a better communicator. I look forward to planning new learning experiences.