Coercion of Cooperation?

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Coercion of Cooperation? DOCUMENT RESUME ED 057 694 FL 002 808 AUTHOR Hanzeli, Victor E., Ed.; Love, William D., Ed- TITLE New Teachers for New Students: Proceedings of the Seattle Symposium on the Training of Foreign Language Teachers. INSTITUTION American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, New York, N.Y.; Washington Univ., Seattle. SPONS AGENCY Ford Foundation, New York, N.Y. PUB DATE 70 NOTE 85p. AVAILABLE FROMMLA Materials Center, 62 Fifth Ave., New York, N.Y. 10011($2.00) EDRS PRICE MF-$0.65 HC Not Available from EDRS. DESCRIPTORS *Conference Reports; Educational Improvement; Instructional Program Divisions; Language Instruction; Language Programs; *Language Teachers; *Modern Languages; Motivation; Student Attitudes; *Student Centered Curriculum; Student Teacher Relationship; Teacher Attitudes; *Teacher Education ABSTRACT The papers given at the Seattle Symposium on the Training of Foreign Language Teachers, compiled in this publication, contribute to a redefinition of the purpose of language instruction in education and the role of the foreign language classroom. The interests and aspirations of the "new student," a focal point of the 1970 Northeast Conference, are seen as central to the new learner- centered programs with multiple goals and multiple values that respect each student's motivation and talent. Introductory remarks are followed by these articles:(1) "Teacher Training--For What?" by Lorraine Strasheim,(2) "A Learning-Centered Teacher Training Program" by Donald Ryberg,(3) "Getting There from Here: The Dilemma in Music Education" by James Carlsen, (4) "What Do We Really Want from a Foreign Language Teacher?" by Phillip Leamon,(5) "Teacher student Relations--Coercion of Cooperation? by Wilga Rivers, (6) "The Inservice Education of Foreign Language Teachers" by Leo Benardo, and (7) "Study Program for Foreign Language Teachers at Rennes" by Norman Stokle. A section entitled "Topics and Talk," an epilogue, and a list of participants are included.(RL) NEW TEACHERS FOR NEW STUDENTS PROCEEDINGS OF THE SEATTLE SYMPOSIUM ON THE TRAINING OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHERS Editors: Victor E. Hanzeli William D. Love U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH. EDUCATION & WELFARE OFFICE OF EDUCATION THIS DOCUMENT HAS BEEN REPRDDUCED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED FRD M THE PERSON OR ORGANIZATION ORIGINATING IT. PDINTS OF VIEW OR OPINIDNS STATED DO NOT NECES- SARILY REPRESENT DFFICIAL DFF ICE OF EDU- CATIDN POSITION OR POLICY. Published by the Washington Foreign Language PrOgram, Seattle, Washington, and the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, New York City, New York 1970 by the Washington Foreign Language Program,* 1970 Printed in the United States of America Copies of NEW TEACHERS FOR NEW STUDENTS may by purchased at $1.50 each from the MLA Materials Center, 62 Fifth Avenue, New York City, New York 100011 *The Washington Foreign Language Program is supported by the Ford Foundation "PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS COPYR IGHTED MA AL Y MICROFIC E ONLY HAS B N GRANTED BY 1 ' TO ER IC AND GAN IZATIONS7PERATING 11 ER 4 AGREEMENTS WITH THE U. S. OFFICE OF EDUCATION. FURTHER REPRODUCTION OUTSIDE THE ERIC SYSTEM REQUIRES PERMISSION OF THE COPYR IGHT OWNER." "Teachers teach as they were taught and not as they were taught to teach." Richard A. Graham Director, Teacher Corps "We always find out, too late, that we don't have the experts we need, that in the past we studied the wrong things, but this is bound to remain so. Since we can't know what knowledge will be most needed in the future, it is senseless to try to teach it in advance. Instead, we should try to turn out peop/e who love learning so much and learn so well that they will be able to learn whatever needs to be learned." John Holt How Children Fail CONTENTS Prologue 1 "TEACHER TRAININGFOR WHAT?" by Lorraine Strasheim 3 "A LEARNING-CENTERED TEACHER TRAINING PROGRAM" by DonaldRyberg 8 "GETTiNG THERE FROM HERE: THE DILEMMA IN MUSIC EDUCATION"by James Carlsen 23 "WHAT DO WE REALLY WANT FROM A FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHER?" by PhillipLeamon 35 "TEACHER STUDENT RELATIONSCOERCION OR COOPERATION?" by Wilga Rivers 45 "THE INSERVICE EDUCATION OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHERS"by Leo Benardo 57 "STUDY PROGRAM FOR FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHERSAT RENNES" by Norman Stokle 67 Topics and Talk 69 Epilogue 75 List of Participants 78 PROLOGUE Young and old agree across the generation gap that American education tends to create more problems than it solves for our society. The reasons invoked are, of course, different, and the remedies proposed are at opposite ends of the ideological scale; but the dissatisfaction has reached a level where the recent tenth-anniversary issue of the Saturday Review Education Supplement can speak editorially of a "crisis of confidence" in our schools and the end of the "impossible dream" that prompted massive educational innovations by the post-Sputnik gener- ation. In our own smaller universe, foreign languages have also approached the point where a prompt reassessment of our aims and strategies seems to be in order. The reasons for dissatis- faction need not be spelled out here; they are amply documented in recent issues of The Mod- ern Language Journal, Foreign Language Annals, and the various journals of the AATs. More important than such documentation, however, is a close analysis of the trends within the pro- fession, and the philosophical and educational implications they carry. During the past decade, foreign language teaching has been moving toward more efficient, centralized, and better articulated programs whose aims are more or less uniform. The temper of the time demanded quantitative improvement, and this the movement provided; now, how- ever, there is a new temper and new demands, and, indeed, the "new" student so central to the 1970 Northeast Conference. The response of education, and particularly foreign language education, has so far been ambiguous. Many college entrance and graduation requirements in foreign languages, for example, have either been altered or dropped, a way of sidestepping the issues rather than confronting them. A more positive and constructive response has been the sporadic introduc- tion of new learner-centered programs with multiple goals, and even multiple values, that re- spect each student's motivation and talent. This implies a broadening and elevating of our goals beyond our usual preoccupations with the "four skills" and their "natural sequence." The broadened goals now include exposing students to different modes of thinking and communi- cation, to different sets of cultural values, and to different culturally determined solutions to universal human problems. And this in turn implies the fostering of attitudes not likely to be generated by a highly structured curriculum, strictly human qualities such as independence, tolerance, pluralism, creativity, and compassion. Can we do it? Can we create courses that will inculcate such desirable, but "non-programm- able," behaviors in ou;. students? The question is a loaded one. If we accept the dual proposi- tions inherent in this new movement, i.e., that voluntary learning is the most desirable learning and that learning through example is the best type of that learning, then we have set the bur- den for the success of this new movement directly on ourselves. If we are to achieve our goals through non-coercive learning, then we must accept the responsibility for fostering these very same qualities not only in our curricula and our practicing teachers, but obviously in our teach- er training programs as well. More than ever before we need teachers who are well prepared, committed, sensitive, and independentteachers who can mediate between the necessary demands of a discipline and the ultimate human needs of individual learners. Seeking means of fulfilling this need is our purpose at the Seattle Symposium. During the time provided for free discussion, remember, if you will, thc,t in a time of doubt and searching it is more important to ask fundamental questions about what we are doing than to seek "ad hoc" remedies to our immediate problems. Please feel free also from "methodolo- gical" constraints. Neither the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages nor the Washington Foreign Language Program functions in the manner of the Good Housekeeping In- stitute; we are not in the business of approving or disapproving the thinking of professional gatherings and their recommendations. Do not forget either that a symposium used to be in ancient Greece, and ought to be today, a feasting together, a nourishment of both body and mind in common fellowship. After all, beyond our possible disagreements on particulars, we share a common dedication to our sub- ject matter and a common belief in its importance in the education of the young. The Editors 2 TEACHER TRAINING...FOR WHAT? KEYNOTE ADDRESS Lorraine A. Strasheim Director, Indiana Language Program; Coordinator for School Foreign Languages, Indiana University Several years ago, William Riley Parker took overly zealous Latin teachers to task for equat- ing the study of their discipline with good hygiene; it is a charge which can be leveled at all foreign language specialists, for we are often offensively and unrealistically positive in our claims as to the benefits of foreign language study. Like the purveyors of deodorants and mouthwashes, our rapture frequently exceeds our resultsone "application" and that hand- some boy in math class will reconsider you for the romantic opening in his life. Suppose we were to translate our rationale for foreign language study into a television commercial. What would that commercial be? First of all, there would be two girls on the screen. You know the typegirls who will be- come the women who pull giant-sized boxes of detergent or cans of coffee from their purses, the women whose thrill for the day is squeezing toilet tissue in Mr. Whipple's supermarket. The one on the left is rather listless and droopy; the one on the right is bright-eyed and bushy- tailed.
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