Analyzing my role as an English Teacher. To start with, I have to think about the experiences I have had and still have as an English learner. I believe, - as I said it in the previous post- that the fact of being able to understand the messages in the songs, was a big motivation for me. Also, when I first opened a Facebook account I communicated with people from Asia and I felt good when I undesrtood them. That specific feeling was the reason I continued (and still) learning English. I wish my students (and everyone I have the opportunity to be with) to understand that this language will really make a difference in their lives and will allow them to understand the world outside. At the very beggining of my English learning acquisition I conceived language and its learning as the mere fact of being able to translate words and knowing their meanings. Now, I see this activity as something more complex because translatins is not the only thing a person has to master when speaking...
I have to admit that I was not aware of the importance of keeping yourself up to date when you are a teacher. I thought that I had learned everything I needed at university and of course, that I was not going to need to learn anything more. I believe many teachers think in that way because of this i-know-it all ego and because many see as an insult the mere fact of considering that they need to work on their teaching practice. I have not had many experiences with sponsored professionalism. However I believe the fact of Universidad Surcolombiana allowing us to study the masters with a discount was something good and a motivation for many of us. When I was working in a private school, they once paid us the inscription for an ASOPI conference at an hotel. I remember this was because the coordinator of English insisted a lot to the owners of the school and highlighted the importance of this. My biggest and most remarkable experience with independent professionalism ...