learning, all the while knowing that to be successful, one must act as if it does. A
manager of learning ‘is concerned with the quality of the educational environment and
the learning opportunities it affords—and explicitly with the values and ideals we
wish to promote in our educational work’ (van Lier 2003: 51).
It is this commitment to creating learning opportunities that motivates a teacher to
make informed methodological choices. Teachers who are managers of learning
recognize in general that a number of methodological options exist, but they are
guided in any particular moment by a compass consisting of a set of values,
professional knowledge and experience, and a commitment to (particular) learning
outcomes. Such teachers do not despair in methodological profusion; they welcome it.
They know that the more tools they have at their disposal, the better off they are in
having a large repertoire to choose from when a teachable moment presents itself.
They recognize that they must focus students’ attention on the learning challenge, and
then step back and respond in service to their learning.
When asked if they would use a particular technique—say, assign a particular
reading passage, ask a particular question, they answer, ‘It depends.’ There may be
times when a pattern drill is appropriate, or giving a grammar rule, or an interactive
task, or an activity which involves negotiation of meaning, depending on the learning
challenge or what the students are struggling with at the moment. ‘It depends’
statements provide us with evidence of the highly complex, interpretive, contingent
knowledge which teachers/managers must possess in order to do the work of teaching.
Learning to Teach: A Developmental Process
But there is another important dimension to the question of teaching methods that
must be considered. And that is that learning to teach is a developmental process
(Freeman 1991); indeed, while there may not be any strict sequence of developmental
stages in teaching, learning it is said to be a lifelong process. Thus, before concluding,
Larsen-Freeman offers a brief autobiographical sketch of her own development as a
teacher, as an illustration, one not meant to be a model (Larsen-Freeman 1998b).
When I was first learning to teach, I was trained in a particular method.
Fortunately for me, I was oblivious to alternatives. I practiced one method
exclusively, using the books that I had been given. I was learning to teach and all
of my attention was on trying to the best of my ability to adhere to the method,
while learning the classroom routines and maintaining some sense of decorum in
the meantime. I was the teacher (while learning to be one) and was teaching
(while learning to do so at the same time).
After a while, I grew dissatisfied with my teaching. I found that it had reached a
level where I could give less attention to what I was doing and more to what my
students were learning. The consequence was that I did not like what I saw. I felt