Innovative Pedagogy and Ecological Perspectives

This talk adopts the notions of van Lier’s (2004a) ecological perspective, van Manen’s (1992) tact of teaching and “reflection in action”, Kumaravadivelu’s (2003) pedagogic wheel and Dai’s (2014) cognitive approach to teaching. The author examines what ecological perspectives provide for language education and teacher training. Language education should be elevated to an understanding of the larger environment where the agent perceives, interprets and creates affordances for teaching and learning. The author further proposes that “cognition” is a phenomenon, a behavior, and a knowledge system. It is advised that we train teachers to observe, analyze, understand and reflect on life, improve their “degrees of attention” to surroundings around them, and further cultivate their ability to conceptualize the teachable materials in the classroom. The environment we live in creates many “meaningful potentials for teaching and learning”, and the individual’s (learner or teacher) awareness and perception of the environment and life becomes an important link in creating linguistic and cultural educational opportunities.

Virtual Zoom participation link: https://middlebury.zoom.us/j/8316473547?pwd=aGwyZjJwQlBRbm9oVzVUQ3dHcFI5Zz09