Daily Excerpt: The Invisible Foreign Language Classroom (Dabbs and Leaver) - Defining and Recognizing the Invisible Classroom: Guardians

 


excerpt from The Invisible Foreign Language Classroom (Dabbs & Leaver), 

from Chapter 1 Defining and Recognizing the Invisible Classroom: Guardians

Guardians

General Orientation

SJ personality types, more especially as adults, feel compelled to pass on the values of their society. As such, the Guardians in every society are essential to the continuation of that society.

As Learners

As learners, Guardians work to belong in the group, whether that is a social group of their place in the class. For this reason, they possess a strong work ethic. They crave rules, accept and support tradition and traditional approaches, and want to know exactly what is expected of them. 

Because many teachers are themselves SJs, the SJ learner fits right in.  The student understands and feels comfortable with the teacher’s methods because that is how they learn.  The SJ likes the structure, likes knowing what is expected, and since the SJ teacher will generally lay things out in a logical, sequential manner, the SJ learner feels comfortable in the learning environment.  They want and need direction. Once they have that, they will come prepared. Being prepared motivates them, and feeling unprepared unnerves them. An SJ student will be well prepared and have all assignments done on time, or even early. They like the tradition and structure of the classroom setting and usually succeed because their learning style and the teaching style of many teachers are in harmony. 

The problems found in the invisible classroom creep in when teachers are of personality types other than Sj. The SJ student might encounter difficulty if asked to speculate or hypothesize, a typical question from an NT teacher.  An SJ does not like to guess at what’s expected, a typical expectation of both the NT and the SP teacher; both of whom think they are offering a valuable gift: freedom. The SJ does not want that kind of freedom! He or she wants to know the rules going in and prepare accordingly.

 

As Teachers

As teachers, Guardians quickly set rules and deadlines, make instructions and requirements clear, and ensure organization—their form of organization: linear, sequential, and/or chronological. When teaching a Guardian learner, Guardians encounter smooth sailing: compliant and generally happy students who meet deadlines. However, when teaching other personality types, the Guardian teacher can feel frustrated (SPs do not feel compelled to honor deadlines) or besieged (NTs do not particularly value tradition and often refuse to comply when the disagree intellectually or on the basis of conflicting values). These are the kinds of conflicts that may not show themselves on the surface but reflect trouble in the invisible classroom.

In Life

Not surprisingly, a large percentage of Guardians become teachers or nurses or select other professions where they can nurture and belong. They need to remember, however, that though they comprise more than 80% of the K-12 teaching population (Akdenisz & Erişti, 2016), they will have large numbers of learners who do not match their personality type and do not hold their values.

For more posts about Laura Dabbs and this book, click HERE.

For more books on language teaching, click HERE.


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