Talking to Mauro Ramos, researcher and teacher trainer
Mauro Ramos is a researcher and teacher trainer from Metropolitana de Ciencias de la Educación (UMCE), who has recently come back to Chile.
Mauro, very few people know about your experience abroad; where were you and what were you doing? Tell us about your experience and how this all started
Last year I got a scholarship to do research at Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) for six months. It started due to the urgent need that most universities now face in terms of finding new ways to boost research while understanding the complexities of the teacher’s role in society, where the ability to conduct constant research is fundamental.
In this vein, at ‘Pedagógico’ we have accepted that responsibility and challenge enthusiastically and have begun an ambitious project to redefine the concept of what it means to be a teacher today. The project aims to encompass all points of view, in order to develop holistic teachers (and human beings), who are ready to accept all the challenges that this society requires. In this respect, conducting good research is a vital asset for our education system.
What did your learn from this experience?
So many things. First of all, I realised how much good potential we have here in Latin America in terms of a shared identity that we need to explore and reinforce. I was also honoured to be able to work with a wonderful group of researchers from Instituto de Investigaciones sobre la Universidad y la Educación (IISUE) at UNAM, and together we began to explore the infinite amount of tools, and ways to teach and learn, through which, the effective use of ICT can provide.
Another fantastic opportunity came through visits to different schools and universities, where I was able to learn from the Mexican model of education, which can be quite similar to the Chilean in some regards, but completely different in others.
What would you recommend to those who may go on a similar project?
Doing research is a very good way to understand different realities, the first thing I recommend to those starting research is to have an open mind. This will allow you to understand the world from different perspectives and will give you the tools you need to examine your own practices and improve them.
What do you intend to apply in your language teaching programme at your university?
We are currently working very hard to promote research as one of the fundamental aspects to be developed by our pedagogy programmes. That is why we are including students in all of our current research and we are organising forums to discuss and create conscience of the importance of research in the development of our future teachers. Besides this, we are currently working – at the English Department as well as in our Faculty – on different projects that look for ways to include the use of ICT in the classroom, promoting robust and solid didactic methodologies that enhance the learning of second and foreign languages.
How different do you think you are now that you are back in our country?
This experience helped me in many different ways. I have understood that technology by itself cannot do anything. It is our responsibility to give it a meaningful use to reinforce learning in our students. I have learned that we need to work a lot more with colleagues from different parts of the world, especially from Latin America, where we share common goals and common problems, which require a combined effort to be resolved. I have learned that we, as teachers of English, are very important for our education system as we are ambassadors of other cultures, with ours being one of them.
Our teaching practices need to be conducted by the guiding principle that we need to promote values of respect and tolerance in our students. I have learned (and re-learned) that it is time to rid ourselves of the fear of accepting our political and social role in society and that we need to teach our disciplines from a humanistic prism, that seeks for the development of complete human beings. I also learned that research is a vital tool to understand and enhance our role in the classroom and in society in general.
How do you think your learners will benefit from this experience?
The idea of developing skills to use ICT in our classrooms is a very important one, since technology can be a very good ally for the teaching of good, fun and complete lessons. By using technology efficiently, students can get to learn all the facets of what a language is: from the cultural and social dimensions to the most discrete aspects that are part of the systems of the language. All this has to be done with the clear idea that technology per se will not do the job alone; we need to understand and learn how to use ICT effectively in order to develop robust didactic methodologies that will support our teaching but by no means will replace it.
Is there anything else that you would like to add?
I personally think it is time to change our view of what being a teacher is. It is time to understand that teaching cannot be reduced to the mere fact of transmitting knowledge, on the contrary; it is a much more complex process. It requires understanding that teaching entails social and political commitments and in that respect the teachers of English have a lot to say. It is time for us not to allow the reduction of our work to an instrumental labour but to understand it as a way of appropriating the English language in order to create bridges and connections with all aspects of our own culture.
Understanding our differences and promoting those social values that were lost so many years ago in our schools, in our universities and in our society in general. Understanding, for example, that a higher focus on technology does not mean neglecting other areas that urgently need to be enhanced. On the contrary, we need to work on those aspects at the same time, in order to achieve good quality education, where learning is not reduced to the acquisition of mere ‘data’ but where the learning process is seen as the development of integral citizens and individuals. That is our duty and we need to work very hard to achieve that task; only then we will have a better society and academia will have finally accomplished its pending mission.
