Facilitation Theory Or The Humanist Approach?

Facilitation Theory Or The Humanist draw close?Teaching and training today argon completely divergent from yesterday because we are facing the challenges of changes in higher education for the future prosperity with todays young students and their readiness to take up these challenges to face up to the coming centuries. Understanding program line and teaching is not easy, not some(prenominal)thing that thr wizard be based on the representation of what has been perceived or limited to a few methodological prescriptions. In this chapter, we are going away to go back and shed light on some theories of attainment to understand better to what extent educational activity is alluded to fellowship and how they bottom of the inning impaction in society.1.1 vocabularys Teaching and LearningLanguage commandment and learning still requires much effort to be stored in respective(prenominal)s mind perfectly. It should have acquired an appreciation of the ensnare of a broad conc atenation of intellectual disciplines such as linguistics, sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics and of importly applied linguistics as well as general exact knowledge. So, how dissolve voice communication melt on these disciplines to become dynamic and pragmatic in use? To answer this heading, let us see what Campells possibleness depicts, in project 1 below, about(predicate) the accessible inter programship betwixt three disciplines linguistics, applied linguistics and pedagogy. Campbell ( 19807) says The relation surrounded by the language sciences and language teach has emerged as one of the delineate issues in the reading of a language teaching supposition For him Applied linguistics is the mediator between the practitioner and the theorist.. See Fundamental concepts of language teaching book of H.H.Stern,(198336)LinguisticsApplied linguisticsPedagogyTheoretician Mediator PractitionerFigure1 Campells model of the family relationship between theory and practice According to Campells theory starting from linguistics, the scientific study of language, alone is not enough to get an effective relation between pedagogy and linguistics. The latter requires much practice to relate theory to practice and make language more effective. For that reason, to consolidate the three disciplines, Campell acceptd three extra elements to his conceptual framework. These elements are psychology, sociology and anthropology. Campells model of the relationship between theory and practice do Spolsky( 198072) argued and then modified Campbells theory .For Spolsky, sociolinguistics discipline is very interesting to achieve a good result in the relation between theoreticians and practitioner. He divided language teaching into three main sourcesLanguage description General LinguisticsLanguage teaching psychology for the theory of learning and psycholinguistics for the theory of language learningLanguage use in society sociolinguisticsWhat we can understand from Sp oskys theory language teaching is an interesting dental amalgam of disciplines, each one contri yetes to educational language in practice and the focus here is on the educational language. Pragmatically speaking, according to some people the rationality of language is not only learning theories but it is also our reflection and thinking of knowing to what extent can be these theories impact on the teaching of language. The theories are protestent of how we learn, and they are useful and ready for how students learn and also how teachers teach. Each one of them, student and teachers, has own way of thinking of own different way of learning. So who are we in these theories? And what are these theories? To answer these questions let us see some fundamental theories of learning1.2.1 Reinforcement TheoryThis theory was highly-developed by the conductist school of psychology, notably by B.F. Skinner (Laird 1985, Burns 1995). Laird (1985) sees this verbal expression of behaviourism no t relevant to education. It is about some affirmative and negative tasks the learners do in his daily deportment. This theory requires much Competency base Training ( henceforth, CBT), It is useful in learning repetitive tasks like generation tables and those work skills that require a great deal of practice but higher order learning is not involved in it. The criticism of this get along is that it is rigid and mechanical (Burns 1995).1.1.3 Cognitive-Gestalt ApproachesThe focus in this theory is on the importance of commence, meaning, problem-solving and the development of insights (Burns 1995, p 112). Burns notes that this theory has developed the concept that individuals differ from one to another, they have different concerns at different times with different subjective interpretations in different contexts. This theory is very close to learners to get themselves in learning language by knowing to what extent they are different from each other. It is also very close to the learners attributes of today (for more details see chapter 3)1.1.4 holistic Learning TheoryThe base understanding of this theory is that the focus is on the composition of the individual personality which consists of many elementsspecifically the intellect, emotions, the body impulse (or propensity), intuition and conception (Laird,1985, p 121) that all require activation if learning is to be effective. This theory is about a complementary theory to Cognitive-Gestalt approaches.1.1.5 Experiential learningIn this theory, Kolbs inquiry found that people learn in four ways in learning (McGill Beaty 1995). The ways are as followsConcrete experienceTesting implications of Observations and Reflectionsconcepts in new situationsFormation of abstractconcepts and generalizationFigure 1 the Experiential Learning Model (Kolb, 1981) Learning done concrete experience Learning through observation and reflection Learning through abstract conceptualization Learning through active experiment ationIn discussing these theories, we confirm from the educational researchers concept that learners are different in their way of learning. Kolb, one of these educational researchers whose interests are involved in proving that learner, individually, can choose any style and way of learning which reflects his behaviour to act in learning which is the link between him and his society through actions and reflective play (McGill Beaty 1995). This theory confirms Spolskys argument ( 198072)1.1.6 Facilitation Theory or the Humanist ApproachCarl Rogers and others have developed the theory of facilitative learning. The radical introduction to this theory is that learning will occur by the educator acting as a facilitator, that is by establishing an atmosphere in which learners feel comfortable to consider new ideas and are not threatened by external elements (Laird 1985). Other characteristics of this theory include Human beings must(prenominal) be eager to learn (prompt willingness) Human beings must be curious to learn (curiosity) To change on selfs concept we must be involved in a significant learning. ( flexibility and readiness).Carl and Rogers see thatThe Characteristics of Facilitative Teachers are They are not more protective of their beliefs than other teachers They are warm they are all listening to learners, especially to their feelings They are much attentive to their relationship with learners in the classroom. be open-minded and apt to accept feedback, whether positive or negative and to use it as a reflective and constructive insight into themselves and their behaviours.Some of these characteristics do fit our changes into innovative and modern teachers but others still to be modified according to our readiness for being autonomous teachers. In this work, we are going to focus on the changes from the traditional, affectionate and facilitative teachers into modern teachers.The characteristics of learners Must be courageous, autonomous and respon sible for(p) for their own learning Must care and endure much information (input) for the learning which occurs through their deep perception (insights) and experiences. are encourage to evaluate themselves before their teachers and to be aware of their learning needs to focus on what factors may contribute to achieving significant results.These characteristics are mandatory and required in the new systems implementation.To understand better this theory which impacts strongly our work we must understand the relationship between teachers and learners or in another words between learning and teaching as well as the strategies made to enhance this relationship. So what is learning and what is teaching? And what is the relationship between them. Teaching is to get and pass on knowledge while learning is to acquire this knowledge bystudies it is also the process where knowledge is created through transformation of experience (see page 3 David Kolb 1981). It seems that the relation betw een them is very strong and interrelated. From these definitions, we can also understand that the relationships between teaching and learning work to the best academic achievement for students having the desire to acquire learning language which represents an individuals receptive cognition to learning different tasks depend on the context (Peterson, et al., 2009). It is an input which differs from one individual to another depends on the teachers in regard to what type of information is near effective.The concept that students and teachers have different competence that vary from one to another to learning and teaching language in different styles and ways lead theoreticians and practitioners, those who are responsible for political program control and revision, to think of the course of instruction framework, i.e. how to be in charge of approaches and systems to structure teaching language and planned in the curriculum frame work. The curriculum is now very interesting to emp ower twain(prenominal) learners and teachers to develop their potential in knowledge. So, what is course of instruction? Who are responsible for planning it? And what is it for? To resolve to these questions we need first understand the curriculum meaning.1.2 What is Curriculum?The curriculum is concerned with two terms teaching and learning, i.e. what is minded(p) in learning and teaching, and how they take place. What teachers teach or learners learn comprises aims, strategy, knowledge, skills and outcomes of learning students are intended to make obvious. The how of the curriculum concern teaching/learning methodology, teaching strategies and media resources.The curriculum has been changed due to changes in systems implementation such as CBA, LMD and ICTs integration in the classroom. The latter needs some cases of the invention of new technology to measure up the content and enlarge knowledge to make a good curriculum. The systems , CBA, LMD and ICTs integration, in many w ays can be seen to be affecting the curriculum both in terms of content and methodology.Further, we mean by the word curriculum run a Course, i.e. it describes a series of steps in teaching and learning specific contents. It is also considered as a sequence of learning experiences the fact of these definitions that without curriculum none can control the individual students experiences. Thus through curriculum students can be provided with opportunities to learn a specific content. From the latter, we can understand also that the suitable definition to the curriculum is a sequence learning opportunities stipulation to students in their study for specific purposes. A sequence of learning opportunities cannot be seen but it can be planned and made through the classroom activities. Thus, curriculum appears in different aspects which exist in textbooks for specific contents to facilitate teaching and make teachers efficient to pave this sequence of learning opportunities for students.I t is actually made to develop learners competence herein we are speaking about the importance of curriculum development1.3 The Importance of Curriculum DevelopmentThe importance of curriculum development appears in its focus on knowledge transmission and skills development in regard with competency based language teaching (henceforth CBLT) or learning outcomes. That is to say, on the commerce(p) on the four skills (reading, speaking, writing and listening), knowledge and attitudes make effective teaching strategies. In relation to CBLT, Docking says thatCBLT Competency-Based Language Teaching is designed not around the thought of subject knowledge but around the notion of competency. The focus moves from what students know about language to what they can do with it. The focus on competencies or learning outcomes underpins the curriculum framework and syllabus specification, teaching strategies and assessment.(Docking, 1994 16)From the above quotation basing on what have been alre ady said, we can understand that Competencies focus on four main parameters appears in the followingLearning outcomesCurriculum computer programmeTeaching strategies (a course)AssessmentFigure 1 The Main Parameters of Learning Outcomes or CompetenciesFigure one represents the relationship between curriculum and its aspects (syllabus, teaching strategies and assessment) in regard with learning outcomes. These four fundamental concepts help theoreticians and practitioners to define the context in relation to the students needs about the curriculum framework which is clearly related to students learning needs. To respond to learning needs and CBLT the curriculum planning must take care of the following points ground Students number, age, gender, purpose, educationAim Type and purpose of course, mandatory and required tests .Materials needed or available text, books, e- books, magazines, articles or computers, laptops with their connection to the net and so forth.Time How many hours, da y of week, time of day.These four points can also be viewed as luck of syllabus. The latter is very important to design a course that must focus on the needs of learning outcomes. Herein, to understand more the concepts given let us have a look at what is a course in regard with syllabus or vice versa.1.3.1 CourseA course is an integrated series of teaching-learning experiences, whose ultimate aim is to lead the learners to a incident state of knowledge. (Hutchinson and Waters 1996 65) The distinction between a curriculum and a course is important because some of the areas of concern in curriculum development as societal needs analysis, testing for placement purposes or program wide evaluation may be out of the hands of teachers who are developing courses (Richards, 2001).1.3.2 SyllabusesSyllabus is a more detailed and operational statement of teaching and learning elements which translates the philosophy of the curriculum into a series of planned steps leading towards more narrow ly defined objectives at each levelDubin Olshtain, (1997 28),Syllabus is essentially a statement of what should be taught, year by year through language syllabuses often also contain points about the method of teaching and the time to be taken(Lee 1980108).Another opinion is that thatSyllabus is a more detailed and operational statement of teaching and learning elements which translates the philosophy of the curriculum into a series of planned steps leading towards more narrowly defined objectives at each levelDubin Olshtain, (1997 28).Syllabuses are more localized and are based on accounts and records of what actually happens at the classroom level. Given these definitions it is suggested that it seems helpful to define a curriculum and a syllabus as separate entities. To conclude we can now ensure that we can see syllabus design as part of course design, they are complementary and parts of curriculum whose importance appears also in the followingThe educational purpose of the p rogram.The content teaching procedures and learning experience which will be necessary to achieve this purpose .(the means)Some means for assessing whether or not the educational ends have been achieved.( Richards, Platt and Platt 1993 94)From these most significant points Allen sees thatCurriculum is a very general concept which involves consideration of the whole complex of philosophical, social and administrative factors which contribute to the planning of an educational program.(Allen quoted in Nunan, 2000 6)Thus, it is the change of instructions in teaching and learning in all over the world. For that reason, most developing countries institutions among them Algerian institutions have amended and revised their curricula in another words their syllabuses, methods, approaches and systems to respond to the world requirements, taking into account the various factors( external or internal) that influence learning process. To understand more this policy of education we must understan d its basic notions in the structural education such as competencies or learning outcomes, syllabus, course, assessment and curriculum.Today, there are many of teachers and students who think that curriculum is syllabus in fact, syllabus is a part of a curriculum. It describes the content of a course .i.e. It shows the content of what is going to be taught including a set of knowledge and skills. Herein, the importance of presenting the basic notions education is to go over the global changes and structures of the various disciplines to learn from others and to be apt to know what others think of us.In addition to curriculum development made by policy makers which enables learning to take place, during the course of study, in terms of knowledge and skills, teachers should highlight the main syllabus to present the main learning and methods and to provide the learners with resources and equipments to support the effective teaching of the course. In this case the teacher notion must f ocus on how to structure the knowledge to be well veritable by learners. The following quotation ensures our saying the learning structure through teaching.Teaching is knowledge transmission, management of learning. The teacher is a decision maker, provider of learning structure, collaborator, and resource. (Adapted from Graves 2000 31)Our aim from understanding the curriculum development and its importance is to ensure a successful and effective teaching of the language through official curriculum delivered by policy makers to be implemented in schools and universities. Implementing such curriculum requires much effort to respond to the learners needs and competence.Algeria as one of developing countries and a multilingual schooling is in the process of growing out of its historical roots run riot to make changes in educational policy promote the education ministry to revise, modify and update the curriculum for basic education, particularly in basic education programs.Speaking a bout changes in educational programs and organizing content lead us to think of the CBA approach and LMD system that are the fundamental concepts, today, of the curriculum whose interests are in organizing and exploring learners competence (knowledge and skills). They both work on input (data/ knowledge) and outcomes. The question to be raised here what are these implementations? These systems implementations are CBA approach in primary and secondary schools and LMD system in universities.1.4 Historical Background about CBAIn 1973, the word competency was introduced to psychology literature when David McClelland argued in his article Testing for competence earlier than for intelligence that neither job exertion nor success can be got through old and traditional tests of academic discipline. Thus, the search for theory and tools that could unfailingly see coming effectiveness in the workplace began (McClelland, 1973).In1982 it was Boyatzis who first force together comprehensive da ta that had been collected inthe USA using the McBer Company Job Competence Assessment method. Since then, competency has become a significant factor in HR development practices (Simpson, 2002). The word competency comes from a Latin word meaning suitable (Bueno Tubbs, 2004). Boyatzis (1982) defines a competency as an underlying characteristic of a person which results in effective and/or superior transaction in a job (p. 97).According to Boyatzis (1982) a job competency represents ability. An individuals set of Contemporary Management Research 49 competencies reflect their capability or what they can do. A job competency may be a motive, trait, skill, aspect of ones self-image or social role, or a body of knowledge that an individual uses, and the existence and possession of these characteristics may or may not be cognise to the individual. Similarly, Mitrani et al. (1992) state that competencies could be motives, traits, self-concepts, attitudes or values, content knowledge, o r cognitive or behavioral skills.A competency is an individual characteristic that can be calculated or countedreliably and that can be shown to differentiate significantly between superior and average performers, or between effective and ineffective performers. Meanwhile, competency can be described as a set of behavior patterns that an incumbent needs to bring to a position in order to perform its tasks and functions in the delivery of desired results or outcomes (Bartram, et. al, 2002 Woodruffe, 1992). Spencer and Spencer (1993) viewed competency as an underlying characteristic of an individual that is causally related to criterion-referenced effective and/or superior performance in a job or situation (p. 9).They recognized five types of competency characteristics consisting of motives, traits,self-concept, knowledge and skills. First, motives are the things that an individualconsistently thinks about or wants that stimulate action. Motives drive, reign and selectbehavior towar d certain actions or goals and away from others. Second, traits are physical characteristics and consistent responses to situations or information. Third, self-concept is an individuals attitudes, values or self-image. Fourth, knowledge is the information that an individual has in specific content areas.Finally, skill is the ability to perform a certain physical or mental task. Knowledge and skill competencies tend to be macroscopical and relatively surface characteristics, whereas self-concept, traits and motive competencies are more hidden, deeper and central to personality. Surface knowledge and skill competencies are relatively easy to develop and training is the most cost-effective way to secure those employee abilities (Spencer Spencer, 1993). Figure 1 illustrates central and surface competencies.KnowledgeAttitudes, ValuesTrait MotiveSurface Most easily developed Core Personality Most difficult to developSkill KnowledgeSelf-Concept Trait MotiveTSkill KnowledgeSelf-conceptTra it MotivetrThe iceberg lettuceVisibleHiddenFigure 1 The Iceberg Model and Central and Surface CompetenciesSource Spencer and Spencer (1993 11)In other words, visible competencies such as knowledge and skills may besomewhat technical competencies basically required by the job, whereas hiddencompetencies such as self-concept, traits and motives are behavioral competencies thatdrive an individuals performance in the job. Boyatzis (1982) states that motive and traitcompetencies have the most direct impact on self-concept and also have an impact onskill. The United Nations Industrial Development governing (UNIDO, 2002) definescompetency as a set of skills, related knowledge and attributes that allow an individual to perform a task or activity within a specific function or job. If an individual possessesthese three elements of competency they can effectively perform duties as required by the specific job.From the wide range of related literature, the definition of competency can besumma rized as an underlying characteristic of an individual that is causally related tocriterion-referenced effective and/or superior performance in a job or situation. Jobcompetency is a set of behavior patterns that a job incumbent needs to bring to a position in order to perform its tasks and functions with competence. A job competency can be a motive, trait, skill, self-concept, body of knowledge or an attribute that allows an individual to perform a task or activity within a specific function or job.1.4 The Implementation of the CBA Approach in the Algerian schoolroomThe CBA approach has been adopted by the Algerian education ministry to be integrated in the primaries and secondary school to improve teaching and learning. It is imposed on both teachers and learners to explore their competence and roles in lifecycle. A competency based approach is a new reform contributes to better the learners knowledge situations that may varied in a range of skills. The CBA is closely related to a context-of-use. In other words, students will be good learners to use language effectively in their lifecycle by drawing a map to master what they have learned in schools.1.5 The reasons of the CBA Approach Implementation in the ClassroomThe reasons why the Algerian authoritarians those who are responsible for educational policy implement the CBA approach in the primary and secondary school classrooms is to develop students linguistic and problem-solving capacities that will make students to deal with different tasks cognitively and pragmatically challenging any difficult situation in the classroom. It will also make learners autonomous and see learning as an essential process for both their studies and their future. So it is implemented in schools because it is a productive approach basing on what the learners are pass judgment to do rather than on what they are expected to learn about.1.6 The Characteristics of the CB ApproachThe CBA approach enables learners to check their cap acity to overcome obstacles and problems it is problem- solving approaches that make learners think of well doing. It is a creative use of a new constructive knowledge. Moreover, it characteristics can be listed as followsIt makes students challengers to endure and encounter all kind of complexity and ambiguity in learning.It is about reflection, self-assessment, and performance review are fully integrated into the exercise. As a result, challenge becomes success.Collaboration in teamwork is essential to the effective learning experience.It enables students competence to affect the world beyond the classroom and to make contributions that are valued by professional and experts.It provides learners with information based on assessment tasks.It is based on authentic language proficiency across sociolinguistic context.It reveals the learners innateness.It is usable for instruction and curriculum adaptation to the learners needs.It is based on the outcomes as in Schencks sayingIt is o utcome-based and is adaptive to the changing needs of students, teachers and the community competencies differ from other students goals and objectives in that they describe the students ability to apply basic end other skills in situations that are communally encountered in everyday life.Thus CBE (Competency Based Education) is based on a set of outcomes that are derived in life role situations.Schenck (200114)To reinforce what has been said about CBE let us see some extra definitions of Competency Based Education to understand better from where does CBA come from? Richards and Rodgers (2001) saysCompetency Based Education focuses on outcomes of learning. CBEaddresses what the learners are expected to do rather than on what they are expected to learn about. CBE emerged in the United States in the 1970s and refers to an educational movement that advocates defining educational goals in termsof microscopic measurable descriptions of knowledge, skills, and behaviors students should p ossess at the end of a course of study.Richards and Rodgers(2001)To reinforce Richards and Rodgerss definition of CBE Savage see that CBE is a functional approach to focus on skills depends on the learners needs and competence. He sees in his definition the followingCompetency Based Education is a functional approach to education that emphasizes life skills and evaluates hyponymy of those skills according to actual leaner performance. It was defined by the U.S. Office of Education as a performance-based process leading to demonstrated mastery of basic and life skills necessary for the individual to function proficiently in society.Savage (1993 15)For Mrowicki, referring to skills only is not enough in speaking about CBE because competency is an interesting amalgam of knowledge and attitudes for more effective results. Thus he sees in his definition the followingCompetencies consist of a description of the essential skills, knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors required for effective performance of a real-world task or activity. These activities may be related to any domain of life, though have typically been linked to the field of work and to social survival in a new environment.Mrowicki (1986 144)It is very interesting to understand what we have presented as most significant definitions of CBE regarding the Communicative Approach which is at the ground of the Competency Based Approach, the educational system applied in Algeria, and which can be also considered to be at the basis of the LMD system applied at the level of the University, next section is devoted to the presentation of the latter, i.e. of the LMD system, to see in what way is the LMD system a continuation of the CBA.1.7 What is LMD?The LMD system, introduced in the Algerian universities by 2003-2004, is a current issue that specialists in Algeria and elsewhere are interested in. The LMD system (Licence, Master and Doctorate) is the latest reform applied in the Algerian universities. It aims at l egal transfer the Algerian diploma to the universality and to bring the Algerian student to a higher level of learning on the one hand and to the world of job on the other hand. The introduction of LMD in the Algerian universities should be accompanied by these new ideas for innovative teaching practices to improve the performance of the university system but also lead to greater employability of graduates.1.8 The Characteristics of the LMD SystemIn practice, we observe that the formalization of thes