We Emerge Victorious

A rare moment today. The sense of having helped to launch that hand-made raft of learning that is the only possible transport from the desolate island of ignorance to the abundant continents of knowledge. However hard we try, no teacher can do this for our students- we can only stand by, guide, assist and share what we know. We can assist the launch, but we can never remain for the whole journey. We can equip our brave voyagers with instructions, with tools, with supplies, but we can never be sure what adventures await them. What we can do, in the ever-too-short time that we have with our students, is simply to impart what we know, and if we are lucky, the ways to find out more for oneself on the oceans of uncertainty. Learning is the only weapon we can provide, but learning how to learn is the power to forge one’s own weapons, tools; swords or ploughshares. Have I succeeded? There is never a simple answer. But that little spot on the sun-shimmering horizon there, that is the raft I helped to launch today.

All this after incidentally sitting in on the Speaking exams of a group of Foundation Year students that were under my wing for Study Skills in the first semester and Writing in this second semester. As one student after another made the required presentation, I was awed to see how clearly every single one of them had structured the task. Having examined this course twice before, I know that this is unusual at Foundation level, and even beyond, since it is never explicitly taught. The fact that the students have transferred what they have learnt in other courses to making speeches is remarkable, since a very segmented view of different courses is common. It also eliminated two of the common problems found in presentations: blind memorisation of the student’s own text and, even worse, blind memorisation of a copied text. It was very clear that every student had created, structured and intellectually digested the presentation, and every piece displayed both intellect and heart. Of course there were little stumbles and bumbles and the usual light garnish of errors, but there was structure. Errors can be addressed later, but structure- that is what Foundation Year is all about.

BUT WAIT, in true Shopping Channel fashion, THERE’S MORE. These students had their Writing exam yesterday, and while invigilating the same exam with another group I was horrified to see students scribble down several pages, frantically counting words, and filling in the mandatory outline as a half-hearted afterthought. As those students handed in their papers, page after page of disorganised gobbledegook spilled out. I had to wonder if I would be subjected to the same torture as their poor examiner. But no. The work I received was crisp, clear and to the point. Using the outline, students were able to plan their arguments and anticipate their word count without being side-tracked. Even those who struggle with the language made very clear what they would be discussing and what their main arguments were. There will always be different levels within a language class, but at least in one thing every single one of these students is equal: every one of them can structure an essay. When you can structure an essay, as they have proved, you can structure a speech. When you can structure your own essays and speeches, you can extract the key ideas from others’ discourse. When you can do that, you have a steady foundation to work from.

Although I share in the satisfaction, the credit goes to my students when I confidently declare that the foundation- the Foundation- has been laid.