My father has just turned 63. He's a great guy, an engineer by profession, but really a jack-of-all-trades, domestic lawyer and until very recently he's been known as one to turn to if you wanted your literature essay done. (You see, with kids in the extended family growing up, this function has become obsolete...)
Yes, he even likes doing the dishes, if not any other household chores, but that's okay: men in his generation were brought up that way. (A couple of months ago I met a lady the same age. When I entered her house and found I had sprayed mud all over the floor, I reached for the mop nearby. She almost fainted with shock -- she was not used to seeing men running around with mops.)
But back to Dad. He's got a view, almost a philosophy, when it comes to cooking: of course, he would even be able to learn to cook -- ONLY IF HE WERE INTERESTED. With the lovely wife she is lucky to have (not unlike the lady I was just talking about), he has never been required to do more than cut off an ocassional slice of bread and call it --well, if not cooking, then at least preparing food. And this is all very well until my Mum (this lovely wife) is capable of producing meals of hotel standards day in, day out. But what comes afterwards? Will my Dad be interested in cooking after she's gone? Will he take to packed food? Will he be okay with boiling sausages for dinner? I very much doubt it.
My father has failed to learn something that is (or will be) necessary to his basic functioning as a human being. He's dependent on someone else to the point where his own life is at risk. (Of course, this is a bit of an exaggeration, but you get the idea.)
Similarly, I can recall a tyical scene from my early childhood. Dad would run around the flat in a shirt and trousers (all neatly ironed previously by Mum), waiting for his tie to be done up. Because that's one thing he's never mastered: doing up a tie. Perhaps he has never been interested? There has always been a mum, a wife, who would be ready to do this for him. (I'm not being irritated or disrespectful, I'm just stating facts.) And at these very moments, when I was like 6 or so, I knew for sure that I would never EVER want to be in a situation when I'm at the mercy of another human being, being physically and mentally intact. For me it was like being unable to go and play football with friends because I couldn't do up my shoelaces. (You see, I didn't use to wear a tie too often back then...)
How does this all relate to ELT? Well, I was wondering about technology and language teaching. There is great controversy about what is beneficial, what is "nice to have" and what is thought to be a passing fad. Using Twitter, for example, may be viewed by many as using technology for its own sake. The same goes for e-learning or blogs. We still have a strong opinion among teachers along the lines "really great teachers can manage with just a piece of chalk". Or "when I studied English, we didn't have all this equipment. Just a book, and yet, here we are".
True, technology alone will not turn anyone into a better teacher. But technology is not meant to do that. We have had dentists, for example, for centuries. But do we want to get medical treatment from a dentist who has the same drill buzzing for, say, 20 years? Or to put it in another way, would a dentist today be able to handle machines used in 1970? (Perhaps so; I'm not a dentist... :) )
Clearly, my father did not CHOOSE to learn or not to learn how to cook or do up a tie. He just felt there was no need. Will he grow up to the task and face the challenge? Definitely, but it has to be a steep learning curve. As I see it, the same goes for technology in language classrooms: one might feel that some methods or tools are simply "too much" and we can/should happily do without them. However, this is the time to keep abreast of changes, even if some ideas will eventually turn out to be short-lived. I would hate to see talented teachers feel helpless and redundant just because technology has passed them on the way...
Any comments?