Paideia

Inicialmente a palavra grega paideia, significava simplesmente 'criação de meninos'.

O conceito original da palavra estava relacionado a um conjunto de qualidades físicas e morais, entre elas a coragem e a eloquência que deveriam ser cultivadas pelos homens.

Para os gregos, o homem deveria almejar a beleza e a bondade. Para alcançar esse objetivo, os homens deveriam exercitar-se, praticar a leitura e a música.

O objetivo desse programa era formar o indivíduo, mas com o tempo esse programa deixou de suprir as necessidades da sociedade.

O cidadão ideal grego precisava de algo mais, assim, criou-se o conceito de formação geral com o objetivo de formar um homem cidadão cujo fundamento básico era a justiça.

Algumas traduções possíveis para paideia são: cultura, civilização, literatura e educação, no entanto para se chegar ao significado de paideia entendido pelos gregos é necessário utilizar todos esses termos juntos, pois é um conceito muito mais amplo.

O conceito de paideia não significa apenas preparar a criança para a vida adulta, mas designa o resultado do processo educativo ao longo da vida.

Se quiser saber mais sobre paideia, clique aqui.

Professional vs Amateur

I've been wondering what it means to be a professional and what it means to be an amateur.

Many people say they love cooking so they will become chefs or that they love painting and will paint for a living. People in my field say they love kids therefore they will work with kids.

I do not believe it is enough to become a professional, but I had been unable to express this idea clearly until I watched this interview with Chris Claremont on GloboNews Brazil. Mr. Claremont is an American comic book writer (btw I`M A BIG FAN!)

When asked: "Where is the fountain of your imagination?"

He answered: "That's easy. Every month I have to pay the morgage."

I agree with him completely.

Amateurs love things, professionals do things.

I love painting therefore I am an amateur painter. I have had teacher training therefore I teach.

If I were asked to paint something out of the blue I could never do it because I need inspiration to paint. However, I can prepare and execute as many lesson plans as my boss wants me to and in all modesty I do it very well. It's all about perspiration.

When people pursue careers just for love, they end up frustrated, but when they choose a career with a clear go in mind and know what they are good at they become better professionals.

In my opinion, that's what happens to some teachers, they believe that loving kids is enough to teach kids, when they realize there's much more involved in teaching it is too late and they get stuck in a career they do not love.

What I mean is that loving what you do is not enough. You must have a little aptitute and lots of training.

Qualification and training, that's what teachers need.

If you love what you do, then it is a plus, but teaching must be viewed as a career, not as a way to fill young minds with political or religious views or pass on your own ideas.

I believe that my role as a teacher is to guide my students and facilitate their learning in a very professional and serious way.

I am a committed teacher who is constantly pursuing professional development because I believe teaching must be taken as seriously as engineering or medicine.

About blogging

I started blogging some years ago because I felt I had something to share.

I have had 3 blogs: the first was an attempt to share my short stories, the second was loaded with nonsensical posts and the third one was about cooking.

I lost track of what I was doing, I also did not have a clear goal so I eventually got stuck.

What is different now?

I have a clear purpose in my mind: I`m blogging about teaching.

I`ve been a teacher for over 10 years now and I feel that I must reflect on my own teaching and improve my techniques.

ELT blogs are all the rage right now, many teachers I know are blogging to propose new ideas, enhance their own skills and at the same time collaborate with other teachers through their PLN (personal Learning Network).

I am embarking on this journey and hopefully I`ll be able to help other teachers reflect on their teaching as well.