by Levi-Ruth T. Pokling
“Education is not the learning of facts, but the training of the mind to think.” – Albert Einstein
Being a teacher is indeed the noblest profession because it demands full-time commitment and integrity to deal with learners of unique moods, exposure, needs, and upbringing. With that, teachers’ peculiar strategies to touch the lives of learners and their willingness to ignite curiosity in the minds of their students are made possible through the help of pedagogic and authentic materials, especially in language teaching.
Learners’ manifestation of learning is guided and assessed through tangible materials such as textbooks, test papers, and modules. These pedagogic materials are specifically designed to facilitate students’ progress from constructing simple sentences to writing complex essays. Furthermore, their contribution to reading skills, vocabulary learning, and grammar explanations is solid evidence that without these tools, the teaching and learning process might not be effective. However, I cannot deny that there are situations when diverse students encounter materials that are not aligned with the curriculum, as their levels of difficulty do not match the learning paces of the language learners, which affects their comprehension. This is when the creativity of an educator becomes crucial.
To elaborate, educators begin to use authentic materials to spark learners’ creativity, encouraging them to think outside the box and relate topics to realistic situations in their lives. While the integration of these materials may seem easy, it comes with challenges and requires teacher sacrifice because it demands significant time and effort. Despite this, these guiding tools can strengthen students’ engagement in learning the language beyond the curriculum by providing genuine motivation.
Overall, I agree with Albert Einstein that education is not just about learning facts but about training the mind to think. This means that materials—whether pedagogical or authentic—used in schools play a crucial role in students’ language learning journey, so updating them when necessary to meet the needs of diverse students is essential. Finally, teachers witnessing the development process of young learners through appropriate tools is truly a jubilant endowment.**
