April 2021
This month's voice:
Pinar Sekmen, "Does the Human Touch Approve of the Digital Touch Today?"
Introduction
Lindsay Herron
Editor, KOTESOL Voices
At the 2021 KOTESOL International Conference in February, I had the good fortune of meeting, via Zoom and Discord, a plethora of participants from around the world. Over the course of the 10-day conference, we engaged in a variety of delightful discussions about the future of ELT, keeping with the spirit of the conference's theme, "Re-envisioning ELT Altogether, All Together." The keynote speaker, futurist Gerd Leonhard, offered some particularly incisive and insightful ideas about the future of ELT, and I was thrilled when presenter and international member Pinar Sekmen's KOTESOL Voices contribution continued the conversations initiated in the conference. I hope you'll enjoy reading her reflections below and agree with her suggestion that as teachers, our very humanity is our strength--an irreplaceable quality that ensures our unique contributions to the classroom cannot completely be replicated by technology. Happy reading!
Does the Human Touch Approve of the Digital Touch Today?
By Pinar Sekmen
Does the human touch approve of the digital touch today?
Well, this depends on the perception of the individual as well as on the environment s/he is exposed to. How about if this individual is a teacher? Is this teacher with or without a title; old or young; experienced or novice; married or single; admired by learners or ignored; a native speaker or a non-native one; ready to adapt to digital platforms or not interested in upskilling at all? Recent concerns would most probably focus on the last part of the question as we think about the period of uncertainty we all have been through since the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak. Somebody pushed a button and asked all of us to reformulate everything in an ambiguous scenario, for groups of learners full of question marks. What needed to be done was supposed to be done. We somehow were supposed to fill in the gaps. Besides, we were asked and expected to fulfill the “endless more,” sacrificing our mental health and privacy. As time passed by, we tackled this transition and transformation with the help of countless webinars, digital tools, and online class platforms with various policies, all of us connected by the power of reaching out through the screens to the other side where others were also striving in their respective zones to do their best to achieve similar sets of goals. “Communication and sharing” were our only superpowers as we worked to build students’ interaction and hence motivation.
As a teacher and a parent who has experienced all the advantages and disadvantages of this pandemic time, I can unhesitatingly state that a robot may be uploaded with many motivational features, such as offering supportive sound effects, but it can never replace a teacher filled up with emotions and empathy. Moreover, one does not need to be a futurist to predict what is awaiting us out there in the upcoming years. A robot’s “human” touch will not be able to go beyond its own limits.
I remember a 12-year-old girl watching me carefully in one of those boxes on Zoom; she was obviously quite excited and impatient to share something with me and her friends. When I asked her to share, she spoke for about 10 minutes, and then another learner spoke, and then another. The session ended up with a speaking project assignment, which later became a weekly routine for us. To be honest, I was not really upset about putting the plan aside; on the contrary, my learners’ motivation was boosted, and so was mine. Communication and caring pushed the skills of creativity and collaboration, as there was a community with common needs and shared interests. As a plus, they improved their codes of behavior, such as listening in a respectful way and netiquette, and they improved their sense of responsibility and other positive values that had probably not been prioritized in “real” classes this much.
Therefore, as long as a teacher develops a growth mindset and a meaningful perspective on life, this, then, can be considered to be the outcome of the transformational power of teachers by means of setting mental models more than teaching the syllabus in hand. As you all would agree, knowledge is reachable everywhere in the globe now, even on a tiny gadget, and it is just a click away; however, how and by whom it is delivered will always matter.
Teachers are the symbols of a human touch that a futurist cannot frame simply with a techie mind.
We teachers touch lives,
touch hearts,
and
touch futures.
The community that I am sharing my opinions with right now is a distinguished and esteemed community. I feel privileged to be a part of this teacher and educator community, in which every member is seeking a way to support each other and share common concerns for the sake of a better future both for themselves and their learners. So please don’t neglect your wellbeing for the wellbeing of your learner.
About the Author
Pinar Sekmen has been teaching English for 20+ years and teaching Turkish to the speakers of other languages for 10 years. She is a graduate of the Department of English Language and Literature. She holds certificates in TESOL and pedagogy and has been working in the fields of translation studies and teacher training. Having worked as an ESOL teacher in various private schools and universities in Turkey, her interests include professional development, project-based learning, education technologies, and creative thinking. She is currently a Cambridge Speaking Examiner, a freelance IELTS instructor, and a teacher trainer, besides being a lifelong learner.
