From Teachers to Advisors: A Self-discovery Journey

Guillermina Arias-Sais
Esperanza Espejo-Regalado
Laura Gabriela Sagástegui Rodríguez
Laura María Zurutuza Roaro

Arias-Sais, G., Espejo-Regalado, E., Sagástegui Rodríguez, L. G., & Zurutuza Roaro, L. M. (2019). From teachers to advisors: A self-discovery journey. Relay Journal, 2(2), 394-403. https://doi.org/10.37237/relay/020213

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 Abstract

Becoming Language Learning Advisors has been a challenging and rewarding journey for this innovative group of teachers.  In this article, they evoke their experiences and struggles and the impact that this profound transformational process has had in their professional and personal lives. The construction of this new identity has allowed them to transcend the traditional role of prescribing strategies or administering learning, thus giving place to a shift in thought and action that fosters greater autonomy and allows students to take charge of their own learning.  Moreover, their new shared identity as advisors gave place to a community of practice, which is growing as other advisors who have undergone a similar feat share ideas and strategies.

Achieving acceptance of oneself and others and being able to communicate it appropriately is no easy task. Having the support of a community of practice is essential, not only in terms of support, shared practices, resources and perspectives, but as the construction of a shared identity where acceptance, freedom and trust are the common denominator. Confronting hidden feelings and fears is complicated, and opening to others can be intimidating. Therefore, the need for a community of practice built on the premises of comprehension and humbleness is paramount.

Keywords: Autonomy, transformation, advising, reflection, community, language learning.

 

As teachers, we are always in search of new techniques, strategies, and courses on how to improve. We strive to have a serious and meaningful impact on our learners´ lives.  Last year, we were fortunate to have taken a course that not only changed our lives, but that also had an inspiring influence on our learners, our family, and our friends. In this article, we share parts of this journey, as well as some of our personal experiences and insights.

The Difference Between Teaching and Advising

Gabriela Sagástegui

Becoming an advisor is a journey that leads to profound transformation. There are substantial differences between the praxis and the identity of and advisor and a teacher.  Perhaps that is why different definitions of what language learning advising is have been coined in the last years.

Carson & Mynard (2012) define Language Learning Advisor as an expert who is capable and has ample experience in teaching and learning a language. An advisor is knowledgeable about the resources, strategies and other activities inherent to language learning, and works in aspects that the learner considers relevant for her own learning process. Through advising, learners are empowered to “define their needs, formulate learning goals, reflect on strategies for achieving these goals, monitor and evaluate learning outcomes and the learning process, and make decisions for further learning” (Tassinari, 2016, p. 77).

As member of the first cohort of the Diploma in Language Learning Advising at ITESO University in Guadalajara, Mexico, I started my training without having a clear concept of what advising really was. In retrospect, I must admit that I did not believe that advising could be so different from teaching or tutoring. Surprisingly, by the end of the course, I had developed a new identity.

All the teachers taking the Language Learning Advising Diploma course had several years of teaching experience and training in what we thought was a student-centered approach. We used to believe that we had shifted from traditional teaching methods and had become facilitators of student learning. However, one of the most important lessons learned was that our methodologies, conceptions and attitudes as teachers were so deeply embedded in our identities, that it was hard to make room for other ways of interacting with our learners. It takes time, practice and confidence to master the necessary skills to start advising and to stop teaching.  Once you start believing that the learner is capable of taking responsibility for her own leaning, a revelation occurs:   language learning advising becomes a path towards autonomy, freedom it opens the possibility of owning and directing our own learning.This revelation is what Holec (1981 p. 3) defines as autonomy:  ¨the ability to take charge over one’s own learning”.

In order to achieve this level of autonomy, there must be disposition to abandon some of our deeply rooted beliefs and practices. Thus, training to become an advisor starts with an honest analysis and reflection about oneself, our motivations and aspirations as teachers.  The greatest challenge is to let go of the teacher role in order to evolve, to interact with learners in different ways.

Perhaps the most enlightening step of this transformative journey was becoming aware that being an advisor implies a closer human contact with learners. Advising means building bridges of trust by actively listening and establishing an intentionally reflective dialogue. According to Satoko Kato and Jo Mynard  in  Reflective Dialogue: Advising in Language Learning “advising in language learning is an intentional dialogue whose aim is for the learner to be able to reflect deeply, make connections, and take responsibility for his or her language learning” (Kato & Mynard, 2016, p. 2). Accompanying students in a non-directive manner also requires mastery of a series of cognitive and theoretical tools and practices that lead to real student-centered learning situations.

Another cornerstone in the process of becoming an advisor, is revisiting our beliefs and assumptions about freedom; it is necessary to honestly analyze if we dare to exercise and respect freedom and autonomy.

Towards the end of the Diploma in Language Learning Advising, I began to understand that being an advisor was about fostering a reflective dialogue in the learner so that according to her interests, multiple intelligences learning style, she is able to set her own goals and design her own route.

Another important difference is the setting where advising takes place. Self-Access Language Centers are ideal spaces for learners to break free from the tight chains of traditional teaching and explore learning routes that are congruent with their unique needs and aspirations. Learners decide whether to participate in a conversation club, listen to music, watch a video or read to improve their language proficiency. The role of an advisor in such settings, is to foster reflection, and promote learning as opposed to limiting the learner’s capacity to learn.

Stepping out of our professor role to assume the identity of an advisor requires practice, awareness, self-reflection, peer-observation, constant dialogue with experts, and an open mind to receive feedback. It was necessary to feel vulnerable and inexperienced to be able to re-invent our advisor persona.

Finally, I would like to emphasize the power of the reflective process that this change in roles implies. Becoming advisors has touched our lives in every way, deeply transforming us as well as the way we relate to others.

We have reexamined many beliefs and practices, such as how to really listen to the other. Through trial and error, we have learnt and put into practice a wide range of tools and strategies to promote autonomous and meaningful learning and insightful reflection. In sum, becoming an advisor means being part of a transformational movement in education.

I would like to conclude these reflections by comparing and contrasting some of the key differences between the role of a teacher and that of an advisor.

Table 1. Differences between the Role of Advisor and Teacher.

TEACHER	ADVISOR (Mynard, 2011)
Prescribes programmes.	Assumes a transformative role.
Monitors the learning process.	Transfers the control to the advisee, becoming a mediator instead of assuming the role of ¨the expert¨.
Assessment is done taking into consideration the syllabus / standards.	Activates the learner’s reflective process.
Context: the classroom.	Promotes one-to-one dialogue, outside the classroom.
Teaches lessons.	Establishes a reflective dialogue, fostering deep reflection, autonomy and responsibility.

 

Autonomy, Self-Acceptance and Emotions in Advising

Laura Zurutuza 

Training to become an advisor in my experience turned out to be a self-discovery maze. I soon found myself developing a new insight on events around me, and this process provided more questions than answers.

As part of the training to become Language Advisors, we were asked to reflect on our personal process of becoming autonomous and share it with the rest of the team. I made many attempts to elaborate on it, but every time I felt something was missing and ended up thinking that I wasn’t inspired. A day before the due date, I finally asked myself the right question. “Why can’t I do this?” The answer started to become clear. I couldn’t do it because I was trying to impress our leader, far from doing it from my autonomy, far from doing it from and for me.

So, the next question appeared: why did I do the things I did? I began to reflect on how or why I made decisions. Most of my decisions were unconscious, therefore I couldn’t see them. Here is when it all began to make sense. The values by which I lived were made out of beliefs, assumptions, prejudices, and fears which all took me back to my childhood when I learned them, and there was a complete lack of insight on them.  If my intention was to impress the team leader, then I needed her acceptance, and that was not what autonomy represents.

How do I decide? As a teacher, am I also looking for acceptance? Is that why I need to feel useful in life? Is that why I had trained so hard all my professional life?

All these answers were necessary for me to understand how I decided if “my” students were “good” or “bad”, and how they decided how to react to my influence. If their decisions were taken out of love and acceptance for themselves, then critical thinking would be a natural, obvious component of autonomous learning, that from my teacher’s role, would be interpreted as a rebellious and disobedient student. Likewise. If they decided from a fearful need for a good grade or acceptance, I would interpret it as a good, obedient, responsible student who needed me. Just what I needed then.

I finally understood that I had never truly been autonomous, and training to become a Language Learning Advisor allowed me to free myself from my own undetected beliefs and emotions.

It has become clear that reflecting in and on action, hand in hand with a group of ongoing advisor trainees who value the learner´s process, has changed my point of view as to what learning should be, and that is not through teaching, but through the validation and appreciation of learners´ uniqueness, through Advising. This challenge can only be achieved as long as we, advisors, are willing to acknowledge our own fears and vulnerability. If we can achieve this, then we will embrace self-acceptance and thus, accompany learners with true openness.

Communities of Practice

Guillermina Arias

Our participation in the Language Learning Advisors Diploma helped us create and understand firsthand what a community of practice is: a social group created with the purpose of developing knowledge and skills, while sharing learning experiences based on shared reflection.

I shall quote Etienne Wenger, the co-author of the book Situated Learning. Legitimate Peripheral Participation (Lave & Wenger, 1991), who has studied this kind of communities of practice and has defined them as “a group of people that share an interest, deepen their knowledge and experience in the field through a continuous interaction which strengthens their relationship”(Lave & Wenger, 1991, p 98). A community of practice has literacy, community, and practice.

It is from this perspective that our true community of practice came to be. A space where together, we can build knowledge in accordance to Vygotsky’s style; that is, participating, sharing similar experiences, and reflecting with a common interest.          This has not been an easy path, since we had to let go of our own teacher´s identity, being “vulnerable” as Gabriela Sagastegui mentioned. We had to expose our fears and weaknesses, but we could rely on a trusting team, where acceptance, respect, collaboration, and mutual help were always present.

It is no easy task to give or receive feedback related to “negative” aspects of our teaching and advising practice, but it was carried out from a humble and respectful position. This is precisely the area of opportunity that became the turning point towards growth and learning. The exchange led to the construction of knowledge. Our community embraced every one of us, as an emotional backup where looking for new options and strategies was allowed.

I definitely believe that the group itself developed an identity of its own due to the fact that we spoke the same language, rhythm, sharing a common practice, a mutual understanding.

Our Community of Practice provided an autonomy space, where dialogue, debate, and reflection were present at different levels. There was a chance to develop autonomy and each participant chose a course of action which he or she considered necessary to develop the basic knowledge and advising skills. But how? The course itself was designed to help us become aware of personal interests and motivated us to look for research material on a personal level in order to work independently and autonomously. The interactive forums and the feedback activities supported the construction of knowledge in an open and flexible manner.

A very important characteristic of a community of practice which became evident to us, is that it is a “living organism”, which works as a catalyst, expands just as ripples in the water giving the opportunity to open to dialogue from a personal perspective influencing a community´s perspective. Today, our Community of Practice is becoming a model for new cohorts in training. It is an alternative tool for our University’s community too.

Conclusions

This journey has given us many insights. Language Learning Advisors share a common vision: a new era in education which is based on autonomy, and freedom. Becoming language learning advisors has shaped a new concept of what educators can be. Our   motivations and philosophy have changed as a result of an analysis of our educational practices.

While a teacher focuses his efforts in helping students learn specific information for a specific purpose, an advisor aims at accompanying a learner into a self-reflective process in which the goal is for the learner to become aware of his own resources, interests as well as strengths and weaknesses. By learning how to learn, students become lifelong learners who trust their own abilities and become empowered to design their own learning project. Learning is not just obtaining information, but self-discovery and agency.

Advisors require the strength to embrace their emotional inner world which tends to be hidden in order to project an image of self-efficiency and control. Learning to see oneself as a person, and accepting what this represents, becomes essential in the process of accompanying a learner into the self-discovery journey which is a critical step towards developing autonomy and self-awareness. Acceptance and respect for learners and the true conviction that they can lead their own learning journeys is at the core of this new philosophy.  We are at the brink of a new era in education, where advising is the catalyst of change.

 Notes on the contributors

Guillermina Arias-Sais earned her M.A. in Teaching English as a Foreign Language from the University of Saint Mark and Saint John, Plymouth, U.K. She currently works at Departamento de Lenguas, ITESO as an online teacher and a language advisor. Her research interests focus on culture and feelings in language learning, as well as language learners’ autonomy and self-access centers.

Esperanza Espejo-Regalado has a M.A. in Family Systems Therapy and a bachelor’s degree in psychology, as she has always wanted to help people. She currently works as an English teacher at ITESO’s Department of Languages since 2011. She has special interest in promoting learner autonomy so that they can take control of their own learning.

Laura Gabriela Sagástegui Rodríguez is a professor and language learning Advisor at ITESO University, in Mexico. She is an online advisor at The Writing Desk.  She holds a M.A.  in Humanities and a Post-Graduate Certificate in TESOL from Saint Mark and Saint John University, Plymouth, UK. Her research interests are student autonomy, motivation and intercultural language education.

Laura María Zurutuza Roaro has a degree in Graphic, Textile Design and has been an English teacher for more than thirty years during which time she got the ICELT Certification. She is currently studying an M.A. in Human Development focused on Language Teachers´ well-being which she considers the root of effective and affective teaching. She is also part of the advisors’ team at ITESO as she continues to teach English in the institution.

References

Carson, L., & Mynard, J.  (Eds.) (2012). Advising in language learning. Dialogue, tools and context. Harlow, UK: Pearson.

Holec, H. (1981) Autonomy in Foreign Language Learning. Oxford: Pergamon.

Kato, S., & Mynard, J. (2016). Reflective Dialogue: Advising in Language Learning (1 edition). New York, NY: Routledge.

Lave, J., & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation. Cambridge England: Cambridge University Press.

Mynard, J. (2011). The role of the learning advisor in promoting autonomy. Learner Autonomy in Language Learning, 2011 (January). Retrieved from https://ailarenla.org/lall

Tassinari, M. G. (2016). Emotions and feelings in language advising discourse. In C. Gkonou, D. Tatzl, & S. Mercer (Eds.), New Directions in Language Learning Psychology (pp. 71-96). Basel: Springer https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-23491-5_6