Taller 3: el porqué

You may be asking yourself: what's the point of knowing the SAD if I'm not a teacher? Well, we learn and teach constantly. In any profession, in any work or personal environment, we transmit information or teach.

SAD is an approach that allows us to eliminate or at least reduce barriers to learning or teaching. In addition, it promotes the social and labor inclusion of people with different abilities.

Building from the collective

Understanding the principles of SAD also helps you to approach the other and thus build collectively, that is, not only at school, but also in our homes, jobs and other scenarios where we interact.

Do we still teach in the traditional way?

Yes, we still see uniforms, rows, chairs. The classroom is the main learning environment. The teacher talking and the students in silence.

Is this motivating for the student? Not always or not for all different types of students. Encouraging new pedagogical practices through SAD not only favors the inclusion of people with disabilities.

It also helps to diversify teaching and give more opportunities to students who, because of their different ways of seeing the world, even if they do not have any disability condition, may feel excluded from the educational system.

What was your favorite class in school or college? If you think back, you will surely remember that teacher who used different resources, who used different didactics, who allowed you to experiment, to communicate, to stand up, to express yourself, to go out to the playground. And I'm sure you learned more in those moments.

The SAD is not only for people with disabilities.

It is a form of articulation that must be motivating. Can the objective of the class be constructed with the students?

The approach in stating your objectives and presenting your lessons can be:

1. Good. Today we are going to learn about cultures. Then the traditional way, use slides or just talk and explain. Expecting others to understand you and be able to memorize.
2. You can propose the following: I invite them to imagine that we are on another planet. You can ask them to describe that planet. Have your students tell you what it would be called, who would live there. How they would behave.

In the second way, learning becomes a collective experience.

Each student develops his or her creativity and will give different characteristics of the hypothetical planet, its inhabitants and their customs. The student becomes involved and motivated to participate and begins to understand what a culture is.

To educate is to educate

Plato said that to educate is to educate, that is, to draw from within. The knowledge and experiences that the student brings with him have and should be part of the teaching-learning process. We never start from scratch when learning. If we relate new knowledge to previous experiences, it is easier to remember. We turn theory into an experience.

Students are not empty entities of content. They are human beings with personal experiences, no matter how old they are. These experiences help them understand and relate what they are learning to their daily lives when they are allowed to express themselves.

You can direct the dialogue toward the learning objective, but not in an imposed way, rather in a participatory way.

Learning becomes an experience that the learner can even enjoy. If they enjoy it, they are motivated to continue learning. At this point, the relationship between the reason for learning, motivation and the affective network that surrounds the student makes sense.

Contribution created by Daniel Andrés Espinoza