Trying to understando how to....understand?

As I read Chapter II and analyzed the subtle differences among the concepts discussed, I started to think that the problem of us teachers when developing and applying curriculum, programs and syllabus is that we are lacking clarification on those key concepts that need to be handle so as both students and teachers are able to pursue same goals in similar ways.

The concepts I’m talking about are of course knowledge, understanding and transfer. I got so used to repeat those two first words on my programs, to my students in the classroom and to myself whenever I planned a lesson for them that somehow I never considered all of the important perspectives and meanings they have regarding education. And I never took into account the idea of transference as a vital part of a meaningful learning process! As I was writing this, I came across with the concept of intelligence on the internet, which is defined as the ability to adapt one’s knowledge to different situations and contexts. Part of our responsibility as teachers is to develop and increase intelligence in our students but to do so without having the slightest comprehension about the cycle that transfer, understanding and knowledge form.

There cannot be transference of the skills that need to be learned without having a proper handling of the facts and then grasping the essence and meaning of those facts, allowing the student to discern which knowledge should fit best when facing new situations and contexts. That’s the aim of teaching! Helping our students to internalize that cognitive cycle will provide opportunities for teachers to develop goal-oriented design that mean more to students that just developing one activity after another without any apparent purpose; to really take in the importance of this cognitive cycle will provide both students and teachers real opportunities to transfer knowledge. The students will be able to put their skills to effective use and the teachers will be able to transfer what they have learned from goal-oriented design to different teaching contexts and make them work.