Critical Incidents and the Integration of Theory and Practice

When I first saw the title in the article of Fernandez González, Elórtegui Escartín, and Medina Pérez (2003), I immediately came back to my old days at the Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) College. Even though I finished it two years ago, I still feel that it would have been very useful to learn from the very beginning how to observe, analyse and reflect upon the problems that may arise in a classroom. In order to be prepared to stand in front of a classroom, we should reflect not only about what we have to teach, but also how to apply all that in a critical situation, for example.

I consider that it is a great idea to make use of Critical Incidents (CI) as a strategy during the initiation in TEFL College because critical incidents help teachers to be resourceful, to learn how to work within a team group and the importance of it, to develop their common sense and to avoid inadequate actions when we are exposed to a conflict situation in a classroom. To have an ace up your sleeve, as one of my teachers always said. All this, is about trying to make a match between theory and practice. Fernandez, Elórtegui and Medina (2003) revealed in one of the possible causes for a problematic situation that “Las prácticas no se corresponden temporalmente con la teoría que se explica. Eran las mismas prácticas para tres niveles diferentes, independientemente del temario que se desarrolla en las clases teóricas” (p. 109).

Altogether, As Tejada (1996) describes, “La reflexión es el eje que relaciona, confronta, diferencia e interioriza ideas nuevas con las anteriores” (as cited in Fernandez, Elórtegui and Medina, 2003, p.102). In other words, we have to reflect about what to be a professional means and thus what should be taught at the TEFL College.

Reference

Fernandez González, J., Elórtegui Escartín, N., & Medina Pérez, M. (2003). Los incidentes críticos en la formación y perfeccionamiento del profesorado de secundaria de ciencias de la naturaleza. Revista universitaria de Formación de Profesorado, 17-001. Zaragoza, España: Universidad de Zaragoza. Retrieved October 2011, from http://caece.campusuniversidad.com.ar/mod/resource/view.php?id=12816