Something John Connor said to me on Monday struck a real note. As MFL teachers we don't really have any content. Yes we have language, but what to talk about? As a result we surely need to take great care when deciding upon what our content will be. What will stimulate, what will provoke thoughts, what will inspire?
On Friday I was delighted to take part in Neil Jones' Lead Practitioner Seminar up in London. Those of you who have ever listened to Neil before will understand that I was feeling more than a bit intimidated talking about using ICT to enhance creative contexts, precisely Neil's area of expertise. For those of you have never had the opportunity to attend one of his sessions, a) make sure you do and b) his main emphasis is on finding effective, culturally enriching contexts in order to truly give the language that we are trying to teach a value.
Neil was, as per always, fascinating, ranging from discussing similies to explore cultural similiarities and differences to the simple question of why we always teach pupils the phrase for hoovering (especially when dealing with hotter regions) when so few houses have carpet. Sounds silly when you write it down, but makes sense...
Anyway, compared to Neil's session of 455 slides, mine felt rather shabby, but I hope it manages to raise a few thoughts!
PS - the one slide I forgot to attribute was to Alex Blagona for the idea of contacting photographers through Flickr- cheers Blaggers!
