a responsible citizencitizen: putting teachersteachers in the picture

How can we, as teachers and educators, prepare our learners, whatever age they are, to become

responsible citizens?

liquidliquid postmodern postmodern societysociety

Zygmunt Bauman Modern and

postmodern society has been thrown into a

state of liquid modernity.

Nothing is stable – change comes very

fast. Time references have

changed – time is fluid.

Projects are shorter, objectives are short term Projects are shorter, objectives are short term rather than long term. We shorten things in rather than long term. We shorten things in

order to fit them into our lives.order to fit them into our lives.We give ourselves very little time!We give ourselves very little time!We seek change at all moments.We seek change at all moments.

Fragmented Fragmented liveslives

We live fragmented lives.We multi-task all the time!

We need to be flexible and adapt at short notice.We don’t stop moving.

We no longer know the boundaries of distance.

One of the great achievements made by toddlers is to understand themselves not as fragmented

parts of a body, but as a whole. Lacan refers to this as the mirror stage. Many of us have observed this:

when children suddenly become aware of themselves in front of the mirror. They understand themselves as an individual for the first time – the

fragmented body comes together.

But living within today´s Western society means we find this notion of fragmentation comes into play again.

tourtouristist

vagavagabondbondZygmunt Bauman

We are either tourists in this world: we want to experience life to the full; we’re nomadic by choice. We have opportunities in life. We fear turning

into a vagabond.

Or we’re vagabonds: we’re forced to move around because we are

displaced; we have less opportunity. We aspire to become a tourist.

All of the points raised so far have a significant impact on how we see the work we do, the profession we have chosen and

how we face our professional career.

seeseeing thingsing things

from a from a newnew perspectiveperspective

For us to understand the age in which we live and work, we may need to turn things upside down

to see things from a different perspective.

And isn´t it a great joy to be able to do this?

This is how we open ourselves up to new possibilities, we allow ourselves

new experiences, we gain new insights.

children in the digital agedigital ageI need to ask myself: who is my

learner today? What do I expect from them?What images do children refer

to on television? Who are their role models?

Are they adventurers ready to go anywhere and try anything?

Are they “tourists”?

And what about us?Who are we in this digital age?

US in the digital agedigital ageSo many of us have become

experts in the short & concise art of instant communication via

social media.The here and now, info as it happens is what we look for.

Temporal & spatial references are annulled. We are emancipated

from the territories we belong to. We´re no longer content with

following one tweet stream by itself. We follow several tweet chats

simultaneously. And we even add our other apps to columns so we don´t miss a thing. There´s an art to this hectic form of conversation we all

engage in. But it´s also revolutionary: no boundaries, no hierarchies.

twittermobingmobing tweckleckle

twitterbashingbashingcyberbullyingbullying

But are we ready for the consequences of interacting in the spheres of social media we have disposable at the tips of our fingertips?

Are we psychologically , emotionally and socially ready for this?

Are we aware of the impact this may have on our professional and personal lives?

Are we ready to merge our professional and personal lives into one great big mashup?

Are we ready to be 21st century rebels? 21st century rebels have to be responsible citizens – there are new rules of etiquette.

Rebels Rebels with with a causea cause

Living in the 21st century is an exciting moment: we can become

rebels with causes again.

We have chosen a profession which is all about challenging and

questioning and consciously searching for change.

Teaching is all about living dangerously!

Teaching is about being a responsible citizen!

valeria.franca@culturainglesa.netvaleria.franca@culturainglesa.netTwitter: @vbenevolofrancaTwitter: @vbenevolofranca