Many education systems around the world are currently highlighting the importance of social-emotional and personalized learning. The need for teachers to respond optimally to these educational goals often presents a complex challenge. To help teachers address this challenge, we designed a didactic-pedagogical tool we call “correspondence with the professor”, to provide them with a means to develop in their students the ability to reflect upon and take personal responsibility for their learning, while at the same time allowing teachers to become better acquainted with the inner world of their students. The idea behind the tool is to have students write a letter to an imaginary professor describing the scholastic difficulties they face; this is followed by a detailed response letter addressed to themselves from the imaginary professor, in which they offer proposals for resolving each of the problems presented. In studies conducted, which served as the underpinnings of the tool’s design, we examined the benefit of the tool for cognitive, emotional, and personal aspects of learning, as characterized by both teachers and students. This paper takes a teacher-focused perspective of the tool.
KeywordsListening To Student VoicePersonalized LearningSocial-Emotional LearningTeacher Professional DevelopmentTeacher Reflective ThinkingTeacher Role
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