to say, this is the type of learners who have been working in the SAC for more than six
months but they neither feel lost nor they need the help of the counsellor to solve major
learning problems. Basically, these learners have both, a good sense of achievement and
very steady level of motivation. I believe that these two factors feed each other very
appropriately.
According to this scheme, the participants I work with would be classified as
follows:
|
Group a) |
Group b) |
Group c) |
|
T, E, Gl |
A, S5J |
K5 Ga5 F |
Fig. 7.11 Personal classification of participants
It is important to remind the reader about the nature of the content of this chapter.
It deals with my own beliefs about the research in question. The reader, then, will notice
that although the criteria I used to place people in different groups seems to be objective
(SAC data about the time the learners spend in SAC, data reported by the participant -
such as the sense of achievement or the type of counsellor∕leamer interaction), the
classification is far from being objective. First, there are value loaded statements in the
quotation above (such as “too proud to leave and admit...”) that are the product of my
own perspective. Second, I myself decided what criteria take into account to make such a
classification. The previous chapter has shown us that the learners use different criteria
to compare themselves with other learners.
This issue about subjectivity and the way to classify learners leads to another
important element in the relationship counsellor∕leamer. In section 3.3.1 I already
referred to previous research I carried out on counselling. Specifically, I want to talk
about the developing of good∕bad records (Erickson and Schultz; 1982) on the part of the
learner mainly because I am aware that I am not free from that predisposition of the
counsellor to develop a good or bad record of learners. In the Oaxaca/97 project I found
that two learners (F, S) developed bad records while the others developed good ones. To
develop a record means that one of the participants of a counselling session, in most of
the cases the student, behaves in such a way that the counsellor may create a good or a
bad opinion of her. In a way, it can be said that it is the good or bad impression that the
student gives about herself to the counsellor.
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