Thinking about teaching without materials can feel very much like being asked to drive a car if you don’t know how to drive. I am very fortunate to be surrounded by the teachers currently working for me, simply because we can have really good teaching conversations, and they are all very well qualified. However, when we do teacher training courses, especially observations, we often see things that highlight issues for us (the training team). And quite often, we see an overreliance on the materials, and not enough risk taking by teaching the people, not the book. This is one such a story.
I was observing a class of adults talking about interview skills and the focus was on using the STAR (Situation – Task – Action – Result) technique to answer questions. It was a well-planned lesson, with good focus on functional language, but it was evident quite early on that the students rarely got asked questions in the interviews they had about describing situations, and for the most part, could work with the structure quite well. A student asked, ‘How should we answer if they ask us if we are married, planning to get married, or if we want to have children?’ The teacher replied that those questions were illegal. The student replied they were not illegal in the country where they were having the class (it isn’t explicitly illegal in East Asia and perhaps other parts of the world, and even if they are, employers often take chances). There was a quick exchange between a few of the gentlemen in the class with the student (who was female) and the teacher shut it down with, ‘It should be illegal. Let’s move on.’ I could sense a shift in mood in the class. Not because it was a male vs female issue (if anything, the men thought it was a pointless question, and while they might not ever get the question about having kids, appeared interested in how to overcome the question). But because it wasn’t in the book.
And just like that, I think a big opportunity was missed. I don’t know if they ever revisited the question, but I am fairly certain they did not. While it is good to have the structure offered by a course book, it is specifically in situations like this where it is important to be able to put the textbook down, and work with the people. That is exactly what Dogme does.
What is Dogme?
I have heard Dogme (and similar materials light approaches) be called an elitist anti-publisher methodology. It is not that. At its core (and remember this is a blog rather than a detailed description) are three points:
1: It is conversation driven. The learning happens through the interaction between the people in the room.
2: The materials light nature of it means focus is shifted away from materials towards the students’ experiences, thoughts, and their own lives.
3: It focuses on emergent language, and on language use in real time.
Now with that comes the issue of planning. I honestly cannot think why we would assume Dogme lessons are unplanned, or unprepared. It is not about being unprepared. It is about being prepared to be flexible. It requires greater awareness, and much stronger pedagogical skills. In the next part, I will highlight a few things you can try tomorrow, and also what kind of planning might go into it.
Something to try tomorrow
You already know what the topic or theme of your current or next unit in the course book is. Use that as a base. Think of a question you could ask the learners do discuss or find a picture for them to talk about (not describe) that is related to the topic.
Example questions might be:
What’s the most frustrating conversation you have had this week (or ever)?
Tell your partner about something you bought that wasn’t worth the money?
Show a picture of animals in a zoo and ask ‘What do you think the animals are thinking? What do they chit chat about?’ Then show a picture of people as animals in a zoo (you could use AI to generate one) and ask, ‘How are the conversations different? What are these animals talking about?’
Before the lesson, take some time to think about what language might come up, or what questions might be asked. This allows you to prompt better, and also to be better prepared for language questions or error correction.
Let them start and walk around, make notes about what they say, and get ready for the language upgrade. Answer questions about language as they come up but note down the important ones.
After a few minutes, depending on the complexity of the task and how productive the activity is, draw attention to the board. Highlight good emergent language and address errors. Also focus on more precise ways of saying something or using wording that might have a better effect on the target audience. Here is where experience and knowledge come in. Base this on what is level appropriate but take a few risks when appropriate as well.
Then repeat the task with a new partner while focusing on the upgraded or corrected language or rephrase the question slightly differently for students to discuss.
If you then feel the need to head back to the course book, then do so. If something came up in the discussion that is interesting, then go with that.
Last tips and pointers
Don’t worry too much about level. You can do this with CEFR A2 all the way to C2 learners. The question or prompt is what is important. If you are stuck, start with something as simple as the discussion task in the relevant Cambridge speaking exam. And work from there. Just make the discussion task related to whatever topic you want to work with.
Negotiate with your learners, and make sure they know why you are putting the coursebook down for a few minutes. You might be surprised by their level of engagement if they are not looking at the pages of a book.
You absolutely do NOT need an all or nothing mindset. Experiment a little. 10 to 15 minutes once or twice a week. Maybe every second class. And as you gain confidence, the fear will go away. The awareness will increase. And then you can really be unplugged, unafraid, but fully aware.
Looking forward
There are many roads to the same destination, especially in language teaching. Just, some are faster, or more enjoyable than others.
So, what is stopping you? Find the question, picture or prompt. Try it out. Give yourself 10 minutes. Or maybe 15. And as you grow in confidence, increase the time. You will feel like a burden has been lifted, and you can teach anything without the book. And the best is, you will then probably end up getting so much more out of the book.
