Job Discussion Forums

[Chancellor]

I'm not entirely sure that's what's going on in Utah but it seems to me Utah schools might be better served by hiring TEFLers.

http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_6111913

[Justin Trullinger]

I'd recommend reading the article. It mentions how having teachers who are fluent in Spanish will help with some otherwise marginalized and at risk student populations, many of whom are Spanish natives.

Also mentions that

[Guy Courchesne]

[wildchild]

Chancellor said:

[ls650]

[GambateBingBangBOOM]

[naturegirl321]

Maybe a bit off topic, but I thought it weird for there to be many Mexicans in Utah. Thought they're mostly in NY, CA, FL and IL.

[Justin Trullinger]

[wildchild]

justin said

[MELEE]

There is a teacher shortage in many parts of the US. Why? Because for way too long is has been an underpaid profession. It's also become a dangerous profession in many areas. I grew up knowning many teachers, and they always told me "Don't ever become a teacher! It's a terrible thankless profession." I know they loved their students, but they sure did hate their administrators-legislators. I did a BA in Spanish, but choose not to be a high school Spanish teacher. I live a much more comfortable life teaching English in Mexico. For those unhappy with the idea of the US recruiting teachers from Mexico, do something to improve the conditions for teachers in the US and maybe more young people will become teachers and all those emergancy credential programs will dry up and it will be a tough job market.

[rusmeister]

America is in a slow self-destruct process. It is becoming a land of other peoples and cultures.The main factor is in denying the culture and heritage of the people who established the country and this is taught daily under names like tolerance, diversity and multiculturalism. A hundred years ago, immigrants were expected to assimilate. Now, the natives are expected to assimilate. And before anyone goes accusing me of being an 'intolerant bigot', let them know I'm married to a Russian, live in Russia and raise my kids here; I love both Russia and America, have been around the world, studied more than a dozen languages, and have great respect for and interest in other countries, cultures and languages.

I do see a need for national borders; if there weren't, there would be nothing left to limit the greedy in the world from taking and dominating everything and everybody. Oh, yeah, big business is already doing that.

What will happen if this trend continues consistently for 50 years?

When we've let America become a Mexican (or whatever) colony, I guess we'll know. A history book somewhere will tell about America as an example of the dangers of forgetting your OWN history, culture and finally language...

[Chancellor]

[Chancellor]

[jr1965]

[mdk]

What an interesting topic.

I happened to strike up a conversation when I was in Madrid last summer with a Spanish teacher who had been recruited to teach in Compton, California. I asked her how she had found Compton and she was very tactful in saying only that she had returned when her contract was finished. One of my previous avatars was a home health nurse who often saw patients in Compton 20+ years ago, it was bad enough then. The company hired me because they didn't want to send female nurses in there.

The quesion of bilingual education in California has political overtones that far outweigh any question of simply what is the best way to teach students. I have never seen a clearer example of how closely language and culture are intertwined as during the great bilingual education controversy back in the day. There are people who get absolutely rabid over the question ... on both sides. Overshadowing all of the debate is the demographic projection that Hispanics will become the majority group in California. Valgame!

To speak to the issue of whether or not a TEFL would be better able to do the job, it is largely a moot point. A person would not be legally qualified to teach with only a TEFL unless they took a provisional credential and agreed to return to night school and earn a US credential in a specified time.

Places like Utah are crying for teachers - as they are also desperate 20 miles outside of metropolitan Fresno. I once asked my teacher friends, what they thought of bringing in Russian teachers to meet the shortage. My friends - experienced teachers - were of the considered opinion that the school administration would happily throw them to the wolves and that it would not be fair to the Russians. I expect similar considerations would apply to Mexican teachers brought into Utah. One would have to ask whether the Mexican teachers would be teaching "pochos" (i.e., second and third generation mexican/americans) or "tejanos" (recently arrived immigrants). The two groups can be quite distinct.

Finally, naturegirl wondered that Mexican workers would be found in Utah. I have just returned from visiting a friend in downstate Illinois. The next town over had a very large population of Mexican workers who had been brought in to work in a meat packing plant, because American workers couldn't be found. I drove down the street and it was as if a little bit of Boyle Heights had been shipped out to this little midwest town.

Oh, and lastly, one of my teacher friends teaches a 6th grade class here in Fresno, her classes may be made up of native speakers of any number of different languages besides English and Spanish - Hmong, Cambodian, Punjabi, Chinese, take your pick.