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[Serious_Fun]

greetings to all~

This article is from the Taipei Times (online version) of Tues., 17 Jan.,'06.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2006/01/17/2003289394


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English teacher plan falls short

OFF-MARK: A program launched in 2003 aimed to place 1,000 foreign English teachers in the nation's public schools, but only 40 teachers have been placed so far.

By Mac William Bishop
STAFF REPORTER , IN TAINAN, WITH STAFF WRITER
Tuesday, Jan 17, 2006


An ambitious and controversial program to fill the nation's public schools with experienced foreign English teachers is dying a quiet death, as it has failed to attract anywhere near the number of required teachers, according to educators and government officials.

When the Ministry of Education (MOE) announced in January 2003 that it would hire 1,000 foreign English-language teachers a year to work in 3,300 schools across the nation, officials cited the need to improve the resources available to rural districts and improve the overall quality of foreign-language instruction programs.

"Though this program, we wish to build a bridge from Taiwan to the world and boost Taiwan's competitiveness as Taiwanese youngsters boost their English proficiency," then-deputy minister of education Fan Sun-lu (范巽綠) said when the program was announced.

Critics ridiculed such comments as rhetoric typical of ill-conceived educational reform plans.

"Both Japan and South Korea have reduced the number of foreign English teachers. The problem was that the foreign teachers usually had difficulty in coordinating with the domestic teachers, and were often treated as simply `living recorders' who did nothing but regurgitate native English pronunciation," professor Shih Yu-hwei (施玉惠) told the Taipei Times after the plan was announced in 2003.

Critics of the proposal were also concerned that the foreign workers would displace qualified local teachers, and expressed doubt about the plan's ability to noticeably improve the quality of English-language education in public schools.

The MOE's proposal was modeled on that of the National Experimental High School of the Hsinchu Science-based Industrial Park, which brought in English teachers from the UK, Canada, Australia and the US, at salaries of between NT$60,000 to NT$90,000 a month.

But the voices questioning the plan quickly died out after it was implemented in 2004, as it became evident that the MOE faced a serious obstacle to implementing the arrangement: an almost total lack of interest in the program on the part of foreign teachers.

Despite the offer of competitive salaries, housing stipends, medical benefits and free tickets to and from Taiwan, few foreign teachers have leaped at the offer to teach in rural schools on one to three-year contracts. And few of those who have are willing to renew their contracts, while a number of teachers have left Taiwan before completing their period of service.

Although the ministry eventually scaled back the program's requirements from 1,000 teachers to 400 teachers, it still fell dismally short of its goal.

In the end, a mere 40 teachers were brought to Taiwan as a result of the policy, according to statistics provided by the MOE.

Of these, few teachers have decided to stay for longer than one year, and a handful have even canceled their contracts to leave early. They have decided to leave for many reasons, but several teachers interviewed by reporters said that a desire to move on with their careers and their lives played the major role in their decision.

Teacher Clayton Shawn Hull, who became a teacher at Taipei County's Chitan Primary School, established cordial relations with parents and school authorities, but decided not to renew his contract for career and pension reasons.

Diane Bolyard, a 59-year-old teacher from Indiana, said she had truly enjoyed her time in Taiwan, but could not renew her contract because of family commitments back home. Bolyard, who has a Master's degree in education, was popular at her school because of her energetic personality and teaching methods, which put the children at ease and quickly had the students trying out their English.

There were also problems in communication and differences over teaching styles.

An Australian male teacher, who declined to be identified, was sent to Jenai Primary School in Nantou. His arrival coincided with the dry season in the isolated locale, and even taking a daily bath become problematic. The relationship he had with school authorities was also problematic. The teacher therefore applied to terminate his contract, and the MOE accepted his request.

Authorities at the school said that they hoped the ministry would give teachers a better idea of the circumstances of their positions in the future.

How the foreign teacher program works

* Schools apply for the placement of a foreign teacher.

* Teachers sign contracts with the school authorities, usually through an overseas agent acting for the Taiwanese government.

* The teacher is given a monthly salary. They also receive free flights to and from Taiwan, and a monthly housing stipend.

* A task force formed by the school authorities and the local government deals with any difficulties the teacher may encounter.

* The Ministry of Education supervises the project, interviewing teachers and authorities about the program's results.

[clark.w.griswald]

I think that there were a number of problems with the program.

1. The MOE chose to use recruiters to find the teachers, and some of these recruiters have very bad reputations. Therefore anyone looking at these positions may have been put off by the bad reputations of the companies conducting the employment. Had the MOE hired directly I think that they would have got a better response.

2. The MOE originally required that the teachers be certified teachers back home with teaching experience. This basically meant that these people had to be real teachers probably with a career in teaching back home. I am not sure that many people would drop their teaching career back home to head to Taiwan for a year or two.

3. The MOE originally planned to cover all of the costs of the teachers and received a lot of interest from the target schools (the poor and disadvantaged schools). Then the MOE changed the plan and required that the schools pay a portion of the teachers salary. These underpriviledged schools soon lost interest when they realized that they would need to spend as much on a portion of the foreign teachers wage and living expenses that they would for a few Chinese teachers. I guess that they wisely chose to spend that money elsewhere.

4. The MOE originally stipulated that the teacher must be employed from overseas and brought here. Once again I doubt that many qualified teachers would want to drop everything and head to Taiwan for a year or two. I think that it would have been far wiser to have opened the position up to foreign teachers already here and stipulated a minimum of three years of teaching experience in Taiwan in lieu of teaching credentials, or something like that. I think that there would have been a lot of interest among foreign teachers locally.

Of course the MOE adapted a lot of the above in response to the lack of interest by schools and teachers, but overall it seems that they failed to plan the program well which is a shame as it was a good idea in my opinion.

[Xenophobe]

A major problem with this program was the complete lack of planning. There was no curriculum in place, minimal materials(text books, flashcards, work bookks etc) were prepared, no clear goals or objectives were set down and there was very little, if any feedback or interaction from the school staff.

As with many things here in Taiwan, it was more about appearance than actual substance. The teachers were not utilized in a constructive or efficient manner. Most were asked to run their classes the same way many buxibans are operated, games and songs. Phonics and grammar, a crucial part of comprehension and conversation, remained the sole domain of the Chinese 'English' Teacher who continue to teach their classes in Chinese.

This program had good intentions, but a lack of planning and forethought seems to have put it on that road where all good intentions end up. However, in my final analysis, I believe with a little more work this program could be salvaged, but the MOE has to be serious about its expectations.

[TL]

Are there any teachers on the forum who had been on the program? I would like to hear about their experiences.

[Xenophobe]

See my post above.

I've done buxiban and the MOE program. There is no difference in how they utilized the teacher. When I was teaching in a buxiban, I also didn't have 30+(including some special ed) students per class for 30 minutes a week( when classes weren't bumped, rescheduled or cancelled), with the belief that was sufficient contact time to radically improve their English ability.

I took French all through highschool and taught at an immersion school at home. The Taiwanese gov't has to look to countries with established bi-lingual programs in their schools, to see how things are done correctly. As it is, this program is merely window dressing with little substance.

[wix]

[Aristotle]

Some might call the placement of even 40 teachers a success for the Ministry of Education on Taiwan. That particular branch of government is notoriously corrupt and continues to promote racism and corruption through education on occupied Taiwan. It is estimated that nearly 1000 foreign teachers salaries were paid out by the Ministry of Education on Taiwan for this program but only 40 teachers were actually hired.
Luckily for most the warning advisory that was circulated abroad by associates did it's job and saved many thousands of foreign teachers the the hardship of being exploited and abused. Unfortunately this program has only led to more corruption and misappropriation of funds by the Ministry of Education on Taiwan.
The current catch phrase in education reform on Taiwan is:
"no dollar left behind"
Good luck!
A.

[wix]

Aristotle could you please cite some credible evidence to back up your extraordinary claims. Otherwise I am just inclined to believe it is more of your same old scaremongering that has little relation to the real world.

[clark.w.griswald]

[SanChong]

I just want to say thank you to Aristotle:

Your posts make glaringly clear what quite a few people in these forums are all about: Complaining and making up wild and ridiculous claims.
Without seeing your obvious lack of any rational evidence, thought or proof, people might actually believe some of the lesser negativity about Taiwan. They might actually believe wholeheartedly a lot of the senseless complaining from other people .

However, I find it very ironic that your posts succeed in accomplishing exactly the OPPOSITE of what your goals are:
They make people realize that they need to do as much research as possible and search out the widest variety of opinions to find the truth.
And that truth is obviously almost the opposite of your slanderous posts according to every foreigner I have ever met in Taiwan. In fact, the vast majority of foreigners living in Taiwan love this unique little island.

Keep up the good work!! Your a star!