Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Swampfox10mm]

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2011/07/117_91688.html

I think this will mean fewer foreign teachers in Korea, but more side work for those here already.

[marsavalanche]

its a good thing this was posted. i was starting to worry about not getting my daily "more weigooks getting cut" fix

[Gorf]

Yeah this might go on for a year or two but then they'll go back to having actual English speakers in the classroom.

[ippy]

My coteacher is in the middle of getting this TEE certificate. This is the same coteacher who wont do a demonstration class without me scripting EVERY SINGLE word she is going to say (and even when i explain that the stuff in square brackets are just general IDEAS for her to draw on, and not actually things she will say, she still reads it off like shes ron burgandy).

As ive said before though, if the objectives arent 'cultural exchange', then its not like we're a big loss. And who on earth are we to tell the korean tax payer how to spend their cash. If they want english speakers who dread using english, no big loss. Since they have almost zero impact in the world of english speaking tourism, theyre probably better off getting their chinese up to scratch anyway. :p

[Kaypea]

[aq8knyus]

I do get the feeling, for PS at least, that English language education will be similar to French language teaching in UK schools. By that I mean someone who has dodgy speaking skills and poor pronunciation trying to teach the language.

Although I did go to a bog standard comp so maybe it was better for others.
Though if native teachers are reduced how will they decide which schools get them? I guess kids in the Korean equivalent of bog standard comps will lose out.

[Julius]

[jinju necklace]

Hiring Korean English conversation teachers is a good idea, but the education board is failing to see what is at the heart of the problem - the curriculum. If they don't make a massive overall on the ridiculous curriculum and textbooks that are currently being used then these kind of changes won't make any impact on the English proficiency level of Korean students.

Dividing students into levels is also a great idea, but it's still problematic when you teach all the levels the same textbook and all levels still have to write the same tests (as some schools are doing now).

None of these small changes will make a difference until the curriculum is drastically changed.

[s10czar]

I've often thought that I should only be teaching about 20% of my current students. The other 80% simply DO NOT understand what I am saying.

Truth be told, most of my students are really being taught English from the other students in class who can actually understand me. That being the case, I say it's an improvement to get a Korean teacher in there -at least the students will be learning from a teacher and not from each other.

Sadly, what I don't see expressed in the article is an understanding that those 20% of kids who can actually understand me really do get a significant benefit from being taught by me -a native speaker.

Seems like the Koreans are throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

Oh well, it's their country.

[jrwhite82]

There really is no emphasis on differentiation in Korean public schools.

It isn't about the top 20% or the bottom 20%. It's about the 80% in the middle.

The idea they have is to break the classes down into groups of less than 20 is a good one. Of course the students will succeed to a hire level than the current system. If I was given classes of only 20 kids, I guarantee I could provide each of them twice as much individual attention as I do now. It's not really apples to apples. That is a SIGNIFICANT advantage. And a great idea. Maybe they are finally catching on that 40+ kids in a class is just a bit too many.

Also they are going to level the classes. That is also a good idea (except for those students whose self efficacy is lowered). These are all things that should have been done years ago. Imagine what we could have done as NETs, with small, leveled groups. They'd be so much further ahead then they are now.

[kingplaya4]

Yeah sorry guys I completely agree with Jr. It would probably be better if they used native speakers for these smaller class sizes, but with the volume of people that would be needed for all the schools, that's unrealistic. They do need to makes some kind of rule that these Korean teachers can't speak Korean in these classes at all. I think a little Korean here and there wouldn't hurt, but that could easily get expanded to the whole class or at least half the class.

Perhaps a panel of native speakers could judge whether these Korean teachers speaking skills are up to snuff?

[jrwhite82]

[jrwhite82]

[Bruce W Sims]

May I ask something about the environment in which you are teaching?

I have found it very effective to enlist the aid of the students themselves in teaching each other. The reason for this is two-fold.

Students have a natural tendency to interact among themselves and I have found that this energy can be harnessed to move the class forward. The teacher shifts from being a person who is constantly "putting-out little chatter fires" to a person who is sheparding a process.

Students are able to identify individuals amoing themselves who have a grasp of the material and tend to view things stated by a peer as valid over things said by an adult.

High performing students often become bored with time spent dragging the slower students along. Conversely, slow students become disenfranchised by smarter students constantly performing better. By engaging the high-performers to "tutor" the slower students both needs are met.

I have taught classes of 30-40 individuals and have learned very early in my career that I can't "do it all". I must delegate authority and develop a cooperative effort with my students, and even small children are able to get into the spirit. Reducing a large class to small clusters of rotating partners seems to work the best. FWIW.

Best Wishes,

Bruce

[some waygug-in]

I could see this coming 4 years ago, the Korean teachers do not want us there. Whatever the excuses or reasons given, it doesn't matter much.

I believe that the PS English programs were set up to fail and now they can say "we tried having Foreign Teachers and it failed"!