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lowpo
Joined: 01 Mar 2007
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 Posted: Mon Jan 24, 2011 9:16 pm Post subject: |
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| whiteshoes wrote: |
| Andyc24_uk wrote: |
| Wow - I'm kinda surprised that anyone wouldn't say hello back to a kid if they make the effort to speak to you. The whole point of them learning English is supposedly that they use it when coming into contact with foreigners - and it's just basic politeness, really! If you were teaching back home, would you blank a kid who said 'hello' to you? If you were in an office anywhere and a co-worker (even a very junior one) greeted you, would you ignore them? I would hope not... |
Oh, I've heard public school teachers tell me, "My job is to teach in the classroom. If I'm not in class, I'm not talking to them." |
I remember some teachers telling everyone. There only good for one "Hello" a day. |
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oldfatfarang
Joined: 19 May 2005
Location: On the road to somewhere.
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| Posted: Mon Jan 24, 2011 9:18 pm Post subject: |
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| whiteshoes wrote: |
Oh, I've heard public school teachers tell me, "My job is to teach in the classroom. If I'm not in class, I'm not talking to them." |
Wow! Just wow! These PS teachers have really missed the point of why we are flown fhalf way around the world to Korea. I always thought it was to help Korean kids speak Englisheee and to teach them how to interact with 'foreigners'. Unfortunately, given really large mixed classes, this just isn't possible during PS class time.
Sadly, at one school I'm stuck in a teachers' office when I'm not teaching - and I really miss interacting with the kids between classes. Most students won't come into the scary teachers' office, so I don't get to speak with them a lot at that school.
However, at my high school, between classes, lunch times, and on the walk to the bus terminal, is when I can really interact with students (and help them communicate in English).
This poor rural school needs a dedicated English Zone where the GET can spend their day interacting with the students. Sadly, no chance of that.
Good luck. |
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languistic
Joined: 25 Nov 2009
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curlygirl
Joined: 26 Mar 2007
Location: Pundang, Seohyeon dong
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| Posted: Tue Jan 25, 2011 12:22 am Post subject: |
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| Andyc24_uk wrote: |
Wow - I'm kinda surprised that anyone wouldn't say hello back to a kid if they make the effort to speak to you. The whole point of them learning English is supposedly that they use it when coming into contact with foreigners - and it's just basic politeness, really! If you were teaching back home, would you blank a kid who said 'hello' to you? If you were in an office anywhere and a co-worker (even a very junior one) greeted you, would you ignore them? I would hope not...
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During my first year I too was, quote: kinda surprised that anyone wouldn't say hello back to a kid if they make the effort to speak to you.
That's until I realized that every single one of the 1200+ high school kids I taught were saying 하이 to their new, novelty, first time ever Englishee teachaa and I was the only teacher that bothered to reply. My co-workers never seemed to respond to the frequent 안녕하세요 greetings they received, and after wearing out my neck day after day twisting round to see where each 하이 was coming from I conceded that my co-workers were right. The students are obligated (by culture) to acknowledge us, but teachers are not obligated to respond. Just follow your Korean co-workers and you can't go too far wrong.
What say you to that? |
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jrwhite82
Joined: 22 May 2010
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| Posted: Tue Jan 25, 2011 2:25 am Post subject: |
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Well thanks for the link...I was hoping you could contribue something to the thread. But I guess I was wrong. |
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languistic
Joined: 25 Nov 2009
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| Posted: Tue Jan 25, 2011 3:15 am Post subject: |
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| jrwhite82 wrote: |
Well thanks for the link...I was hoping you could contribue something to the thread. But I guess I was wrong. |
I think your bringing the link here for us is enough for everyone. Thanks for sharing that; I am sure the PS teachers will find it useful.
Thread closed!
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jrwhite82
Joined: 22 May 2010
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| Posted: Tue Jan 25, 2011 3:20 am Post subject: |
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| Edit: Trying to keep one of my new years resolution of not tryIng to feed the trolls. |
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lithium
Joined: 18 Jun 2008
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| Posted: Tue Jan 25, 2011 6:25 am Post subject: |
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| jrwhite82 wrote: |
| Edit: Trying to keep one of my new years resolution of not tryIng to feed the trolls. |
well, you New Year's resolution "FAILED!"
http://failblog.org/ |
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Andyc24_uk
Joined: 21 May 2007
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| Posted: Tue Jan 25, 2011 11:12 am Post subject: |
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| curlygirl wrote: |
| Andyc24_uk wrote: |
Wow - I'm kinda surprised that anyone wouldn't say hello back to a kid if they make the effort to speak to you. The whole point of them learning English is supposedly that they use it when coming into contact with foreigners - and it's just basic politeness, really! If you were teaching back home, would you blank a kid who said 'hello' to you? If you were in an office anywhere and a co-worker (even a very junior one) greeted you, would you ignore them? I would hope not...
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During my first year I too was, quote: kinda surprised that anyone wouldn't say hello back to a kid if they make the effort to speak to you.
That's until I realized that every single one of the 1200+ high school kids I taught were saying 하이 to their new, novelty, first time ever Englishee teachaa and I was the only teacher that bothered to reply. My co-workers never seemed to respond to the frequent 안녕하세요 greetings they received, and after wearing out my neck day after day twisting round to see where each 하이 was coming from I conceded that my co-workers were right. The students are obligated (by culture) to acknowledge us, but teachers are not obligated to respond. Just follow your Korean co-workers and you can't go too far wrong.
What say you to that? |
What say me to that? Me say this :
Firstly, I'm not in my first year - rapidly approaching the 4-year mark in Korea, taught high school students in the UK before that, so this isn't a case of naive newbie-ism. Second, I teach at a couple of different branches of a major hagwon chain, so I deal with maybe 200 students, as opposed to the 1200-odd a PS teacher has to deal with. I sympathise more in that situation, although I still disagree with the fundamental principle of what you're saying.
I agree that teachers aren't obligated, culturally speaking, to respond, and that in many cases the students just say 'Hi' as almost an automatic reaction on seeing a foreigner to fulfil their Confucian 'respecting their elders' role. (as they give a respectful 안녕하세요 to older Korean teachers, who aren't expected to respond to someone of inferior status to them.) But we're not teaching them how to interact in a Confucian society, we're teaching them how to interact in a Western society. In the west, if someone says hello, you respond - it would be seen as rude to ignore them, regardless of their 'status' (which obviously doesn't play such a big part in western cultural manners in any case).
If a kid says 'hi' out of force of Confucian cultural habit, instead of out of a desire to practice their English, then that's not a problem to me. It's also not a problem for me to say 'hi' back. Some of them are happy to leave it at that - some make the effort to extend the conversation. And you know what? The longer I spend in this job, replying to all the kids who say 'hi' to me, the greater the proportion of kids who make the effort to use their English skills. It takes time. It'll never be anywhere near 100% of them. But it's more like 60% who at least try now, rather than the 10% who made the effort when I started this job.
Had I just ignored their greetings, it wouldn't have made any difference to the 40% who still don't respond, but it would likely still be only 10% of the kids who really tried using their English - the other 50% who've gradually developed confidence over the past 10 months or so would be sitting there wondering why they bother learning English, when foreigners (remember I'm one of maybe two foreigners they interact with on a regular basis, the other being their overworked 1200-kid PS teacher) don't, in their experience, want to speak to them.
I'll tell you something else too. I have very few discipline problems in my classes. That's not because I'm a particularly amazing teacher, I'm certainly not; and it's not because my students are any more polite or intelligent or hardworking than average - some of them are frankly pretty dumb, pretty rude and pretty lazy. It's because I've made the effort to build up a good relationship with my students, and that begins with making the effort outside the classroom, taking an interest in them as people, rather than just as empty vessels to be filled up with English knowledge before they're shuttled off to the next classroom. Make them feel valued, and they will respond more positively, and the easiest way to make them feel valued is to say hello. |
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