Korean Job Discussion Forums

[tfunk]

Wouldn't it be useful to new teachers if there was a wiki where they could read teaching tips and a syllabus guideline from experienced teachers within the Korean teaching system?

I think it would raise the status of our profession if we took the ball into our own hands and worked among ourselves to create a basic standard of teaching knowledge that is applicable to the Korean teaching situation. This wiki would be especially useful if it focused on the distinguishing advantages and disadvantages a native speaker has in teaching in the Korean classroom (e.g. teaching phonetics).

I've met teachers that can't spell 'Wensday' and have worse spelling skills than the students they are teaching. I'm talking about very basic standards here and nothing as involved as the CELTA etc.

E.g.

A basic understanding of children.
Case studies of both useful and counterproductive teaching behavior.
Spelling skills.
An intermediate understanding of grammar.

If people were interested and a wiki was created then this body of knowledge could potentially be used as the basis to create tests and then possibly basic accreditation for teachers in Korea. This accreditation could be used to determine a pay scale and help distinguish different qualities of teachers to Korean parents and media. It would also help raise the level of self-esteem among teachers here if they knew there was a concrete and definable teaching syllabus for native speakers by which to work to. The improved status of foreign teachers in Korea could also help organization such as ATEK.

So, what do you think?

[lifeinkorea]

Everyone comes to the table with their own agenda, so such a "wiki utopia" won't exist. However, here is my attempt at one (in progress) http://englishlessons.wikispaces.com

(If you do like the wiki, instead of using it the way it was intended for group projects, make your own and you can embed pages from other wikis. This will give it more of an individual aspect. I suggest you then use it for older students if you have them.)

[danby_ll]

[D.D.]

I think we are here to teach conversation skills. With computers spelling and other basic skills are becoming less important.

Some very bright people are bad at spelling. Anal people are good at spelling and believe that it is very important. I think they are called concrete sequential people. Others look at the bigger picture rather than focus on details.

Creative thinking and use of the language is more important than the blocks that make the language.

[tfunk]

[tfunk]