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OiGirl
Joined: 23 Jan 2003
Location: Hoke-y-gun
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 Posted: Fri Aug 31, 2007 3:09 am Post subject: Public school English curriculum? |
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Is there a copy of the English curriculum available somewhere online in English? How do you know what to teach? Do you just go by the students' book?
Thanks if you have any answers! |
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Smee
Joined: 24 Dec 2004
Location: Jeollanam-do
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| Posted: Fri Aug 31, 2007 3:28 am Post subject: |
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What level? I'd be interested in seeing online resources for the Korean teachers' middle school textbooks.
Here are "official" lesson plans for elementary school books: http://gepik.ken.go.kr/r/bbs/board.php?bbs_code=k_e_teaching_03_03 (not sure if that's what you're looking for). There are tabs for grades 3 to 6, and on each tab is three links. Click the one on the far right (원어민용지도서) for the English versions. They're .hwp files, so unless you have that program you'll have to open them on a computer at work. |
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icnelly
Joined: 25 Jan 2006
Location: Bucheon
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| Posted: Fri Aug 31, 2007 3:30 am Post subject: Re: Public school English curriculum? |
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| OiGirl wrote: |
Is there a copy of the English curriculum available somewhere online in English? How do you know what to teach? Do you just go by the students' book?
Thanks if you have any answers! |
There are teachers books for elementary school, and there are co-teaching lesson plans, and lesson plans all in English at the GEPIK website:
http://gepik.ken.go.kr/index.php
Here's a link directly to the elementary English lesson plans:
http://gepik.ken.go.kr/r/bbs/board.php?bbs_code=k_e_teaching_03_03
Outside of elementary, I don't know. The website has tabs for middle and high school, but they don't seem to have much substance.
EDIT: Smee beat me to it. You can download a reader for the Hangul program; it will let you read the .hwp files:
http://www.haansoft.com/hnc5_0/haansoft_en/product_info/hangul/hangul2005_info.php |
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ddeubel
Joined: 20 Jul 2005
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| Posted: Fri Aug 31, 2007 4:52 am Post subject: |
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I really don't know where the confusion with "curriculum" comes from. Essentially, the organization which looks after curriculum is the Korean Institute for Curriculum and Development. A large beast downtown near Gwangwhamun. Go here and look for the link. http://eflclassroom.buzka.com/Korea
Curriculum is just what you are going to do at the school, during school time. It is not the objectives.
But what I really mean is that your curriculum as a public school teacher is how you will teach "The English language". Sorry to say but it is your job to pare this down and find a way of making it happen (called teaching). Use themes, use grammar, use any kind of methodology but you are to have the students speaking and communicating in English. That is the goal but the curriculum is still what will happen to make THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE appear. So many people confuse curriculum and either methodology or material. Curriculum is both in a sense, what you should know and do and also other essential human objectives (self worth, happiness, critical thinking, etc...
Here's a basic definition.
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"A curriculum can be defined as the planned educational experiences offered by a school which can take place anywhere at any time* in the multiple context of the school, e.g. public schools as caring communities.**"
"How we conceive of curriculum and curriculum making is important because our conceptions and ways of reasoning about curriculum reflect and shape how we see, think and talk about, study and act on the education made available to students. Our curriculum conceptions, ways of reasoning and practice cannot be value free or neutral. They necessarily reflect our assumptions about the world, even if those assumptions remain implicit and unexamined. Further, concern with conceptions is not "merely theoretical". Conceptions emerge from and enter into practice." Cornbleth (1990). |
Ask yourself, what am I going to do during class time? Write that down, outline it in more detail. Bingo, that is your curriculum in part. Then add the human element. What will you do that is not just fact but instilling motivation, confidence, happiness. Write that down, that too will be the curriculum.
The objective of Korean curriculum in Hongik-ingang, the development of the whole person.
As KICE states,
On the basis of the stated ideals of education, the well-educated person targeted by this curriculum is defined as follows:
1) A person who seeks to develop his/her own individuality on the basis of well-rounded and wholesome
development
2) A person who demonstrates creative ability on the basis of a solid grounding in basic knowledge and skills
3) A person who explores career paths on the basis of broad intellectual knowledge and skills in diverse
academic disciplines
4) A person who creates new values on the basis of an understanding of the national culture
5) A person who contributes to the development of the community where he/she lives on the basis of democratic
citizenship
How you do that, is the curriculum for your class. Can be the book but I don't think that will really fulfill the objective 
DD
PS. Lesson plans are not the curriculum. They are too specific. They explain how you will bring the curriculum to light. Curriculum should be very general and really is the broad category covering objectives in each lesson plan. |
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cubanlord
Joined: 08 Jul 2005
Location: In Japan!
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| Posted: Sat Sep 01, 2007 4:57 am Post subject: |
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hmmm, an interesting topic. Possibly a good dissertation project? Creating the first ever English Education curriculum/objective for K-12. hmmmm.......   |
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spliff
Joined: 19 Jan 2004
Location: Khon Kaen, Thailand
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| Posted: Sat Sep 01, 2007 5:32 am Post subject: |
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My PS school is paying me 10,000 per lesson plan for for my special classes this term...90 plans = 900,000 = free airfare to Thai this winter for two...  |
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wylies99
Joined: 13 May 2006
Location: I'm one cool cat!
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| Posted: Sat Sep 01, 2007 2:54 pm Post subject: |
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| spliff wrote: |
| My PS school is paying me 10,000 per lesson plan for for my special classes this term...90 plans = 900,000 = free airfare to Thai this winter for two... |
Really? GEPIK schools are supposed to pay teachers for lesson plans? Does everyone know this? Where's ttompatz? |
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OiGirl
Joined: 23 Jan 2003
Location: Hoke-y-gun
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| Posted: Sat Sep 01, 2007 3:07 pm Post subject: |
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| cubanlord wrote: |
| hmmm, an interesting topic. Possibly a good dissertation project? Creating the first ever English Education curriculum/objective for K-12. hmmmm....... |
So, basically you are saying that there is none? |
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cubanlord
Joined: 08 Jul 2005
Location: In Japan!
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| Posted: Sat Sep 01, 2007 3:13 pm Post subject: |
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| OiGirl wrote: |
| cubanlord wrote: |
| hmmm, an interesting topic. Possibly a good dissertation project? Creating the first ever English Education curriculum/objective for K-12. hmmmm....... |
So, basically you are saying that there is none? |
I spent the day, yesterday, in Seoul with a good friend of mine who works in the public school system. He said for K-6, there are no objectives. For 7-12, there aren't any concrete objectives. Rather, there are expectations which are to be met. These expectations mimic what is on the monster high school test which they have to take in order to get into a good school. Of course, I would have to look into it a bit more (and I will).
I really am contemplating doing this as my dissertation should I choose to move on to my Ph.D. in Policy, leadership, and foundation.
Footnote - He did say that some schools have something similar in place in terms of expectations. However, this doesn't encompass the entire country. Schools, at will, choose whether or not to have some sort of guide from which to teach. The problem is, there is no set standard for all of them to follow. |
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iiicalypso
Joined: 13 Aug 2003
Location: is everything
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| Posted: Sat Sep 01, 2007 9:37 pm Post subject: |
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cubanlord wrote:
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I spent the day, yesterday, in Seoul with a good friend of mine who works in the public school system. He said for K-6, there are no objectives. For 7-12, there aren't any concrete objectives. Rather, there are expectations which are to be met. These expectations mimic what is on the monster high school test which they have to take in order to get into a good school. Of course, I would have to look into it a bit more (and I will).
I really am contemplating doing this as my dissertation should I choose to move on to my Ph.D. in Policy, leadership, and foundation.
Footnote - He did say that some schools have something similar in place in terms of expectations. However, this doesn't encompass the entire country. Schools, at will, choose whether or not to have some sort of guide from which to teach. The problem is, there is no set standard for all of them to follow. |
Isn't this the biggest (education related) problem with Korean schools? It would seem that after so many years of teaching English in public schools they would have figured out that it is important for teachers to KNOW what they are trying to accomplish. I can't imagine that they don't have objectives in place for all the other subjects.
I have very mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, one of the things that chased me out of teaching in the US was the absurd, almost religious, emphasis on benchmarks. My last teaching job in the US was tear-inducing. I spent more time rewriting lesson plans to make sure that they emphasized the correct learning strands than I did actually developing the lessons. My department head was under enormous pressure to get test scores up but, barring this, she had to prove that we were at least TRYING to get the test scores up.
On the other hand, being handed a class list and a school map and being told to "teach English" is not especially helpful. It is unfair to teachers and students. It has not happened to me, but I know of other teachers who have been told during evaluations that they are teaching the wrong things, and been negatively evaluated. They may or may not have been effective teachers, but I don't see how you can be told you are teaching the "wrong things" if nobody has ever told you what the right things are.
My question is, has anybody had any success at school finding out exactly what it is he should be going? If so, who did you talk to and how did you extract this secret from them? |
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dogshed
Joined: 28 Apr 2006
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| Posted: Sat Sep 01, 2007 11:11 pm Post subject: |
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There's an old saying: "Don't ask a question you don't want to know the answer too."
Another one is: "Don't rock the boat."
I would rather have no curriculum or plan than one that was wrong.
If they hardly any English at all does it really matter what I teach first?
My mother taught me to speak English without a curriculum.
For conversational English they just need to practice. It's much more
analogous to playing a sport than to learning something like math. |
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cubanlord
Joined: 08 Jul 2005
Location: In Japan!
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| Posted: Sat Sep 01, 2007 11:18 pm Post subject: |
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| dogshed wrote: |
| ...My mother taught me to speak English without a curriculum.... |
Actually, you acquired the language without it being taught.  |
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ddeubel
Joined: 20 Jul 2005
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| Posted: Sat Sep 01, 2007 11:27 pm Post subject: |
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Cubanlord,
I think there are objectives/goals in place though very badly communicated. As I stated, they are all there in the 7th curriculum where emphasis is to be to differing degrees on the education of the whole student and as I stated previously hongik ingang
The goals in brief are outlined and please go to KICE for a full reading of the new curriculum and expectations.
http://www.kice.re.kr/kice/eng/index.jsp
Also go to KEDI http://eng.kedi.re.kr for many interesting articles discussing the remaking of the curriculum in Korea and issues related to curriculum. Most in English.
1
| Quote: |
. The Goals of Elementary School Education
Elementary school education puts emphasis on helping students acquire basic abilities, skills, and habits essential for learning and daily life. The goals are:
1) To provide a variety of experiences for the balanced development of the mind and body
2) To help students develop the basic abilities to recognize and solve problems in daily life and to provide them
with rich experiences of expressing their own feelings and ideas in various manners
3) To provide students with a wide range of learning experiences conducive to the understanding of the diverse
world of work
4) To develop attitudes for the understanding and appreciation of tradition and culture
5) To develop basic life habits necessary for a daily life and to foster love for neighbors and country
2. The Goals of Middle School Education
Middle school education puts emphasis on helping students acquire basic abilities essential for learning and daily life and democratic citizenship on the basis of the success of the elementary school education. The goals are:
1) To promote the well-balanced development of the mind and body and to offer opportunities for the students to
discover their potentials on their own
2) To help students cultivate basic and problem-solving abilities necessary for learning and daily life and to
provide them with experience of expressing their thoughts and feelings creatively
3) To enable students to attain knowledge and skills in diverse fields so that they will be able to actively explore
their own career paths
4) To foster an attitude to take pride in and develop tradition and culture
5) To cultivate the understanding of the basic value and principles of free democracy and the democratic way of
life
3. The Goals of High School Education
High school education puts an emphasis on helping students acquire abilities essential for progressing along their chosen career paths and develop qualification of world citizens, on the basis of the success of the middle school education The goals are:
1) To help students develop a well-harmonized character along with a sound body and mind and a mature
sense of self-identity
2) To help students develop the abilities and attitudes of logical, critical, and creative thinking required for
academic pursuits and daily life
3) To enable students to attain knowledge and skills in diverse fields so that they will be able to carve out a
career in accordance with their aptitudes and interests
4) To encourage students to work to develop our traditions and culture in a way appropriate for the global setting
5) To help students endeavor to build and develop the national community and to develop an awareness and
attitude as global citizens |
I suggest that those who are asked to teach in an "uncommunicative" fashion and to the test -pull out the curriculum goals above and explain what you are trying to accomplish through communicative teaching. I've never met a Korean teacher yet who disagrees, as long as you explain it properly and have a dialogue about the goals of education and the proper curriculum to reach those objectives. There is nothing written in the guidelines that the goal is a TEST!!! That shows that Korean education has been hijacked and especially so when it comes to a subject such as English which is very subjective ..... (aren't all subjects???)
I hope others who are beginning to teach in Korea, atleast refer to the govt guidelines.
I think we can count ourselves lucky in English, for not having benchmarks or standards as such. They are not conducive to learning in subjects such as languages and I really have been against the notion in EFL of setting out standards/checklists which students must achieve to move up a level. On the face of it they sound so good, so doable but in practice, a nightmare for a very "humane" subject with so many variables beyond fact.
I think what is needed is more basic guidance as to what is expected of new teachers. The textbooks do that horribly. On top of that are the variety of levels one encounters in any classroom. Still, In elementary school the goal is to instill in students the notion that language learning can be interesting, enjoyable and something valuable and which offers "success". They are to teach students whole language and communicatively. That is the mandate. Now some schools have differing opinions and that reflects the change Korean education is undergoing. That is good.
1. Basic Guidelines
1) The National Common Basic Curriculum
The national common basic curriculum is designed to be implemented for ten years from grades 1 to 10. |
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cubanlord
Joined: 08 Jul 2005
Location: In Japan!
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| Posted: Sat Sep 01, 2007 11:52 pm Post subject: |
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| ddeubel wrote: |
Cubanlord,
I think there are objectives/goals in place though very badly communicated. As I stated, they are all there in the 7th curriculum where emphasis is to be to differing degrees on the education of the whole student and as I stated previously hongik ingang
The goals in brief are outlined and please go to KICE for a full reading of the new curriculum and expectations.
http://www.kice.re.kr/kice/eng/index.jsp
Also go to KEDI http://eng.kedi.re.kr for many interesting articles discussing the remaking of the curriculum in Korea and issues related to curriculum. Most in English.
1
| Quote: |
. The Goals of Elementary School Education
Elementary school education puts emphasis on helping students acquire basic abilities, skills, and habits essential for learning and daily life. The goals are:
1) To provide a variety of experiences for the balanced development of the mind and body
2) To help students develop the basic abilities to recognize and solve problems in daily life and to provide them
with rich experiences of expressing their own feelings and ideas in various manners
3) To provide students with a wide range of learning experiences conducive to the understanding of the diverse
world of work
4) To develop attitudes for the understanding and appreciation of tradition and culture
5) To develop basic life habits necessary for a daily life and to foster love for neighbors and country
2. The Goals of Middle School Education
Middle school education puts emphasis on helping students acquire basic abilities essential for learning and daily life and democratic citizenship on the basis of the success of the elementary school education. The goals are:
1) To promote the well-balanced development of the mind and body and to offer opportunities for the students to
discover their potentials on their own
2) To help students cultivate basic and problem-solving abilities necessary for learning and daily life and to
provide them with experience of expressing their thoughts and feelings creatively
3) To enable students to attain knowledge and skills in diverse fields so that they will be able to actively explore
their own career paths
4) To foster an attitude to take pride in and develop tradition and culture
5) To cultivate the understanding of the basic value and principles of free democracy and the democratic way of
life
3. The Goals of High School Education
High school education puts an emphasis on helping students acquire abilities essential for progressing along their chosen career paths and develop qualification of world citizens, on the basis of the success of the middle school education The goals are:
1) To help students develop a well-harmonized character along with a sound body and mind and a mature
sense of self-identity
2) To help students develop the abilities and attitudes of logical, critical, and creative thinking required for
academic pursuits and daily life
3) To enable students to attain knowledge and skills in diverse fields so that they will be able to carve out a
career in accordance with their aptitudes and interests
4) To encourage students to work to develop our traditions and culture in a way appropriate for the global setting
5) To help students endeavor to build and develop the national community and to develop an awareness and
attitude as global citizens |
I suggest that those who are asked to teach in an "uncommunicative" fashion and to the test -pull out the curriculum goals above and explain what you are trying to accomplish through communicative teaching. I've never met a Korean teacher yet who disagrees, as long as you explain it properly and have a dialogue about the goals of education and the proper curriculum to reach those objectives. There is nothing written in the guidelines that the goal is a TEST!!! That shows that Korean education has been hijacked and especially so when it comes to a subject such as English which is very subjective ..... (aren't all subjects???)
I hope others who are beginning to teach in Korea, atleast refer to the govt guidelines.
I think we can count ourselves lucky in English, for not having benchmarks or standards as such. They are not conducive to learning in subjects such as languages and I really have been against the notion in EFL of setting out standards/checklists which students must achieve to move up a level. On the face of it they sound so good, so doable but in practice, a nightmare for a very "humane" subject with so many variables beyond fact.
I think what is needed is more basic guidance as to what is expected of new teachers. The textbooks do that horribly. On top of that are the variety of levels one encounters in any classroom. Still, In elementary school the goal is to instill in students the notion that language learning can be interesting, enjoyable and something valuable and which offers "success". They are to teach students whole language and communicatively. That is the mandate. Now some schools have differing opinions and that reflects the change Korean education is undergoing. That is good.
1. Basic Guidelines
1) The National Common Basic Curriculum
The national common basic curriculum is designed to be implemented for ten years from grades 1 to 10. |
Please...PLEASE TELL ME THIS ISN'T WHAT A KOREAN CURRICULUM LOOKS LIKE! PLEASE DO NOT TELL ME THIS IS THE 'ENGLISH' CURRICULUM!!!  |
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VirginIslander
Joined: 24 May 2006
Location: Busan
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| Posted: Sun Sep 02, 2007 3:06 am Post subject: |
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When one writes a curriculum for public school, does the writer have to take into consideration what students learn in howgrons.
If there are benchmarks for grade levels should there also be benchmarks for various English levels within grade levels.
For example, my Eilte fifth and sixth grade students, who have been studying for five or more years year round, are now reading English novels (penguin series) like Call of the Wild, the Birds, Around the World in Eighy Days, Robin Hood, etc.....
Soon they will finish this class and if they are in fifth grade they will begin our final level: American curriculum. They read the same books that their American counterparts are learning in the US.
I would imagine that whoever writes the curriculum will not take these students into consideration. Only the greatest good for the greatest number.
Lastly, wouldnt it be much more profitable to write a curriculum for a private insitution than a government. The three guys who wrote the curriculum and made all the materials for our high school division were paid 10,000,000 per month.
3,300,000 a month to research and create. |
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