Hi!
I am calling on you, my readers, to recommend to me some TEFL books that I can start reading. My goal is to learn more skills and insights into the profession before I start my next job. Sure it would be best to take a course somewhere, but I have neither the time or money for that. Therefore, I would like to do some self-study.
I have started a google search but would much rather get recommendations or reading lists. The book could be about teaching not just for EFL students, too.
All right I look forward to your picks.
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Monday, November 22, 2010
No More Hitting...But Then What Do We Do?
The Korea Times article that talks about the recent ban on corporal punishment, here in public schools, came into my mind today when I was leaving a 6th grade class with my coteacher.
The situation was that we just walked out of an unruly class that didn't really pay attention or participate. It boiled down to a group of boys who wouldn't stop talking and laughing with each other. At first my coteacher tried to punish them by making them come up to the front of the class and singing the book song in front of everyone. After that they were pretty quiet, but not totally. The reality is 6th grade, at this time of year, have what I call a "disease." This is that they see the "light at the end of the tunnel" and know that most of what they are doing doesn't matter. In February they will move on to Middle School where studying for important tests will start to take over their lives.
So their attitude is that of malaise and "who-cares." I understand and get this and are quite familiar with this at Korean public schools. However, in the past teachers were able to punish them using familiar methods, such as standing for long hours in uncomfortable poses or being hit by a stick. I for one have never seen a student get hit by a stick. But I have seen a lot of students having to hold their arms up in the hallway and stand there for a long time. Lately, though this seems to have disappeared.
The real issue here is the new law that bans corporal punishment and the fact that the government has given very little advice or instruction on what to do instead of using physical force. In fact, it really amazes me that the government didn't ease into this through phases of training and courses for the students. Instead, it feels like the teacher's "sticks" were literally grabbed out of their hands. I for one am in the boat that believes corporal punishment is not truly effective and also cruel. There are other means of punishment that have been developed and used over time that show they are just as effective. Example:
But for the most part things aren't falling apart and crashing, as it may sound to be. Perhaps in five years Korean teachers will have come up with their own successful methods of punishment and classroom management.
What I find most fascinating is that this begins the first generation of Korean students who do not experience strict corporal punishment at school. What will they be like when they are older? Take for example my good friend's son, who is in the 1st grade here in Korea. She told me how he was slapped on the hand for using his eraser as a little truck and playing with it. Sure he should have been paying attention, but the only lesson (I believe) he really learned was "Play = pain." It is my understanding that a teacher who has been trained in non-corporal punishment methods, would rather see this student as a kid with an imagination, and make a note of it.
One last thing, through my research on this topic, I found an organization called "Global Initiative End All Corporal Punishment of Children" which states in their address to South Korea:
Therefore...
Is this new law part of a seed that will, from the inside out, slowly reform Korea? Or not?
**Follow this article for a great perspective on the whole impact.**
Your thoughts ~ comments ~
The situation was that we just walked out of an unruly class that didn't really pay attention or participate. It boiled down to a group of boys who wouldn't stop talking and laughing with each other. At first my coteacher tried to punish them by making them come up to the front of the class and singing the book song in front of everyone. After that they were pretty quiet, but not totally. The reality is 6th grade, at this time of year, have what I call a "disease." This is that they see the "light at the end of the tunnel" and know that most of what they are doing doesn't matter. In February they will move on to Middle School where studying for important tests will start to take over their lives.
So their attitude is that of malaise and "who-cares." I understand and get this and are quite familiar with this at Korean public schools. However, in the past teachers were able to punish them using familiar methods, such as standing for long hours in uncomfortable poses or being hit by a stick. I for one have never seen a student get hit by a stick. But I have seen a lot of students having to hold their arms up in the hallway and stand there for a long time. Lately, though this seems to have disappeared.
The real issue here is the new law that bans corporal punishment and the fact that the government has given very little advice or instruction on what to do instead of using physical force. In fact, it really amazes me that the government didn't ease into this through phases of training and courses for the students. Instead, it feels like the teacher's "sticks" were literally grabbed out of their hands. I for one am in the boat that believes corporal punishment is not truly effective and also cruel. There are other means of punishment that have been developed and used over time that show they are just as effective. Example:
A more effective approach is a positive disciplinary program, incorporating activities that help teachers and administrators assume control and establish order with the cooperation of the students. Students receive rewards for controlling themselves. Examples of positive disciplinary activities are utilization of student input in the disciplinary policy, improvement of lines of communication, development of mutual respect between students and administrators and the modeling and reinforcement of good behavior.The bottom line is that there just isn't any proposed "program" to replace corporal punishment here. (As far as I have heard.) Maybe the Seoul Government's recent publication to guide teachers would help. Offering: (From the same Korea Times article above)
The book contains detailed guidelines on how to discipline unruly students without physical punishment. For instance, if a student comes to school wearing a school uniform that is overly modified, the manual suggests that the uniform be seized for a certain period and give the student a spare uniform.Teachers here need more than just a guide book or pamphlet to help them along. They need support and training in whatever kind of program they deem would work. I don't expect Korean public schools to adopt and start looking like Western schools (where some still use corporal punishment) but I really feel sorry for these teachers. Students, these days, know that they can't be whacked or physically punished for their bad behavior. They are starting to take the upper hand. Parents too are notorious for telling their kids to not listen to their teachers. The whole system needs a recall, if you ask me.
If a student refuses to follow teachers’ instruction during class, it stipulates that teachers should call the student to the staff room instead of scolding him or her in the classroom.
But for the most part things aren't falling apart and crashing, as it may sound to be. Perhaps in five years Korean teachers will have come up with their own successful methods of punishment and classroom management.
What I find most fascinating is that this begins the first generation of Korean students who do not experience strict corporal punishment at school. What will they be like when they are older? Take for example my good friend's son, who is in the 1st grade here in Korea. She told me how he was slapped on the hand for using his eraser as a little truck and playing with it. Sure he should have been paying attention, but the only lesson (I believe) he really learned was "Play = pain." It is my understanding that a teacher who has been trained in non-corporal punishment methods, would rather see this student as a kid with an imagination, and make a note of it.
One last thing, through my research on this topic, I found an organization called "Global Initiative End All Corporal Punishment of Children" which states in their address to South Korea:
"The Committee notes with great concern that corporal punishment is officially permitted in schools. The Committee is of the opinion that corporal punishment does not comply with the principles and provisions of the Convention, particularly since it constitutes a serious violation of the dignity of the child. [See similar observations of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, E/C.12/1/Add.79, para 36]. The fact that Ministry of Education guidelines leave the decision on whether to use corporal punishment in schools to the individual school administrators suggests that some forms of corporal punishment are acceptable and therefore undermines educational measures to promote positive and non-violent discipline."I wonder what they would have to say now in regards to this new law.
Therefore...
Is this new law part of a seed that will, from the inside out, slowly reform Korea? Or not?
**Follow this article for a great perspective on the whole impact.**
Your thoughts ~ comments ~
Sunday, November 21, 2010
The English Section of the 수능
The "수능" or "수학능혁시험" is the test Korean high school students must take before they graduate. Last week it was administered across the nation. Typically, lower grades cheer on for their seniors and give them little goodies to help them pass. If you want to see a nice photo-essay of the event then follow this link. Note that this test is very important and not just something they can "Christmas Tree" in the answers and then figure out what to do with their lives. As shown here:
I don't work at the high school level and so have no real direct relationship to this test and what goes on. However, the other day JH sent me a pdf file of the English section of this test. I remember he showed it to me last year, although it was a print out. This post will be meant to share with you parts of the English section and my critique of it.
At first there are mostly questions with Korean and English.
Yes, I don't know Korean well enough, so I can't tell you what is being asked. My judgment is based upon the overall test and that it looks really hard. Some questions even I don't know what they are getting at. Of course I have used and studied English in a different way from a Korean high school student. It is well known that young Korean people study for this test practically their whole young adult life. They know how to find the answer and crack the test's code.
But still there are 9 pages of this and 50 questions to get through. Here is what one of the pages looks like:
It's straight black and white with a few pictures and not much room for imagination. However, I don't recall the SAT I took back in high school was any more vibrant than this.
Let's look at one of the questions:
Without checking the answer sheet, which I have here, I think the answer could be either #5 or #1. The actual is #1. Bravo! What did you think? Or was this actually easy?
The thing is I teach English to elementary students and often wonder where it is all leading up to. Teaching my kids, "I like apples" and showing them different fruits, I stop and think "why?" Is it to get them to be comfortable and familiar with English or teach them sentence structure and a list of vocabulary? The thing is I have been told to teach in a very active and outgoing way. As I have said before my coteachers basically want me to perform like a clown in the class making English a form of entertainment. I am fine with getting away from the typical rote-memorization that is found here, but I don't really have the energy to bounce off the walls with every class and on every day. However, I can't help but feel perplexed that this "Clown English" leads them to this really strict high school SAT test.
How does this test really measure their English skills? The test does include the different levels, such as reading and listening. So I guess they get to use all of that. Of course what test could there be based upon non-memorization preparation.
Even the American SAT requires some preparation that isn't very exciting. The "Critical Reading section is laid out like this:
While 수능 doesn’t determine absolutely everything about one’s future academic and professional career, it does determine a whole lot more than the SAT. A high score on the 수능 is the primary admissions requirements to get into one of the SKY universities (Korea’s answer to an Ivy league school or the Big Three).
I don't work at the high school level and so have no real direct relationship to this test and what goes on. However, the other day JH sent me a pdf file of the English section of this test. I remember he showed it to me last year, although it was a print out. This post will be meant to share with you parts of the English section and my critique of it.
At first there are mostly questions with Korean and English.
But still there are 9 pages of this and 50 questions to get through. Here is what one of the pages looks like:
Let's look at one of the questions:
The thing is I teach English to elementary students and often wonder where it is all leading up to. Teaching my kids, "I like apples" and showing them different fruits, I stop and think "why?" Is it to get them to be comfortable and familiar with English or teach them sentence structure and a list of vocabulary? The thing is I have been told to teach in a very active and outgoing way. As I have said before my coteachers basically want me to perform like a clown in the class making English a form of entertainment. I am fine with getting away from the typical rote-memorization that is found here, but I don't really have the energy to bounce off the walls with every class and on every day. However, I can't help but feel perplexed that this "Clown English" leads them to this really strict high school SAT test.
How does this test really measure their English skills? The test does include the different levels, such as reading and listening. So I guess they get to use all of that. Of course what test could there be based upon non-memorization preparation.
Even the American SAT requires some preparation that isn't very exciting. The "Critical Reading section is laid out like this:
The Critical Reading (formerly Verbal) section of the SAT is made up of three scored sections: two 25-minute sections and one 20-minute section, with varying types of questions, including sentence completions and questions about short and long reading passages. Critical Reading sections normally begin with 5 to 8 sentence completion questions; the remainder of the questions are focused on the reading passages. Sentence completions generally test the student's vocabulary and understanding of sentence structure and organization by requiring the student to select one or two words that best complete a given sentence.Oh, that is bringing back memories. As you can see, from the following picture, the American SAT version isn't that much different in style.
Another Korean example:
The answer is...#5.
Do you think this question was hard? Do you think it would be hard for a Korean high school student? Let's not forget they are taking the test all day along with other subjects such as Korean and Science, and that they have likely been studying all night for the past year. I never really enjoyed taking these types of test and knowing that my score determined a certain future. I should be grateful, because whatever score I got on my SAT it never got in the way of my life. I went to college, graduated and have since been doing well. Unfortunately, Korean people live in a world where their test score determines whether or not they will get into the top 3 Universities, which means whether or not they will get hired by the top companies (LG, Samsung, Hyundai) and to some who they can marry.
I have talked to JH about this and how someone's test score shouldn't be how the world judges them. Instead, it should be about their character and life experience. Of course, I said taking tests and measuring your skills can come along with that, but to base one's qualities just on a score is harsh. He agreed with my reasoning but said, "This is Korea. We have to do like this." Why? Essentially he brought it down to that Korea is a small country without a lot of competition and everyone wants to do better than the other person. He said, "If I see someone else study 3 hours, then I will study 4." So I said, "Then the person behind you will study 5 and so on..." I tried to tell him that Korea being a small country and crowded isn't going to change, but that the way people function and accept each other can change. I told him there are crowded parts of America, like New York and LA, where there is a lot of competition. But to get ahead people usually work hard and pull themselves up through networking and starting their own businesses..etc.
The conversation huffed out as I was getting a big headache. I wasn't trying to change JH's mind but help him see how I see it all. Of course, he helped me how he sees it.
To me this English section of the Korean SAT test points to a critical conversation that many expats have with each other about Korean society. Over time things have been changing little by little here. I don't expect Korea to suddenly do a 180 flip and look like the West. But I can't help but think that someday the young folks will rebel or break out of the mold and make their own path. Maybe that is already happening, but from underground or from the inside-out.
All in all, my views are strictly that of someone with surface knowledge of this all. I wanted to share the English version of the test so those who teach English here can kind of see what it amounts to.
What are your thoughts on all this and by all means feel free to correct me.
Friday, November 19, 2010
Where I Will and Have Lived In South Korea
As I am going on my fourth job here in Korea I noticed that I have lived in several different areas. Because some of my readers don't live in South Korea (like my Mom) I can bet when I say, "Nowon" or "Gunpo" that you probably don't really know where that is.
Therefore, I took the time to create the following map to help you guys out.
As you can see I have moved around quite a bit and lived in several different parts. Also, keep in mind these pinpoints are probably not 100% accurate but give a general sense of location. Here are more details...
All right, I hope this helps.
Therefore, I took the time to create the following map to help you guys out.
- Job A: This was the hagwon I worked for in Seoul. Located near the purple line.
- Job B: This was my first public elementary school and was actually in the city of "Sanbon", but better known as the Gunpo area. Which was close to the light blue line.
- Job C: Is the one I am finishing now, down here in Suji, which is close to Bundang and on the Bundang line (yellow).
- Job D: Is my future job (Starts in March) in Nowon or Junggye-dong. It is on Line 7 or the olive color line. This one is in Seoul.
- The star is of course where JH is situated...as you can see I will be closer to him. Certainly this aspect and being close to Seoul means he can't make anymore excuses for not being able to go into the city and do something with me! ha!
All right, I hope this helps.
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