***Warning*** This has the potential to be a very long post, so only read if you've got some time, and you're actually interested in giving feedback on my life and its goings-ons.
I've only got about 5 minutes before class starts here, but I thought I would at least get started on this post so I can finish later. This is simply a post to try and jot down some of the concerns that I'm struggling with recently.
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1) Graduate Degree:
While there are plenty of schools to choose from, there have only been two that have stuck out to me, and for pointedly different reasons. FSU's School of Social Work is a great program at an even greater school. I spent the first two years of undergrad in Tallahassee, and I still consider them to be some of the greatest times I've had while attending college. The social work program is highly regarded, and the atmosphere on that campus is something that I've really missed these past 6 years (though I've made several trips back since leaving). Tallahassee had always felt like a place that was just far enough away from home to feel truly independent, but also close enough to where I wouldn't have to spend an entire day driving down to visit. But having not been able to complete my undergrad program there, I still feel like I have unfinished business in Tallahassee, that it would mean more to me to complete my schooling career back where it started.
However, I'm also considering the School of Social Work at USF, which is a good school in its own right, as well as being the school where I eventually finished my undergrad degree last year. I'm familiar with the majority of the professors there, and there's also the advantage of having my core faith community in close proximity (along with my family, of course). Staying at home would save a considerable amount of money, which is a factor that I'm begrudgingly aware of (money, that is). Speaking of money, it would seem at least a little easier to find a part-time weekend job in a place I know with people I'm familiar with rather than a new environment with people I don't yet know. This is all assuming I decide that grad school is ultimately the path I want to take, since I'm still torn about that decision as well.
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2) Teaching in Korea (and how long for):
This is an increasingly-pressing issue, because the time is coming for us [the school, my dad & uncle and I] to make a decision. For those of you who weren't aware before, my teaching situation became a bit complicated last year even before I went began my trip over. The schools offer one-year contracts to native English teachers, with the school year starting in March. However, I wasn't able to come when school here started since I was still in the process of completing the last semester of my degree back home, which I would complete at the end of April after finals. So my sister was brought here first, agreeing to "hold my spot" and start teaching until I finished school, at which point I would come over and resume teaching. My understanding was that I would simply complete the one-year-contract that I thought my sister had signed, and would be done the following March. However, when I arrived, my dad and uncle both told me that I would be signing a whole new contract, from May 2009 until May 2010, while my sister had only signed a 2-month contract with the schools. While this seemed like an okay idea at the time (what's two more months?), it's now becoming a problem.
The main issue for me is because May is right in the middle of their first semester, which means that, without a contract extension, I would leave the schools in May, leaving them to: a) find and hire a new native English teacher that can accommodate their schedule immediately, or b) go the rest of the semester without a native English teacher. The first option is not unthinkable, since mid-semester changes had been made before. However, with my situation last year, it was pre-arranged, so there were much less headaches than there would have been under normal circumstances. Besides, I would be lying if I said I wouldn't feel like I was "abandoning" the kids if I jumped ship in May.
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3) How #2 affects #1:
Quite obviously, if I decide to extend my contract until March 2011, that would put a hold on grad school until I can get back. But the other issue that's at the back of my mind is the GRE, which I'm preparing for, but I've yet to take it. I've taken the practice exam twice here on my own, but the opportunities to focus my studies solely on this test have been few and far between. And it's been a looong time since I last had a math class (senior year of high school), so there's a little catching up to do. The GRE is offered here in Korea, but it's only twice a year (November and June, if I remember correctly), and it's around $350 to take it. Aside from the test itself is the issue of when I can start grad school, if I do get accepted. If the option arises to extend my contract until only August, which is when the students here finish with their first semester and go on summer break, then starting grad school in September would still be a near impossibility. Even starting in the Spring of 2011 would be difficult, with testing and the application process. Ideally, I would come home in May, take the test several times and apply to start in Spring 2011 and be done by December 2011. But again, this is all assuming that I decide to go to grad school in the first place.
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4) Factors affecting decision regarding #1 and #2:
There are numerous factors on both sides that are drawing me both towards home and staying here. If I stay here to continue teaching, the biggest advantage is the fact that I not only have a fairly-well-paying job here, but with the signing of a new contract comes considerable benefits (pay raise, twice as many vacation days, etc) as well as job security. Hearing the horror stories of friends still looking for work 6 months, 12 months, even 18 months after graduating certainly haven't helped convince me to put my confidence in the economy back home. I've built up a good rapport with both the teachers and students at my schools (I teach both elementary and middle school during the week), and I've had minimal conflicts with the people here. I've gotten to know some of my previously-unknown relatives, as well as made some really good friends, both at the church by my house and other native English teachers (sorry that I can't name you all here). Also, it's exponentially easier to eat healthy here than back home because of all the vegetables they eat on a regular basis (this is excluding my mom's cooking, which was always both delicious and healthy), and since I don't have a car here, I'm more or less forced to walk everywhere. At first, I hated it, but now that I see the results of it (losing weight, feeling better, not feeling sluggish after sleeping, all that good stuff), it's become a very positive thing for me (aside from the blisters).
However, if I end up deciding to go home in May, there's the obvious advantage of being around my family and friends again, who I've missed a lot and thought about quite often. Before coming here, I hadn't given much thought to the fact that I would miss the gatherings of family and friends for the next 12 months. But it hit me like a brick right around Thanksgiving, realizing that I felt more alone than I had when I first came here. While I'm grateful for the few friends who were able to answer my calls, it became increasingly more difficult to spend the majority of my time on the phone having conversations with friends' voice mailboxes. Weddings, graduations, birthdays, funerals, retreats, holiday celebrations, all things in the past 10 months that I wasn't able to be there for. While it seemed like a year would pass by quickly, the cost is definitely not to be overlooked. Also, going home would allow me time to get prepared for either entering grad school next Spring, or possibly pursuing my passion and working towards a degree in worship (post on that later).
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These are just some of the things that are running around inside my head at the moment. Thanks for taking the time to read, and any advice you can offer on any of these subjects is greatly appreciated. Hope everyone has an awesome weekend!
Friday, March 12, 2010
Friday, March 5, 2010
Posting-Lite
School's finally started up this past week, and it's felt good to get back into a rhythm where I feel at least semi-productive throughout the day. With that said, I only have half an hour before my first class of the day, so I'm gonna try to keep this short before I add more to it later on.
During the past 10 months, I've spent an obviously-large amount of my time engaging (and often struggling with) Korea's educational system from within. And there is one thing about the educational system here that has consistently come up as the wall on which I find myself continually banging my head. This particular issue is something that I've affectionately dubbed the "pass-pass" policy, and it's created some huge problems.
The "pass-pass" policy (obviously, this is not the "official" policy name; it's simply something I've come to call it) refers to the educational practice of passing students on toward the next grade regardless of whether or not they have demonstrated even the most minimal grasp of the things taught throughout the school year. Without completing a single assignment, at the end of the school year, these students are passed on to the next level. Now, there are things like qualifications tests to see if a student is able to go to a particular school (Korea did away with entrance exams for middle schools back in the 60s). However, at the end of the day, their marks have little meaning other than simply placing the students in a self-imposed rank for their class and/or school.
So what is it exactly that has me irked about this policy, you ask?
[to be edited later..]
[later]
The biggest problem that I have with this policy is that it compounds frustration for everyone involved. In order to help you get the picture of where I'm coming from, I'll pose a hypothetical (but unfortunately all too common) situation:
Student (herein referred to as "S") enters elementary school as a first-grader, having never been taught the English language. At this level, the vast majority of Ss are on equal ground: ground zero. S is taught the basics of the English alphabet (identifying letters and correct order). S moves on to second grade, where they associate sounds with the letters, as well as the foundations for word structure.
In my opinion, first- and second-graders cannot be expected to be writing and understanding anything more than the alphabet and short, simple words. However, starting from when they begin the third grade, I believe it is detrimental to not have consistent comprehension checkpoints (that actually MEAN something [i.e. you fail, you can't go on] instead of it being seen as merely a formality) for the students.
If our teachers and staff hold an attitude that the only responsibility they have as TEACHERS is to "teach" the material from the front of the class oblivious of any struggling students, and those who want to learn will learn while the rest fall by the wayside, then there is little to no hope for anyone who is having trouble with their class material. Just as in the Korean social system, there seems to be no room for differing methods of teaching, or even for a different opinion on what is important for the Ss. Spitting out answers on tests is what's stressed for these kids, and with the overwhelming majority of teachers following the exact same books and teaching the exact same way, students everywhere (who might otherwise become brilliant in their studies) are falling away and giving up sooner and sooner.
To illustrate my point further, let's say that the student graduates from the 6th grade (Korean elementary schools go from 1st to 6th, middle school is 7th through 9th, and high school is 10th through 12th), and moves on to middle school. During elementary school, he learned nothing about English at all due to it being difficult to learn. During English classes, all he would do is put his head down, look out the window, or daydream. He knows little more than simply waiting for the teacher to tell him what to say, then audibly repeating it back, while having no clue about what he's actually saying. All the while, each English teacher he's had hasn't expressed any concern over the fact that he's not learning the material (or even trying for that matter), and doesn't feel the need to offer him any extra help that he may need on the material outside of regular class time to try and understand it.
THIS is the disastrous domino effect that is the result of:
1) The subject material becoming more and more difficult with each grade level,
2) The student becoming more and more disillusioned and turned off by English with each passing year, and
3) Each of his new teachers becoming more and more frustrated that he doesn't already know the material that he should have learned in his earlier courses.
Since the student is so difficult to teach, the teacher starts to see them as hopeless, and eventually ceases to call on them to give answers or to use them as an example. The student has already begun to accept the "fact" that they can't learn English, and goes into auto-pilot mode when class starts ("I can't do it, so why should I try?"), regurgitating answers without meaning, repeating things to the teacher like an audio recorder, all while hating their experience with English.
So what should be done about the situation? Would it ultimately prove meaningless to try and place blame on someone in the equation here? Should the student just try harder? Should the teachers advocate to their administrators for a change in the school system that creates these black holes of hopelessness?
During the past 10 months, I've spent an obviously-large amount of my time engaging (and often struggling with) Korea's educational system from within. And there is one thing about the educational system here that has consistently come up as the wall on which I find myself continually banging my head. This particular issue is something that I've affectionately dubbed the "pass-pass" policy, and it's created some huge problems.
The "pass-pass" policy (obviously, this is not the "official" policy name; it's simply something I've come to call it) refers to the educational practice of passing students on toward the next grade regardless of whether or not they have demonstrated even the most minimal grasp of the things taught throughout the school year. Without completing a single assignment, at the end of the school year, these students are passed on to the next level. Now, there are things like qualifications tests to see if a student is able to go to a particular school (Korea did away with entrance exams for middle schools back in the 60s). However, at the end of the day, their marks have little meaning other than simply placing the students in a self-imposed rank for their class and/or school.
So what is it exactly that has me irked about this policy, you ask?
[to be edited later..]
[later]
The biggest problem that I have with this policy is that it compounds frustration for everyone involved. In order to help you get the picture of where I'm coming from, I'll pose a hypothetical (but unfortunately all too common) situation:
Student (herein referred to as "S") enters elementary school as a first-grader, having never been taught the English language. At this level, the vast majority of Ss are on equal ground: ground zero. S is taught the basics of the English alphabet (identifying letters and correct order). S moves on to second grade, where they associate sounds with the letters, as well as the foundations for word structure.
In my opinion, first- and second-graders cannot be expected to be writing and understanding anything more than the alphabet and short, simple words. However, starting from when they begin the third grade, I believe it is detrimental to not have consistent comprehension checkpoints (that actually MEAN something [i.e. you fail, you can't go on] instead of it being seen as merely a formality) for the students.
If our teachers and staff hold an attitude that the only responsibility they have as TEACHERS is to "teach" the material from the front of the class oblivious of any struggling students, and those who want to learn will learn while the rest fall by the wayside, then there is little to no hope for anyone who is having trouble with their class material. Just as in the Korean social system, there seems to be no room for differing methods of teaching, or even for a different opinion on what is important for the Ss. Spitting out answers on tests is what's stressed for these kids, and with the overwhelming majority of teachers following the exact same books and teaching the exact same way, students everywhere (who might otherwise become brilliant in their studies) are falling away and giving up sooner and sooner.
To illustrate my point further, let's say that the student graduates from the 6th grade (Korean elementary schools go from 1st to 6th, middle school is 7th through 9th, and high school is 10th through 12th), and moves on to middle school. During elementary school, he learned nothing about English at all due to it being difficult to learn. During English classes, all he would do is put his head down, look out the window, or daydream. He knows little more than simply waiting for the teacher to tell him what to say, then audibly repeating it back, while having no clue about what he's actually saying. All the while, each English teacher he's had hasn't expressed any concern over the fact that he's not learning the material (or even trying for that matter), and doesn't feel the need to offer him any extra help that he may need on the material outside of regular class time to try and understand it.
THIS is the disastrous domino effect that is the result of:
1) The subject material becoming more and more difficult with each grade level,
2) The student becoming more and more disillusioned and turned off by English with each passing year, and
3) Each of his new teachers becoming more and more frustrated that he doesn't already know the material that he should have learned in his earlier courses.
Since the student is so difficult to teach, the teacher starts to see them as hopeless, and eventually ceases to call on them to give answers or to use them as an example. The student has already begun to accept the "fact" that they can't learn English, and goes into auto-pilot mode when class starts ("I can't do it, so why should I try?"), regurgitating answers without meaning, repeating things to the teacher like an audio recorder, all while hating their experience with English.
So what should be done about the situation? Would it ultimately prove meaningless to try and place blame on someone in the equation here? Should the student just try harder? Should the teachers advocate to their administrators for a change in the school system that creates these black holes of hopelessness?
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