[quote=“Puppet”]I’m not sure I agree with this. If you talk to parents of your students, you’ll realize a lot of them want English for the reasons you would assume someone would study a foreign language (want to enable them to communicate to a more diverse group of people, want them to be prepared for a more global economy, their child enjoys learning English, etc.).[/quote]I find most parents to be the most untrustworthy useless annoying drags of teaching. It’s like you are trying to defuse a bomb while someone is chatting away about how to incorrectly defuse a bomb in your ear. “Please teach my child more, but don’t stress him out” is a common attitude that’s if they care. Most of the can’t be bothered, especially after long days at work and the Taiwanese version of Idol on TV.
[quote=“Puppet”]Most parents just assume that the tests are what determines whether someone has learned a language. IOW, they want the student to know the language, but they have no way of measuring that minus a test. Educating parents about what it really takes to learn a language effectively takes a lot of work and most buxiban owners don’t care enough to do that. It’s much easier to just have a set of books that have colorful pictures that were cheap and give them a syllabus that accomplishes nothing other than show you are moving through the material faster than anyone else.[/quote]That’s because tests are the end all be all in Taiwanese education. Nothing else matters, everything is for the tests. Parents who feel differently get private tutors or ask their kid’s school for more time like a few at my school do. Then you have the problem that a lot of your students have neither the cognitive ability for a second language, the urge to learn a second language, and/or are too burnt out to bother with any class. You need colorful books just to get their interest into opening the book. Quite a few students at my school actually do their English homework at the school because once they get home it’s computer games or TV and nothing else.
[quote=“Puppet”]As a teacher, I have been in constant communication with my parents, through emails or conferences when they want them. I gladly meet with them after school hours if they have questions and want a meeting. I e-mail them updates or ideas I have that I will do to keep their child moving forward. If a student is falling behind, I take the time to set up goals with the parents and provide a way to measure when they achieve those goals. It’s actually something that has caused me a lot of grief from the school owners. It’s easier for them to just say to the parents, “This is what is on the next page of the book…he’ll catch up eventually” than it is to have someone who actually plans out things the students need and works on them.[/quote]I know you take this seriously, but the boss is offering them hamburger prices for for the promise of steak service and you are giving them Wagyu beef when they would settle for you serving dog food dressed up as meatloaf. If(God forbid) anything were to happen to you they would rip your boss/manager up 24/7 in order to get a better deal and their ass licked. Planning in Taiwan? :roflmao:
[quote=“Puppet”]I think the industry standard is the way it is not because of the parents as much as it is the lack of options. Most schools seem to be chosen out of convenience or cost as opposed to curriculum. I don’t blame the parents in this situation. After visiting a few schools, I bet they see nothing different and eventually realize what we know ~ most are just the same. They just don’t realize how much crap they tend to be filled with.[/quote]Bingo you hit the nail on the head. Basically everyone at my school knows someone else and they are all buddies and friends. Despite the anchingban teachers being harpies with the child ed skills of Joan Crawford(“Mommy Dearest” anyone?) they seem to get the job done in their way and it seems to be the only way they know how. I find it shocking/unbelievable that my boss swears up and down that the parents are unable to help their children with any of their homework.
At the end of the day tests are everything and we aren’t going to change that. We can engage in all the education romanticism that infects a great many of us, but between ennui and cognitive inability most kids just aren’t going to learn English with the methods provided. At the end of the day I get to be the guy who gives them a break in an otherwise boring day cooped up in a building with no play time or I’m the guy who hammers a point home to pass a test(GEPT) and if I’m really lucky I get to be both in the same class.