[quote=“Buttercup”]Dunno. The premise behind the ‘Hard Core’ buxibans is more of the same IMO. We have a system. Your 8 year old is GUARANTEED to reach communicative proficiency in a difficult foreign language because we KNOW HOW TO TEACH. We care. We are so clever because our teachers speak a little bit of Chinese and we think this helps.
The assumptions behind this don’t need me to poke holes in them, they stand alone, and needless to say, their goal is also to make money by stimulating a high level of commitment from teacher and customer (the parent, not the student). It’s just a different business model.
The bottom line is unless you are running a huge school with classes at all levels running at similar times, there’s simply nowhere for ‘non-performing’ students to go. Toss the kids with less aptitude out? Ouch, there’s nothing like early labelling to destroy a kid’s love of education.
A competent teacher will take a medium sized mixed level class and each student will be able to take away something new. Your school system is designed to make money through the teaching of English. This is also your goal, unless you are independently wealthy and have always dreamed of teaching verb conjugations to elementary school aged kids in suburban east Asia. Think of a way for everyone to win without giving yourself a heart attack.
Also, I don’t know your students, but don’t assume they aren’t learning because they aren’t saying much. If they are engaged, they will be processing some of it. I find mixed level classes to be far more productive and rewarding. Are they frustrating/hard work? Sure.
Anyway, my post is a bit rambling. It’s not meant to be critical of anyone. My main points are: 1. there isn’t a ‘system’ which ‘works’, otherwise everyone in Taiwan who wanted to would speak perfect English 2. It’s not economically viable not to have mixed level classes. 3. It’s not educationally desirable either, even if you are teaching with a simplistic ‘grammatical checklist’ approach in mind.[/quote]First of all, my school is huge. It is a chain school and it’s one of the biggest branches of the school. There are numerous classes at all levels. So, there is certainly somewhere for non-performing students to go.
Maybe I misunderstood what you were saying, but I don’t have a lot of money. That doesn’t mean that I don’t want to actually impart something valuable to these children while I’m getting paid. These classes that I have are classes I took over for a teacher who left. So I was stuck with kids who have been coming up from level to level without learning. Some of my classes are quite proficient and quick to pick up new concepts, while others are dragged down by kids who have made it from level to level by the skin of their teeth.
I will be the first to admit that I have a lot to learn about teaching. At the same time, I have many an afternoon where I question if I’m going to learn valuable skills in a place where the objective is to pass a kid at all costs.
I should stress that I’m not saying I want to fail any old kid who lags behind. At my school, you have to beg to fail any child. The students I’m talking about specifically couldn’t write a single word on their quizzes, while, certainly, others mispelled things and still others did perfectly. I’m only talking about those children who truly don’t know anything.
) Anyway thats my look on things, Im sure there are some good schools out there, but most are just cash cows imho.
