Sure, but 2 school owners (who’s opinion I trust) say it is/was hard (one “Almost darn impossible”).
I’ve seen a variety of schools now, and some seem to have very good systems in place that would make (just about) anyone a decent teacher. What are these things?
A very structured cirriculum. Another (head) teacher there to help answer any questions. Some training to show the person how the system works. A bank/database of games/activities to use. Those are just some things that come off the top of my head.
So what makes it so hard (to transform a “Joe Backpacker” aka newbie into a decent teacher)?[/quote]
A certain type of person becomes a “backpacker” anyway. Most people IMHO who make it this far, to Asia, are separate from the post BA grads who “do Europe.” It seems to me that these types are far more confident in their own ability to handle themselves, control their own fate as it were.
Would these people be harder to train? Possibly. How does someone feel it they’ve been up and down South America, alone, through Asia, alone and then seem incapable of handling a 12 8 year olds for 45 minutes at a time?
Even a strong curriculum may not help someone who has decided “It’s all about money…and when I get enough, I’m back on the trail.”
And what can help them get “into” the system? Games, good books, lesson plans? Sure, but if the teacher doesn’t have the “Mojo” not a whole lot will happen in the classroom.
The bottom line is this: if they do not want to be good teachers, there isn’t a whole lot you can do to help them…especially if the system the school has is set up for more than rote learning and drills.
[quote=“jdsmith”]The bottom line is this: if they do not want to be good teachers, there isn’t a whole lot you can do to help them…especially if the system the school has is set up for more than rote learning and drills.[/quote]Right. I think the bottom line is the willingness and openness to learn. To learn from experience, from other teachers, from books and other sources.
I have met a few “experienced” teachers here whose experience does them no good because they are so very confident that they know everything about teaching and there is nothing more that they can learn.
On the other hand, I know one or two foreign language teachers near retiring age who are still very willing to adopt new ideas when it is shown that they work.
I think the point is, up until a few years ago, virtually every teacher who made it to Taiwan was a “Joe Backpacker” of some sort. Before the Internet and aggressive recruiting campaigns by Hess and such, very few people came directly to Taiwan for the sole purpose of teaching and working. They made it here after having traveled in Asia. Or, they decided they wanted to live abroad for a cultural experience and choose Taiwan. Often, they traveled around Asia in their free time.
Now, based on my experience, the quality of the teacher had more to do with their character and motivation then with the reason they landed in Taiwan. And yes, I was involved with evaluating teachers.
These days, it’s a completely different story. A LARGE number of people come here directly from their home country with the express purpose of working and earning money. They make more money here than they can back home. I think this makes them stand in strong relief against travelers who still come to Taiwan for cultural/explorative/language/etc purposes. But I’m not sure if one group has an advantage or strong selling point over the other. It still comes down to motivation and attitude.
Certainly, a background in teaching and early childhood education (if you’re teaching kids) is a plus. But again, qualifications do not a good teacher make if that person doesn’t have the right attitude.
So, at the end of the day, the key point is the person’s attitude and work ethic.
This may go far in explaining why teacher’s salaries have stagnated. Too many unqualified unmotivated teachers…The schools aren’t willing to out out the 700-800NT/hr salaries JUST to have a FT in the classroom (although in some cases I’m sure it does occur).
If most schools could give teachers a reason to work, I am sure that people would be more motivated. You know, the old, “I know it’s not the best way, but… it’s what the parents expect. Yes, I know the kids aren’t learning much, but what are you going to do?”, approach isn’t cutting it for most teachers. We should, no, must, bring change to the environment before anything else can change.
I would not be willing to pay a back packer a decent wage. Why should I be robbed and he/she be rewarded?
What incentives are you suggesting? IMO it’s not the company’s place to give me(example) a reason to work. My motivation should come from me wanting to create livelyhood that I desire, to be an adult and responsible for myself. If you are saying ‘if most schools could give teachers a reason to produce better work ethics or an atmosphere that would be conducive for learning’ then I agree. Motivation is something that should come from the person-a choice that is made to be/have, independent of outside factors.
Sure, but 2 school owners (who’s opinion I trust) say it is/was hard (one “Almost darn impossible”).
I’ve seen a variety of schools now, and some seem to have very good systems in place that would make (just about) anyone a decent teacher. What are these things?
A very structured cirriculum. Another (head) teacher there to help answer any questions. Some training to show the person how the system works. A bank/database of games/activities to use. Those are just some things that come off the top of my head.
So what makes it so hard (to transform a “Joe Backpacker” aka newbie into a decent teacher)?[/quote]
Motivation.
If Joe Backpacker isn’t interested in being a good teacher, all the curriculum, resources, and hand-holding will not Joe Backpacker a good teacher make.
If he/she isn’t willing to put in some effort, then there’s no chance in hell that he/she’s going to do anything more than waste your time and money.
What incentives are you suggesting? IMO it’s not the company’s place to give me(example) a reason to work. My motivation should come from me wanting to create livelyhood that I desire, to be an adult and responsible for myself. If you are saying ‘if most schools could give teachers a reason to produce better work ethics or an atmosphere that would be conducive for learning’ then I agree. Motivation is something that should come from the person-a choice that is made to be/have, independent of outside factors.[/quote]
IMO, many potentially good teachers are turned into bad teachers by being placed in an environment that crushes their creativity, personality, and ambitions. A place where I can continue to grow, develop, and be honored as a member of a team with a productive contribution to make will make me work and work very hard.
Teachers are often put in boxes in Taiwan and told to conform, sometimes to conform to standards that just don’t make any sense at all.
It is IMO the job of the school to provide the proper environment for the staff and ensure the health of the school by doing this.
My point is that many schools in Taiwan are motivation vampires.
I am like a pit bull with a bone, I don’t give up or let go, even when I probably should. I’ll tell you this though, at times, Taiwan has almost sapped my desire to live Kinda. Still, I don’t give up or give in.
My staff take ownership over what they do. I like that.
Yea I can see where you are coming from Bassman. A good school would motivate its teachers by creating an enviroment that encourages them to be proactive, creative, and involved.
[quote]
Teachers are often put in boxes in Taiwan and told to conform, sometimes to conform to standards that just don’t make any sense at all.
It is IMO the job of the school to provide the proper environment for the staff and ensure the health of the school by doing this.
My point is that many schools in Taiwan are motivation vampires. [/quote]Well we aren’t alone in being put into boxes here. I suspect that at the previous school that many of the TW teachers would have like to have had greater range in teaching their lessons. But from what I heard, it’s hard because there is this goal that they must meet. So, they were more focused on getting all the material that had to be taught in the allotted time, which to my dismay, I found out that quite a few students often repeat grades because of this.
I find that the schools that are motivation vampires are due to what owners place emphasis on. For me, it’s always a lack of resources, which just frustrates me to no end. But come to the conclusion that the owner’s aren’t necessarily not concerned with not providing what it would take to have motivated teachers, its just their frame of reference is from their own education system.
[quote=“Namahottie”]Yea I can see where you are coming from Bassman. A good school would motivate its teachers by creating an enviroment that encourages them to be proactive, creative, and involved.
[quote]
Teachers are often put in boxes in Taiwan and told to conform, sometimes to conform to standards that just don’t make any sense at all.
It is IMO the job of the school to provide the proper environment for the staff and ensure the health of the school by doing this.
My point is that many schools in Taiwan are motivation vampires. [/quote]Well we aren’t alone in being put into boxes here. I suspect that at the previous school that many of the TW teachers would have like to have had greater range in teaching their lessons. But from what I heard, it’s hard because there is this goal that they must meet. So, they were more focused on getting all the material that had to be taught in the allotted time, which to my dismay, I found out that quite a few students often repeat grades because of this.
I find that the schools that are motivation vampires are due to what owners place emphasis on. For me, it’s always a lack of resources, which just frustrates me to no end. But come to the conclusion that the owner’s aren’t necessarily not concerned with not providing what it would take to have motivated teachers, its just their frame of reference is from their own education system.[/quote]
Thus why the education system in the US is going downhill. There is a vicious cycle going on there. Boards focus on test scores and don’t really care how they are obtained, just as long as they are obtained. Voters and tax payers tend to be only concerned with school performances based on test scores. Voters decide the school isn’t doing enough so why give more money to the school districts. Teachers struggle to give expected test scores because their budgeting has been hacked and a lot of extra-curricular materials, such as novels and art materials and field trips (either through no money to travel or no money to run the buses), so the things that could help boost student motivation and improve test scores are no longer available to them. Then the boards see this and refuse to give the teachers pay raises so then they struggle to get motivated teachers to come in because their salaries are not competitive and they wind up having to recruit people who are simply looking for a job and are willing to take the PRAXIS and then test scores don’t improve and then voters refuse to pay more taxes to schools and…
Only in the case of private schools, it’s the parents who often times are ignorant about the true success of learning English…focusing on the test scores instead and they refuse to pay more money to help schools motivate qualified teachers to come to Taiwan so Joe Backpacker whose only looking for enough money to spend on traveling to the next Asian country gets recruited instead.
Kinda. Still, I don’t give up or give in.