Interviewer: Meyoung Noh
Interviewee: Charissa Walton
American
English teacher in Sangryeong elementary school in Gwangju, Korea.
About 4 years teaching experience.
Teaching for 1.5 years in Korea
Teaching for 7 months in Sangryeong elementary school
Teaching Level: EFL students in Korea. 5th & 6th grade
2. Link: Teacher Curriculum Interview File
It is the last file on the EESL 614 page.
3. Teacher Interview Questions
1. Would you say your name and nationality please for the record?
2. How long have you been teaching?
3. How long have you been teaching in Korea?
4. What grades did you teach?/Currently what grades are you teaching?
5. How does your school operate English classes?
6. Who sets up a curriculum?
7. Do you influence on setting the curriculum?
8. If not, how do you feel about the given curriculum?
9. What if you can create your own curriculum? What do you want to teach to your students?
(I have heard that you worked for other schools. Have you set up a curriculum? What is the difference between private schools and public schools about the curriculum?)
10. How do you assess your students?
11. How do you think the result of assessment effects on teaching?
12. What impact do you think your assessment have on (the development your curriculum or) choosing supplementary materials?
13. It can be too serious a question. What do you think teaching is?
14. Finally, What would you advise those who want their teaching career in Korea? In private schools? / In public schools?
Thank you for your sincere answers.
4. The Summary of My Experience and What I Have LearnedMost of the teachers are not in position to create their own curriculum. Rather they are in position to make changes within required curricula. In any situation, as a teacher, there are two major points we should consider when we make a new one or changes related to the curricula as the foundation for the other processes. First, we have to define the context our teaching is conducted. "The "givens" of one's context are the resources and constraints that guide our decision" (p. 17). Without the clearer understanding of what is possible, we cannot accomplish what we want to do in class. Second, know thyself. Each teacher has their own beliefs on teaching and learning. We may be locked in self-created illusion not seeing other possibilities or options. Objective examination on own beliefs should be preceded. As David Hawkins' Elements of Teaching (figure 3.2, p. 33) shows us, teaching involves three parts in a certain context. Based on the two main points as the foundation, we should consider other relevant, variable factors when building curricula. Even after building them, we still have to be very flexible because we are dealing with ever-changing students in ever-changing context. In Charissa's case, she was making "classroom changes" (Burns & Joyce) every day to meet students' needs.
Charissa doesn't seem to have any major factors to consider in her curriculum except that she should follow the required National curriculum. She said that "A lot of flexibility. As long as students learn the key expressions, teachers can change the games, videos or add extra materials." From her word, I could guess that the National curriculum for elementary schools is a "competence-oriented curriculum" (McKay, p. 4). She added that she wants to change some parts in a more applicable way. The followings are her teaching context:
She teaches fifth and sixth grades, 40-minute classes twice a week. She uses only English in class and there is a co-teacher. She follow the National curriculum and teach according to that. There is no influence form other stakeholders from outside. I am sure it is because English is not a major subject for tests in elementary schools in Korea. She has open classes but parents don't influence the class very much. It's actually up to her co-teacher and her to make decisions on what and how they will teach. Physical context is good as she mentioned that classroom is big enough for students and she can get teaching materials easily from websites where she can get powerpoints or ideas because all schools follow the same National curriculum and teachers share ideas.
Charissa seems like a humanistic educator juged from what she said. She focused on the motivation and students' feeling of being heard, supported and cared. "Positive emotional factors such as self-esteem, motivation, and proactive attitudes help language acquisition to take place" (Diaz-Rico, 2004, p. 51).
Learning is about conveying something....The most important thing is to convey how much teacher cares about what they are talking about....Passion can be used to convey it....Show them you care....Change ways to show them your passion and care....To motivate students to learn....should know the reason why they learn English....They have to understand why they have to learn English, make them want to learn by trying different things like pop songs, games.
From her personal experience of learning French, she confessed that learning a language is difficult saying that the best way is to immerse students into a place where L1 is not used, and force them to use L2. This belief explains why she thinks using English in a applicable way will help students learn to speak.
"The value of teacher-initiated and teacher-implemented change is the recognition of learner needs within the specific context..." (McKay, p. 8). The main assessment is the government test every semester, one time a semester on how they are learning their key expressions. Charissa has more tests just to find who is fall behind or who is doing well after every three chapters or every two months. In class, she assesses her students through many reviews and one-on-one speaking times, which reveals who needs help, who is listening, who is struggling and not understanding. Then she changes her curriculum to match that needs. Even though only the extra activities can be flexible in set and rigid national curriculum, at least students learn what they should learn, she can choose or modify class works. If students need to learn again, she uses powerpoints to go over again, if students need more help in writing, she prepares writing practice, and if they are good, she allows them to have games to practice speaking in a more fun way. Definitely the assessment she is taking affects her curriculum.
