“The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains.
The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.” William Arthur
Ward.
Modern teachers are expected to
adapt and learn and improve their craft almost by themselves. Easy for someone
to say and another to do…
Across Vietnam, from the
village teachers in the mountains coping with a hard life and difficult
teaching conditions to the well-paid Lecturers of the major cities; the
pressure is on to increase the quality of their personal teaching as well as lift
the nation as a whole into a new world…
The problems are well known –
salary, recognition, status, class numbers, poor training and so the list goes
on. So what is it really going to take to raise Vietnam’s educational future?
First, overhaul the Cirriculum,
MOET (Ministry of Education) has long known about the problem and has already
begun this process. It is not yet clear to many Vietnamese professionals if
this will be adequately addressed. However the curriculum must cover a broader
awareness of the world outside Vietnam, particularly modern ways of studying,
research and training techniques.
Another sore point of the
curriculum is the lack of soft skills education – communication, working
together, planning and negotiating and inspiring creativity. There is also a
strong need to include ‘emotional education’ – making friends, preventing
bullying and health education. At the secondary/high school, also include some
form of sex education and coping with relationships. This can be very effectively
and quickly introduced using Peer group and Case study projects.
Secondly, create a truly
national professional association of teachers that monitors, regulates and sets
standards for all teachers nationwide. This would be more effective than
relying on state encouragement. This is a controversial subject due to the many
outside influences and pressures on teachers however such an association would
also be able to design and distribute quality mentoring and professional skills
material specifically for regions and demographic groups.
Thirdly, legalize private
teaching but ban teachers from linking extra classes to exams. Private lessons
should be designed to offer remedial tuition and assistance with theory such as
math’s and physics and particularly for English teaching, time to speak – not
copy. Both Singapore and Japan struggled for a long time to deal excessive
exams and tests that didn’t really enhance student’s ability to think about the
world around them. In a lot of Asian countries educators have noticed the high
degree of ignorance about local regional issues such as climate change,
regional politics, pollution, water and industrial resources. Critical issues
for the future leaders of the region.
Fourth, a National Educational
Qualification Framework that must by Vietnamese law be complied with by all
educational institutions regardless of whether they are private, public,
government or business oriented. This should also apply to all businesses
hiring employees. The framework would set the standard for work related
training and education nationwide.
Finally, establish a fast
method of issuing work permits and visas for foreign teachers to assist local
teachers. Vietnam has a sensitive problem with foreign institutions operating
in Vietnam and the quality of education they are claiming to provide. To
provide the same level of education as the home country institutions means
those institutions have to provide better teachers and materials than local
institutions and that’s very difficult to prove.
Vietnam should require all
foreign educational providers to offer some proportion of assistance to local
teachers and institutions as a compulsory means boosting the needs of the local
system, not creating two separate educational streams.
As I said at the beginning, the
issue is how to boost experience for local teachers – raising the quality of
the local system should be the overriding priority. Getting overseas teachers
to help the locals would very quickly reveal the quality of the foreigner’s
skills and the institutions that they represent.
There are thousands of dedicated,
skilled, knowledgeable and conscientious teachers in the Vietnamese educational
system. We owe it to them and their students to support them forward for the
benefit of Vietnam – not foreign institutions, not government agencies or
bureaucratic administrators who hold on to ‘territory’ and status at the
expense of the nation.
* Stivi Cooke is a qualified teacher of English and a
workplace trainer in hospitality in Hoi An.
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