“… [to]empower the learner from kindergarten upward with curiosity, self-confidence, independent thinking and creativity.”
Quote from the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Vietnam was among the first to ratify and sign the Convention.
In the time of the ancient Egyptians, young boys were carefully selected to become ‘scribes’, masters of writing. They were taught how to write, how to express thoughts and describe the world around them, to create the Egyptian records and history, tales of Kings and Queens, conquests and disasters. They were sometimes buried with great honor. Yet even at that early stage, the qualities of scribes were often debated.
The irony of being a Vietnamese teacher is that the problems they face are much the same as teachers worldwide; salary, job satisfaction, sufficient training, enough backup and support, manageable class sizes, suitable materials, continuing employment, and enough teaching tactics to do the job competently.
Of all of the problems, this is perhaps the biggest; how do we continue to train and supply fresh, effective teachers into teaching systems that place too much pressure on teachers to perform to the expectations of people not directly effected by the quality of teaching: administrators, managers, politicians, government inspectors, sensitive and worried parents in a competitive system and the public in general?
Teachers face a number of challenges: large class populations, access to regular training and development, suitable materials for students, inventing new ideas and lesson plans to fit lesson plans often based on curriculums that are out-dated or don’t meet the needs of business, higher education or vocational training. Resistance to change is clearly evident across all the sectors of the educational framework of Vietnam.
“Burn-out” is an expression we use in English to mean that someone or something is too tired, worn out or has no energy to continue what they do or what it does. Only in the military or front line public service industries such as hospitals, hospitality or teaching does ‘burn out’ become such an obvious problem that it’s publicly acknowledged yet education professionals suffer more from this than most professions.
We can add one more – confidence with teaching English to Speakers of a second Language (their native, first or ‘mother’ language), this form of language teaching usually called ‘ESL’. This ‘confidence problem’ is common throughout many countries where English is not the first Language, particularly in Asia because the Asian languages developed very different written and spoken techniques to European Languages.
So to say that Vietnamese teachers don’t have a high level of English fluency is quite unfair. With such a large young population, scattered and disorganized resources, difficult budgets and where to focus educational development, it’s a wonder that Vietnamese teachers can do as well as they actually do. Reading, writing and grammar skills are high enough to meet the needs of the curriculum – the real question is how to develop Speaking and listening tactics for Teachers.
The government is very aware of the problems and much has been written in public online forums, newspapers and in the media, yet the simple fact that traditional teaching methods are not meeting the needs of students, public expectations and workplace requirements means the system needs overhauling and that’s happening – mostly in the cities.
Vietnam is big and long with a large population – a lot of those students are in the smaller towns and mountains – how do we reach them with effective and practical education? Though ‘national commitment’ – sixty odd years ago Japan and then South Korea lay mostly in ruins from war yet built world class education systems though national programs that had strong public support and funding – China is now reaching that in less than forty years and Vietnam is now half way there.
Education pushes growth and innovation. Education forces change but offers people choices about their future. So remember as Teachers Day approaches…Good or bad, teachers need our help and we need your support. Consider this – before you can have hospitals, roads, technology and the rest…a teacher has to teach them how to use it, make it and create it…
In the time of the ancient Egyptians, young boys were carefully selected to become ‘scribes’, masters of writing. They were taught how to write, how to express thoughts and describe the world around them, to create the Egyptian records and history, tales of Kings and Queens, conquests and disasters. They were sometimes buried with great honor. Yet even at that early stage, the qualities of scribes were often debated.
The irony of being a Vietnamese teacher is that the problems they face are much the same as teachers worldwide; salary, job satisfaction, sufficient training, enough backup and support, manageable class sizes, suitable materials, continuing employment, and enough teaching tactics to do the job competently.
Of all of the problems, this is perhaps the biggest; how do we continue to train and supply fresh, effective teachers into teaching systems that place too much pressure on teachers to perform to the expectations of people not directly effected by the quality of teaching: administrators, managers, politicians, government inspectors, sensitive and worried parents in a competitive system and the public in general?
Teachers face a number of challenges: large class populations, access to regular training and development, suitable materials for students, inventing new ideas and lesson plans to fit lesson plans often based on curriculums that are out-dated or don’t meet the needs of business, higher education or vocational training. Resistance to change is clearly evident across all the sectors of the educational framework of Vietnam.
“Burn-out” is an expression we use in English to mean that someone or something is too tired, worn out or has no energy to continue what they do or what it does. Only in the military or front line public service industries such as hospitals, hospitality or teaching does ‘burn out’ become such an obvious problem that it’s publicly acknowledged yet education professionals suffer more from this than most professions.
We can add one more – confidence with teaching English to Speakers of a second Language (their native, first or ‘mother’ language), this form of language teaching usually called ‘ESL’. This ‘confidence problem’ is common throughout many countries where English is not the first Language, particularly in Asia because the Asian languages developed very different written and spoken techniques to European Languages.
So to say that Vietnamese teachers don’t have a high level of English fluency is quite unfair. With such a large young population, scattered and disorganized resources, difficult budgets and where to focus educational development, it’s a wonder that Vietnamese teachers can do as well as they actually do. Reading, writing and grammar skills are high enough to meet the needs of the curriculum – the real question is how to develop Speaking and listening tactics for Teachers.
The government is very aware of the problems and much has been written in public online forums, newspapers and in the media, yet the simple fact that traditional teaching methods are not meeting the needs of students, public expectations and workplace requirements means the system needs overhauling and that’s happening – mostly in the cities.
Vietnam is big and long with a large population – a lot of those students are in the smaller towns and mountains – how do we reach them with effective and practical education? Though ‘national commitment’ – sixty odd years ago Japan and then South Korea lay mostly in ruins from war yet built world class education systems though national programs that had strong public support and funding – China is now reaching that in less than forty years and Vietnam is now half way there.
Education pushes growth and innovation. Education forces change but offers people choices about their future. So remember as Teachers Day approaches…Good or bad, teachers need our help and we need your support. Consider this – before you can have hospitals, roads, technology and the rest…a teacher has to teach them how to use it, make it and create it…
STIVI COOKE
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