[etni] Fw: our gripes

From: "Ask Etni" <ask@xxxxxxxx>
To: "Etni" <etni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Wed, 27 May 2009 14:27:30 +0200
----- Original Message ----- 
From: sbshai - sbshai@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: our gripes

Dear ETNiers,
I'd like to respond to Esther's recent posting about teacher gripes: First, 
it would be great if the majority of teachers felt as she does that we have 
nothing to fear if we air our concerns and complaints as diligent and 
devoted educators -- as long as we do so respectfully, of course.  However, 
I have witnessed several occasions when this did not work out the way it 
should have -- i.e., Ministry reps did not take too kindly our public 
broadcasts of what we find wrong with the ESL programs they initiate.  After 
all, who likes to be challenged, even if it's done privately and nicely? 
Never mind that we may have acknowledged all the work that went into 
designing a particular program, the point that's remembered (and, 
apparently, taken personally) is the criticism.

Though that's an understandable (and very human) reaction, I still find it 
rather ironic because these same people would tell us to drop a lesson plan 
like a hotcake, no matter how much work went into it, if it's not 
successful.  We'd be expected, at the very least, to revise our work so that 
it's palatable to our students -- and this is as it should be.
Yet when we teachers are handed an edict from the MOE, it's given with a "do 
or die" attitude.  At best, it takes a very, very long time for teacher 
input to have any effect -- or so it seems to many of us.  This is rather 
unfortunate considering that most of the time we're 'reporting from the 
field' -- that is, we're evaluating a program based on whether or not we see 
any appreciable difference in our students' language proficiency.  (Perhaps 
I'm naive, but isn't it supposed to be the point of our teaching -- whatever 
methodology we use -- to increase our pupils'  ability to communicate in 
English?)

Most unfortunately of all, I find, is the attitude on the part of some (b"H, 
not all) Ministry people (Judy Steiner being one exception, as Esther 
pointed out) that if something fails, it's the teachers' fault.  I have even 
read this more than once on the ETNI list by people who are involved with 
the Ministry in various roles, but they are apparently also still in the 
classroom.
Related to this is the belief that the Ministry is the ultimate word on 
educational policy, while we teachers are mere underlings.  (Of course there 
are stronger and weaker teachers, those who attempt do their jobs well and 
those that try to get away with as much as they can -- but this doesn't 
justify a condescending attitude on the part of the people [part of] whose 
job it is to help us!)

So I hope teachers will attend the ETAI summer conference in Jerusalem, 
where I've been told there will be a rountable discussion on the looming 
HOTS program -- and since this will affect ALL of us (though the majority 
have not yet taken the course due to Irgun sanctions), I think it's crucial 
to attend, hear and be heard.  It might even be a good idea to call the ETAI 
office to check that this forum will indeed take place, and to make it clear 
that your attendance is conditional upon it!
Those of us who have participated in the course, either face to face or 
online, can initiate the discussion by explaining our concerns.  There is 
value in doing so before the system is entrenched, just as there is value in 
a unified stand.  Though we may not all see eye to eye, we do share a common 
aim to improve our teaching in a way that makes it accessible to our 
students and fair to us; these not NOT be antithetical goals!

Chag sameach,
Batya

P.S.
Incidentally, not all of our problems are 100% money-related issues; some 
can be worked out by using our heads rather than just crying about our 
wallets!


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[etni] Fw: our gripes

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