[etni] Re: Fw: re: Etai Newletter 30 - May, 2010
- From: Lev Abramov <lev.abramov@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: ask@xxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 23 May 2010 10:00:34 +0300
Mitzi,
I suggest English teachers should read the ETAI "charter" carefully.
http://etai.org.il/mission.html
They will find some interesting things there - for example, the following:
"It is our job as a teachers' association to supply a variety of arenas to
foster professionalism. These include organizing events throughout the
country, keeping in touch with the English Inspectorate It is our job as a
teachers' association to supply a variety of arenas to foster
professionalism. These include organizing events throughout the country,
keeping in touch with the English Inspectorate..."
I stress: KEEPING IN TOUCH.
Furthermore: "[ETAI] complements, but does not compete with, similar
services provided by the Inspectorate complements, but does not compete
with, similar services provided by the Inspectorate" (
http://etai.org.il/background.html).
I think that the fact that the inspectorate "lends support" might be against
the declared ETAI principles quoted above. This "support" is probably the
reason why you guys feel so reluctant to discuss issues that might cause
displeasure on the part of your "supporter and benefactor." Such
"affiliation" is no doubt crippling in terms of making the ETAI agenda
somewhat lopsided.
However...
One point: if you say ETAI is for sharing ideas, and if there is a certain
group of teachers who have an idea that HOTS should be opposed and blocked
in a professionally organized manner - what's wrong with discussing it in
the ramework of ETAI activity? Doesn't this still fall under the loose
heading of sharing ideas among professionals?
The same page of the ETAI website says:
"The main driving force behind all the organization's activities is to
encourage teachers to seek the appropriate avenues to keep up-to-date with
the latest research in the field..."
Wasn't this the request? Show us the research behind the insane idea of
including HOTS in the foreign language curriculum before it has been
integrated in (or even introduced to) the studies in the native languages of
the learners. Look up Gunther Volk's posting a few weeks ago: he says he
could not find any scientific proof. So if you guys can help teachers look
in the right place and find this research, maybe it will be good for HOTS?
Why are you so scared of doing so if you are so sure it is scientifically
sound?!
I realize that it is much less comfortable - it ruins the warm and fuzzy
feeling of dealing exclusively with professional issues - but it could earn
ETAI some popularity among those who, like yours truly, are fed up with
discussing textbooks that students don't want to use, methodologies that oly
about one in every 100 teachers can use, and tap-dancing tips and tricks for
the despairing ones. ETAI has a chance of positioning itself correctly when
a politically-driven methodology is being shoved down the teachers'
[community] throats. At the moment, you are at the wrong side of the
watershed.
Yours -
Lev
On Sun, May 23, 2010 at 8:57 AM, Ask_Etni <ask@xxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Mitzi Geffen - mitzi1002001@xxxxxxxxx
> Subject: Re: Etai Newletter 30 - May, 2010
>
> Just to set the record straight - ETAI was never intended as a
> quasi-English-teachers' union to "represent" English teachers. It's
> original
> and present purpose is professional development, and an opportunity for
> professionals to share ideas and discuss approaches, methodology, etc. If
> we
> presented ourselves as a teachers' union, the inspectorate could not lend
> any support or participate in any way in what we do. You may not be aware
> of
> what contribution the English inspectorate - both regional and national-
> makes to ETAI, but it is considerable, and most certainly worth keeping.
>
> If there are teachers who would like to form a sub-division of the irgun
> and/or the histadrut hamorim, that should be done apart from ETAI, so that
> ETAI can continue to provide the professional enrichment and inspiration it
> has provided for many years, through the contributions of it's members and
> with the full support of the English Inspectorate.
>
> Mitzi
>
>
> You wrote-
> > "ETAI has some of the same functions. But it's supposed to be more than
> > that.
> > ETAI is not a private organization, but is supposed to represent us as
> > teachers. ETAI is not part of the MOE and neither should it do its
> > bidding.
> > It belongs to US and it represents us, the teachers of English. The
> > executive is elected by us. So why is it that the important issue of HOTS
> > is
> > not allowed to be discussed at ETAI conferences?"
>
>
> -----------------------------------------------
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--
Lev ABRAMOV
http://il.linkedin.com/in/levabramov
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Much more than just a journal
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