[etni] Fwd: Recommendations for improvements to the English curriculum


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Attached is the document to be presented to Dr. Judy Steiner regarding
English teaching. Spread the word please….







To:
Dr. Judy Steiner, Chief English Inspector
Ministry of Education
Jerusalem


Re:  Improving conditions and content of English instruction in Israeli high
schools
A work plan initiated by English teachers and teachers' committees
nationwide.


Introduction
During the last "major" strike, teachers active in the strike committees
decided to quit complaining and to start acting in order to achieve a
significant improvement of the shameful conditions of English teaching in
Israeli high schools.

We have witnessed in the past decade (every year, sometimes even more than
once a year) arbitrary changes which have been thrust upon the English
teachers and Coordinators by the Inspectorate, without any prior
consultation, the demand being to immediately implement these changes
although many are impossible for teachers working in the field to carry out.

Dozens of tasks, which are no longer connected to English teaching, have
rained down on the teachers, forcing them to become experts in recording
cassettes, in reading aloud dozens of tests during exams and in transcribing
illegible exams.  Teachers must expertly calculate both school and
matriculation grades, instruct the writing of final work papers at an
academic level, test orally, test in writing and all this, without any
remuneration whatsoever.   Teachers of English have become slaves and
vassals in the service of the Matriculation Exam Industry.  Slaves, who are
urged again and again, to "produce" more and more; but instead of increasing
their payment, it is reduced each year, so that – just like the proverbial
horse, whose master wanted to see if it could continue working with fewer
oats each day until it dropped dead, English teachers have uncomplainingly
served the Ministry of Education and its inspectors for years.

We, the representatives of the teachers' committees nationwide, hereby say
in the name of the teachers who have put up with years of working for free –
NO  MORE!!!

The document before you is the result of the hard work of representatives of
English teachers nationwide, written during mutual meetings for the purpose
of raising points which can no longer be ignored, in order to bring to the
attention of the English Inspectorate at the Ministry of Education the
impossible conditions in which English high school teachers nationwide work.

We hope that our outcry will bring about a change, and therefore we present
this document which has the backing of dozens of staff rooms nationwide and
of the professional department of the High School Teachers' Union.












A.  English as a unique subject in the general curriculum.

English as a subject is multi-disciplinary.  Each English teacher can be set
against three teachers of other subjects because the English teacher teaches
orienteering, literature, language, reading comprehension, listening
comprehension, oral skills and writing skills. English teachers, the
majority of whom are not native speakers, are also required to teach
colloquial language, when there isn't even any suitable in-service training
for them in English. 

Each year, English teachers are forced to participate in in-service training
convenient for the Ministry of Education and connected to its ever-growing
demands on them, whereas in-service language courses in Israel and abroad
for teachers, whether on a sabbatical year or not, are NOT open to English
teachers, only to teachers of other subjects!  How is it that a non-native
English teacher is unable to take advantage of in-service courses in English
with the best academic teachers from Israel and abroad?  Why are the
in-service courses in English limited to teachers of other subjects?  Why
are there no in-service courses for English teachers with the best
linguistic teachers at the university level or with lecturers from the
British Council or the American Embassy in Israel?  How can an Israeli
English teacher be expected to develop, to be updated, to be refreshed in
everything concerning the English language? Are we to rely solely on reading
English books and "chatting" in English on the Internet, which is a far cry
from the English of the Bagrut Matriculation  examinations.  Will the
privilege of getting points for a week's English improvement in America or
in England, forever be kept for the history, maths and other subject
teachers only, who are able to take such courses of self-improvement during
their sabbatical, while English teachers, green with envy, are denied any
such way to improve their language, which is the official tool of their
trade?

Moreover, why must teachers who choose to teach in the Translations Skills
Trend in their school, pay 2000 shekels for this course?  It is one of the
only courses at an academic level, and it allows them to hereafter teach
Translation Skills for the matriculation examination.

We demand: acknowledgment of the uniqueness of our needs and its expression
in in-service training at minimal cost, which gives points, both in Israel
and abroad in an English-speaking country, for periods of 7-14 days per
year.  Without this, we are liable to find that the oral ability of Israeli
English teachers will deteriorate.

In addition, English is a subject which demands special compensation for
foreign language teaching.  
Today, the compensation is set at 5 % and does not translate into hours at
all.  What is amazing is that Hebrew language teachers receive the exact
same compensation for teaching students their native language.  How is it
possible that English teachers, who teach a completely foreign language,
receive the same percentage?  This unjustice must be righted!  For such a
complex subject as English, teachers should receive 20% of their salary.
Perhaps, if the compensation were such, there would not be a shortage of
English teachers, a shortage which increases annually!












B.  Significant change in the English Curriculum with the emphasis on oral
skills.

Oral skills are at the heart of every foreign language.  Oral skills as
opposed to writing skills have become secondary in English teaching
according to Ministry of Education tenets.

Today, English teaching focuses on the skills of reading and writing but
neglects speaking and communication skills, due to Ministry of Education
dictates.
It is necessary to emphasize oral skills and not reduce them.  Reading and
writing skills in English have taken on giant proportions so that in the new
Modular Bagrut, a student cannot pass the oral exam unless he has written an
academic-style project. This is an anomaly!

We demand a return to a proportionate language teaching whereby oral skills
are 50% and the other skills (listening, reading comprehension and writing)
are the other 50%. 

C.  English streaming.
1.  When streaming, there should be an entrance grade level to 4 and 5
points, in order to make groups more homogeneous.
2.  Class groups should be limited to 25 students because of the many tasks
involved in English teaching and the different teaching methods, which are
impossible in a class of 40.
3.  Non-readers must not be included in regular classes or streams.  They
must learn in special groups with a specially-trained teacher.
4.  More English teaching hours are needed so there can be more groups.
5.  English teachers teaching Ometz and Hechven classes find these classes
difficult, not only because of discipline problems, but also because they
contain a high percentage of non-readers.  The teachers in these classes
work three times as hard because of this, preparing special workpages in
addition to their regular workload, not to mention that a class full of
Learning Disabled pupils  demands preparing tapes and proctoring pupils with
extra time concessions – and all this done, of course, without any special
remuneration for these difficult classes!

We demand: special compensation for teaching in the Hechven or Ometz classes
of at least 10%, plus additional hours similar to a homeroom teacher's
special compensation of at least 4 hours per full-time teaching position.

D.  Learning Disabled Students

The subject of learning disabilities is one of the most problematic and
urgent for English teachers.  The number of learning disabled students is
increasing from year to year and with it the burden on the English teachers,
in contrast to other teachers.

The organization for the integration of the LD students in the subject of
English is particularly complicated.  Many of us being veteran teachers, we
remember with longing the days when we knew our job specification well –
teaching English as a foreign language.  In the past, all the students took
the same exam together at one time, two exams per semester.

The division of the English Modular Bagrut Exam into three separate
questionnaires, together with a steady rise in the number of learning
disabled students receiving dispensations, has turned the teachers' work in
the classroom and especially during exams into a "grand production".  (It is
rare that students, who pay a lot of money to be diagnosed for learning
disabilities, do not receive dispensations.)

We are not talking about one exam only, but several exams during the
semester- two exams each with its "Moed Bet", special exams and exams for
improving grades – a "plethora of opportunities".  We have all become
contract workers of the Ministry of Education, employed by our students and
all this – without any remuneration whatsoever!

Oral Exams
There is no doubt that the number of students receiving oral exam
dispensations is significantly lower today than in the past.  This is
apparently due to the growing reluctance to give these dispensations on the
part of the Ministry of Education on the one hand, and their replacement
with a "cassette" (Hakraa), which saves the Ministry of Education a lot of
money at the expense of the teachers.

Each oral exam or test for a pupil requires the teacher to find an hour when
both the teacher and the pupil are free and this is always done during the
teachers' free hours and without payment.  Well – no longer!  

We demand payment for testing pupils orally in our free time!


Cassettes (Hakraa) 
The present trend, the ultimate winning solution for students with so-called
difficulties in reading English texts (reading English texts comprises 70%
of the Bagrut examinations), has turned the English teachers into sound
technicians with a personal home recording studio containing personal
technical recording equipment.  Since the reduction of the number of
students entitled to an oral exam, the number of students entitled to
reading cassettes has risen dramatically, to monstrous proportions.
There are classes in which one third to one half of the students are
entitled to reading cassettes.

Is it possible that one third of the student population arriving at high
school is not able to read basic English?  Is there perhaps something very
wrong with the way pupils are being taught to read basic English?  Or is it
perhaps that this generation of students is less talented than previous
ones?  Or, a more worrying thought, are we aiding and abetting in raising
Israeli youth who are illiterate?

A small reminder to the Ministry – we are now in the 21st century, and
cassettes are no longer being used.  It is also difficult to find walkmen
for sale nowadays.  If the Ministry is supposed to prepare its graduates for
the future, why does it use old-fashioned equipment?

Every teacher has to make dozens of cassettes, the recording and duplication
of which requires dozens of hours of the teacher's free time (at home, of
course, since most schools do not have the required equipment), and again,
all this time is unpaid!

We demand: immediate payment for the preparation of cassettes.  If teachers
remain unpaid, pupils who are entitled to a cassette will have to do the
exams without this dispensation – just like regular students.

Extra Time
One third of the pupils in every class are entitled to extra time.  Up to
now, the extra time at the end of a test was at the expense of the teacher's
free time (breaks, zero hours or final hours).
For your information, a teacher's time is no less valuable than any other
government employee.  Teachers must be paid for extra time.

We demand: payment for proctoring extra time on exams.







Oral exams in preparation for the various committee recommendations.
In recent years, teachers have become clerks, secretaries, social workers
and didactic evaluators.
Yet another task has been placed on the English teacher's shoulders – that
of examining students and reporting on them to the special committees which
grant dispensations for learning disabilities.  This unpaid task includes a
written exam as well as an oral exam (if the student requires this
dispensation), after which the teacher must fill in the Ministry's special
form of repetitive questions.  It appears that the Israeli English teachers
are omnipotent, and because they are also patriotic, all this will be done
voluntarily!

We demand:  payment for testing students orally and writing reports in
preparation for the special committees which grant dispensations for
learning disabilities.


E.  The Bagrut Exams, the Program, Exam Schedules and Compensation
The Bagrut exam content at the various levels.  
The structure of the exam – the content and division of the exam into 4
questionnaries (including the oral exam)

The structure of the written exam.
The written English Bagrut consists of reading comprehension, listening
comprehension and composition writing.  All the questionnaires at all levels
are identical in this respect.  The written exam is supposed to check
reading comprehension, but, in reality, it tests intelligence.  The exam is
applied and requires a high level of abstraction from students without the
intermediary element of content learning which connects the language as a
cultural entity to the final product – this being the use of language both
at the everyday level and the academic level.

The English teacher finds that he or she is teaching, or more accurately
training the students to be adept at tricks which can help them succeed well
in the exam.  In fact, the teacher is not teaching English, but is teaching
how to pass the Bagrut examination.  The exam in its present format does not
include Literature or the English culture.  At most, it deals with certain
grammatical aspects and mainly with checking of the intellectual abilities
of the student

Listening Comprehension
Generally, this part of the test has not changed, however the number of
questions has been reduced, which gives each question more weight.  As a
result, the test is easier since it tests only a small part of the recorded
text.

Writing
The written tasks have become a joke since the reduction in the number of
words, and this is expressed in the kinds of subjects the students are
required to deal with and the shallowness of the answers.  Most of the
subjects are artificial and do not suit a modern developed world.  For
example, pupils are required to write a formal letter of complaint about a
damaged item purchased.  Such letters are no longer written or sent.  Most
of our students have never written a letter, they write SMS messages or 
e-mails.  Moreover, in the modern workplace, there is no longer the kind of
correspondence of 20 years ago.  Most communication is done over the phone
or through the Internet, so that the formal letter has long lost its
importance and status of the pre-computer era.

On the other hand, pupils are not required to deal with issues connected to
the society in which they live or humanitarian values, which should be
expected from a student whose matriculation certificate is supposed to
reflect some kind of academic abilities.  The writing exercise in the 3
point exam is ridiculous, and shames the matriculation certificate which is
supposed to mirror future further education of some kind or other.  The 4
and 5 point writing tasks are also poor, in both content and depth levels
required from students.  The result is that we, the teachers, are just
increasing the basic shallowness that most of our students portray.

The Modular Structure: 
The modular structure preserves the mediocracy of students for the following
reasons:
a)  The first modular questionnaire in each level is easy for most of the
students and gives them the illusion that they are experts in English.
Generally, all the exams are identical (excepting the 3 and 4 point levels
where the writing is in the second questionnaire only), containing unseens
while the other elements of listening comprehension and writing vary from
level to level.  What exactly are we checking when the exam is divided into
three and each part consists of a set element- the unseen, which does not
check learning skills, effort or learning, but only intelligence?

b)  The division into levels causes time-wasting and a multiplicity of exams
for teachers and students alike.  The students are confused as to what their
true language level is, and even the teachers find it difficult to
categorize students into levels.  A student getting 70 in Module E is
probably not suitable for 5 points.  In reality, a grade like this removes
from the teacher the ability to "prove" that the student is not suitable for
a certain level, while on the other hand, it plants in the hearts of pupils
and parents the illusion that the student will not have to work any harder
in the future.

c)  Due to the lack of elements requiring repeated study and practice in the
Bagrut exams, the students are under the impression that they "do not need
to study for English exams".  Thus, teachers find it very difficult to
enforce active study throughout the school year: when they try to teach
literature, the first question is if it appears on the Bagrut exam, and
since the answer is negative, students see no reason to make an effort to
study literature.  When the teacher teaches grammar, the same question is
asked and the same answer received!  The same happens when teachers bring
newspaper articles dealing with current events.  Students are interested or
not, according to their personalities.  However, unfortunately, in most
cases, their ignorance of world events is exposed and they are unwilling or
unable to make an effort since it is "not in the exam".  Even if a writing
exercise is based on such articles, since the required level is so low,
120-140 words, there is "no need" to study anything seriously.

The resulting conclusion is to bring back to the English Bagrut examinations
the regular elements of language learning – literature, grammar, culture,
etc.  Would anyone consider making the Hebrew language exam into an unseen
followed by such a poor writing exercise?  We do not expect students to
reach the same level in their first foreign language (English) as in their
mother tongue, but language is not mathematics.  Language has context,
cultural aspects, literature and grammar. 
If you answer that we are supposed to be teaching these components anyway,
you are correct.  However, the fact that these elements are not being tested
in the final exams creates a lack of actual learning, since the be-all and
end-all of the high school is simply the matriculation exam and its results
(and not by the complete English teaching program), by which both student
and teacher are judged.
Thus, it is necessary to match the measurement (the exam)to the essence of
the subject being studied.

The Oral Exam
The oral exam consists of an interview and a project.

The project
The project and its bureaucracy takes up a great deal of the teacher's time
and, of course, with no extra remuneration.  The original idea requested
that the teacher dedicate many classroom hours to the project.  In reality,
there are not enough teaching hours, resulting in projects being done at
home.

The number of teaching hours of a teacher together with the low abilities of
students, including 5 pointers, does not allow for a real research project.
In reality, with few exceptions, most projects are copied directly from the
internet and the teacher is actually checking edited material and not the
students' writing.  Thus, projects do not achieve their goal of research and
independent writing.

The oral exam turns the subject of projects into a fiasco.  Students are
often unable to answer questions about their researched subject, they mainly
answer about the contents of the written work.  Therefore, the exam does not
check interaction on a specific subject, but the oral abilities of a
specific student.

The project should be cabcelled since if a wide examination of the situation
was made, the results sould be horrifying – simply plagiarism.  Instead of
the project, we should return to a wide range of current conversational
issues as in the past.  
The personal interview should remain.
There should be no school grades for the oral exam since there is no payment
for the hours of testing for these exams.  Internal oral exams are done in
class time, which reduces teaching hours even further.  There is no need for
internal school grades anyway, since in the past, the students were well
prepared for the external oral exam without them.  Due to the burden of
testing students for the internal oral grade, teachers do not always test
literature, especially at the lower levels.

The work of the English teacher as an external examiner, a contract worker
in the service of the Ministry of Education and the students –unpaid labor.

Every year, English teachers are called both for the Winter and Summer
Bagrut to test the 4 and 5 point pupils orally.

Apart from the fact that the payment for this work is embarrassingly low,
and teachers are requested to test in other schools, sometimes in other
cities and on their free days (since principals will not release teachers on
workdays), teachers must arrange tax rebate forms (because the payment is
made by the Ministry of Education while most high school teachers are
employed by local municipalities) – otherwise they will pay 45 % income tax.
We should point out that the payment for oral testing has not been updated
in years!

We demand:
1)      An update of the payment for oral testing.
2)      Payment for this work by the main employer so teachers will not need
tax rebate.
(Any other solution will be acceptable).
        3)      Release from a school day without having to give back these
hours – teachers go to work in another school, they are not on vacation!  It
is unnecessary to point out that this work, which is connected to teaching,
is not meant to be done on a teacher's day off, when the teacher is supposed
to rest.















        The English Coordinator – the present situation and the demand to
improve the conditions of payment.
1.      Attached is a list of the activities of the English coordinator
during the school year with a detailed estimation of the work hours for each
activity.
2.      The total work hours done by the English Coordinator independent of
other tasks is 268 hours.
3.      Assuming that the salary (before deductions) is 7,000 NIS, the
compensation for this position of English Coordinator is 5%, meaning 350 NIS
per month.  This makes an annual 4,200 NIS
                (350 x 12).
     4.  The cost of the Coordinator's hourly pay is 4,200 ÷ 268 = 15.67
NIS.  This means that the  
          Coordinator, with at least a B.A. degree and several years of
teaching experience (the 
          Coordinator is chosen for the job because of professional
experience and ability to lead 
          school procedures), in fact is receiving an hourly payment of less
than the minimum wage!
    5.  Getting compensation of 10% for the job of Coordinator would raise
the hourly rate to 30 NIS – 
          a very low wage similar to that of guards and not worthy of a head
teacher.
    6.  Therefore we demand that the hourly pay for a Coordinator be at
least 45 NIS, 
         which is 15%.
7.      For your attention:  In large schools such as Kiryat Sharett, Yehud
Comprehensive School
        and others, each having 12 classes in a yearly grade, one
coordinator is not able to deal with all the necessary tasks.  
8.      The position of Coordinator must be compensated in a more suitable
way when 
      considering the effort, experience and many  hours put into this job.


English Coordinator – Job Description.
Here is a list of tasks included in the role of English Coordinator and an
estimate of the hours needed to fulfil them.
1.      Staff meetings for high school teachers – 20 hours (4 annual
meetings , each meeting 3 hours or more, plus 2 general meetings of
preparation and closure).
2.      Staff meetings with the teaching staff of the high school and junior
high school(s) – 6 hours
                (2 meetings of 2 hours each, 1 for preparation of the year
and 1 for closure).
        3.  Organizing Oral Exams – 39 hours once a year (14 hours is two
days of testing, 
            10 hours of preparing student lists, 10 hours of coordination
between the other schools and 
            external testers, 5 hours preparing the final grade report
pages.)
        4.  Dealing with moving students from one level to another – 60
hours.
        5.  Organizing exams – preparing across the grade year exams,
regular exams and final internal
             school grade (Magen) exams – 33 hours (3 hours for each exam, 3
exams for each year level, 
             plus 2 internal school grade exams – 6 hours).
6.      Preparing the yearly work-plan at the beginning of the year – 15
hours.
7.      Ordering books and teaching aids, checking the library supplies,
contacting suppliers, receiving new books – 15 hours.
8.      Teacher Allotment
9.      Meeting with parents – 10 hours
10.     Meetings with the principal – 20 hours
11.      Summer and Winter Bagrut exams – being in school 18 hours (6 x 3
times : winter, summer and Moed Bet)
12.     Preparing diagnostic exams for the division and integration of
students coming from 9th to 10th grade – 7 hours (4 hours preparing the
tests, 3 hours preparing student lists)
        Total : 268 hours annually.







        Dr. Judy Steiner,

        We would appreciate an appropriate and speedy reply answering the
needs we have expressed in this document.

        With thanks,

        Authors of the document:
        Aloma Evron, Kiryat Sharett High School, Holon
        Ronit Horovitz, Yehud Comprehensive High School
        Viki Nitzan, "Ehad Haam" High School, Petach Tikvah
        Perla Arie, Kugel High School, Holon
        Tova Oron, "Galilee" High School, Kfar Saba
        Yona Zimran, "Galilee" High School, Kfar Saba
        Ronit Levi, Kiryat Sharett High School, Holon

        The document was translated into English by Sarah Maoz and Judy
Nesher, Katzir High School, Rehovot.

        Additional teachers who were present at meetings and participated in
discussions prior to writing the document:
        Sandra Yosef-Hasidim, Maccabim-Reut High School
        Shoshi Smiovitz, Kugel High School, Holon
        Eduardo Lina, Kugel High School, Holon

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