[etni] Fw: Re: Haaretz article

From: "Ask Etni" <ask@xxxxxxxx>
To: "Etni" <etni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Mon, 18 May 2009 13:11:50 +0200
----- Original Message ----- 
From: Sandra Yosef-Hassidim - hassidim@xxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: Haaretz article


In general I must say I'm impressed: attracting new teachers AND new 
immigrants all in one deal! Sounds too good to be true... It is a very 
creative idea, which could really work under different circumstances, such 
as in a teacher-friendly school system (but then we wouldn't need the new 
teachers, would we).

It's just that it reflects short-term thinking, when it comes to the problem 
of finding good English teachers who are not only qualified as far as their 
papers are concerned,but also have what it takes to survive the Israeli 
school system. And we all know that it's the latter which is the main 
obstacle which has caused so many experienced, qualified and dedicated 
English teachers to leave the profession.

 So yes, those new teachers/immigrants may now enthusiastically join the 
system, but how many of them will stay? Honestly-I feel sorry for them. They 
have probably no idea what's awaiting them... I know quite a lot of native 
speaking English teachers who left the system. Most of them did so because 
they couldn't handle the cultural differences. They have no clue how to deal 
with classes of 40 kids, most of whom are unfamiliar with the concept of 
"paying respect to teachers", and that's an understatement. They have no 
idea how to deal with these kids' parents, who think they own the world 
and -of course-haven't heard of the concept "paying respect to your teacher" 
either. They have no idea how to deal with the school's management, which 
can actually be so politically complicated that it deserves to be taught as 
a seperate subject in in-service courses.

I'm sure that some of the newcomers will survive-and that will be a great 
accomplishment. From a zionistic point of view, it is definitely something 
to welcome. However, it won't really solve the problem of a shortage of GOOD 
English teachers. It is so obvious that in order to solve that problem, we 
need to cure the roots of the problem and start investing in a better school 
system-ie: better work conditions for teachers who are presently working in 
the system. All other solutions are just "kibui srifot", or a nice scoop for 
Haaretz, but they won't work on the long run.

Sandra Yosef-Hassidim


----------------------------------------------- 
** Etni homepage - http://www.etni.org 
   or - http://www.etni.org.il **
** for help - ask@xxxxxxxx **
** to post to this list - etni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx **
-----------------------------------------------
[etni] Fw: Re: Haaretz article

Other related posts:
