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Showing posts with label POSTS. Show all posts
Showing posts with label POSTS. Show all posts

3 Feb 2009

IS IT POSSIBLE TO START BILINGUISM IN SECONDARY EDUCATION?

This could be called "How to divert the teachers concern about Education for Citizenship in Comunidad Valenciana".
The teachers of English that are involved with the problems related to the new subject, Education for Citizenship, that was supposed to be taught in English in Comunidad Valenciana, have been given the option, together with the Philosophy teachers, not no teach the subject in English.
But, the authorities concerned don't want to accept that they are wrong about the use of the English language, so, we were asked to fill in a form where they ask us if we think that our High School is ready to start a process of bilinguism that would mean to teach other subjects using the English Language.
The form was written in a special way. It doesn't allow us to explain anything. They just ask you to mark Yes or No and if NO, just mention how long would it take.
The fact is that bilinguism should start at younger levels, in primary education. When the adquisition of a foreign language starts at a later age, that cannot be called bilinguisim. Bilinguism means to speak two languages with the same level of competence. That can only occur when the students are learning their mother tongue.
The fact is, this is getting ridiculous. When are they really going to listen to us, teachers, before taking any decissions related to education? Haven't they proved enough that they don't know anything about the real education? Maybe they should go back to school and learn.

20 Jan 2009

EDUCATION FOR CITIZENSHIP IN COMUNIDAD VALENCIANA

I'm a teacher of English in Comunidad Valenciana and I've been directly involved in all the turmoil around the new subject Education for Citizenship that in our region has to be tought in English language.
All of us agree with the fact that our second year of Secondary Education students don't have the necessary understanding of the English Language to follow this subject. We even have to consider that they can't in most occasions understand many of the ideas in their own language, as they are too abstract for that age.
It seems that the only person that believes the opposite is our Conseller de Educación Mr. Fondemora.Maybe they should have their feet on the ground and before taking this kind of decisions, drop by our high schools (not the private but the public ones) and talk to us and know our students.
Open your eyes, Seños Conseller! If you want our students to learn English properly, why don't you provide us teachers with the necessary tools to do a better job as: small groups, computers, whiteboards in all our classrooms so we can project Powerpoints... That's the right way to improve education, no teaching other subjects in English with 30 students per class.