Sign in or 
Location: Nakasendo English Co-operative Conference Home
Discussion: Support for teachers teaching in primary schools
Category:
Discussion Forum /
General Discussion
Share this
Showing 3 posts
mickstout |
Support for teachers teaching in primary schools
Apr 2 2008, 1:23 AM EDT
English is being introduced into primary schools in Japan despite the fact that many Japanese primary school teachers are not proficient in English and have no training in ELT. Tim Murphey cowrote an article (Murphey, T., Asaoka, C., & Sekiguchi, M. (2004). Primary teachers co-learning English with their students. The Language Teacher, 28(2), 15-18.) that brings up a number of interesting questions and answers regarding this situation. How practical is it to expect primary teachers to willingly accept co-learning English with their students? What other ways can we as a community provide support for primary school teachers? What challenges do JETs face when teaching in primary schools?1 out of 1 found this valuable. Do you?
Keyword tags:
English
FLES
FLEX
MEXT
primary-school
support
Tim-Murphey
training
university
|
tanabata27 |
1. RE: Support for teachers teaching in primary schools
Apr 13 2008, 8:25 PM EDT
While this may not be the same at other primary schools, at mine, a yearly syllabus is given and meetings are held with the teachers the week prior to each lesson (mainly in Japanese.) This introduces the teachers to the English that will be taught, as well as to the flow of the lesson. As our lessons are project-based, classes work on other aspects of the lesson during their general ed class. During these classes, I have found that most teachers seem very willing to review with the students what was taught during English, whether they're pronuciation is perfect or not. As a community, we could offer short lessons for teachers during their free time (which may mean sacrificing our own) or newsletters perhaps with short English lessons, etc. I feel that the main challenge for JETs at primary schools is the lack of communication w/in the classroom and with the teachers. Many JETs have said that they are not given a lesson plan and/or the lesson is changed at the last minute. With the introduction of English in primary schools should come the introduction of opinion exchanges, lesson observations, etc. in primary schools. Now, if only there were more hours in the Japanese day... 3 out of 3 found this valuable. Do you? |
|
mickstout |
2. RE: Support for teachers teaching in primary schools
Apr 14 2008, 10:02 AM EDT
Thanks tanabata27. I really don't know much about how English is being integrated into primary school curricula. I can empathise with the teachers who are frustrated by not being given a lesson plan or having it changed at the last minute. Who makes the lesson plans? I think you're right about communication, exchanges of opinion, and lesson observations - and yes, time is at a premium. Thanks again for your excellent contribution.
Do you find this valuable?
|
