Alright. it's Valentine's Day here in Canada...and other places around the world as well. I spent the afternoon at the National Art Gallery here in Ottawa and I wasn't alone. My entire Teacher Education section from the University of Ottawa went to the Gallery this afternoon for our Arts class. Mai came along as well and we all had a good ole time. I've been to the Gallery at least 4 or 5 times since I moved to Ottawa last summer. The most exciting part of this trip for me was to see the BIG BABY...as I call it or as it's properly called, "A Girl" by the Australian artist Ron Mueck.
Here it is..."A Girl" by Ron Mueck....or as I call it....the big ole gross baby!!! This thing is huge. It seems that most people are either horrified by it or think it's great. Either way, everyone is transfixed by it!
"A Girl" was donated to the National Gallery last Fall. Here I am hammin it up. As you can see...it's damn big. The eeirest thing about it is the detail. You can see the amniotic fluid, the pores on the skin and the hair looks especially realistic...therefore...nasty.
Some classmates wanted to capture the moment in a complimentary pose! Shall I call this one "A Girl and A Boy"?
According to CBC news...."A Girl is a 4.5-metre-long sculpture of a newborn, her eyes half shut and hands clenched, and umbilical cord still attached.
Mueck uses modern acrylics and other sculptural techniques taken from the film industry to create the true colours and textures of human skin, but all of his sculptures are out of scale — either much larger or smaller than their inspiration."
Here's an intersting blurb about Canadian English Teachers...in Canada. I read this in the Korea Times. The great Korean "Unqualified vs. Qualified" ESL teacher debate continues...and will for the next 10,000 years I think! Canada’s English Programs
Tonight was a night of firsts. A night for NOT doing school work even though it was a Sunday AND a night for cooking my first turkey. Ok...what was the special occasion???? Nothing...my friend Anne just had the idea a few weeks ago that a crew of us should get together, pool our resources and make a nice "festive" turkey dinner. Well, tonight we did and it was BANG ON!!! I didn't cook it alone...we all fumbled through the event together...none of us had truley independent turkey cooking knowledge, but together, we got the job done. What a turkey,...... My buddy Roddy carved the dead sucker while Mai looked on....
Now the turkey has been consumed, the wine drunk.....it's back to Teacher's College world. The world of the B.Ed guy continues.....
In non turkey related news....
I saw this on Marmot's Hole this evening... North Korea Releases Kidnapped Canadian Citizen SEOUL, Jan. 27 (Yonhap) -- A Korean-Canadian pastor has been released after being detained for more than two months in North Korea, a U.S. government-funded radio station reported Sunday.
Minister Kim Jae-yeol was released last week from detention in North Korea and is heading for Seoul, the Voice of America (VOA) reported. original...
BUT...in the Land Of "Unqualifies Teachers"....what the Hell makes a "Qualified" teacher anyway?? It seemsto change all the time. Is a "qualifies" teacher a person with a B.Ed? A TESOL or TEFL certification (often from fly-by-night "schools"), a weekend course online? Does anyone know? 53% of Foreign Tutors Lack Teaching Degrees More than half of foreign teachers at elementary and secondary schools have no English teaching certificates. Of 3,808 native English-speaking teachers, 2,002, or 53 percent, didn't have teaching certificates such as TESOL and TEFL as of September 2007, according to the Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development, Sunday.
TESOL is short for Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages and TEFL means Teaching English as a Foreign Language. Among 1,806 foreign nationals who hold English teaching certificates, 532 teachers had teaching licenses from their countries, 1,134 had TESOL or TEFL and 140 had both.
``Native English speakers holding English teaching certificates are most preferred and applicants need to have an education major or teaching experience of more than one year if they want to work with us,'' said Kelly H. Ye, coordinator in recruiting native English speaking teachers at Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education (SMOE).
However, schools, in practice, have difficulty hiring certificate-holding teachers. Currently, Korean elementary and secondary schools are hiring foreigners as teachers aides, as this is legal, for English conversation classes. Native English-speaking nationals with a bachelor's degree or above can apply for English teaching or E-2 visa.
By region, South Gyeongsang Province had the highest ratio of ``licensed teachers,'' with 60 percent. The province had 163 foreign nationals with teaching certificates out of 270. Following South Gyeongsang were Gwangju and South Jolla Province with 57 percent.
In Seoul, 54 percent had certificates while the ratio fell to 47 percent in Gyeonggi Province.
Ulsan City had the lowest ratio of licensed native English teachers with 23 percent and Daejeon City also showed a low ratio with 26 percent.
Korea has seen a growing number of foreign English teachers and accordingly the number of foreigners forging their degrees to get E-2 visas is also increasing, according to the Korea Immigration Service. A total of 692 foreigners with fabricated degrees were caught as of August 2007.
Meanwhile, top educators in 15 cities and provinces requested President-elect Lee Myung-bak to ease English teaching visa regulations that restricts foreign English teachers by national in a meeting with Lee at the Lotte Hotel in central Seoul, last Friday.
Regarding this, an SMOE official said they can secure more qualified teachers by expanding English teaching visas to more countries. ``If Asian teachers are allowed at schools, we can also place those teachers in math and science classes for English immersion programs planned by the incoming government,'' said Choi Chun-ok, the supervisor in charge of recruiting foreign teachers at SMOE. Original...
No shit! If the only requirement for someone to be an English teacher is a 3-4 year degree in any subject...of course these folks aren't "registered" teachers. ALSO...if you only offer "real" teacher crap wages compared to their native countries...what doyou expect! I can remember a few years ago when public schools were offfereing "non-qualified"teachers 2,000,000 a month and those with an actual B.Ed 2,100,000 a month....no wonder "qualified" folks did't want the gigs...ah well...maybe times are a changin...
OK...enough of the rants...I love this little ad ditty... I thin kit would be a great tune to teach little kids their "ABC's"...ignoring the "Zellers" part at the end of course. ALSO...if they aren't in Canada or Canadian they wouldn't get the reference anyway. ALSO...if their young enough to be just learning their "ABC"S" I doubt the whole "Zellers' thing would have much of an impact on their lives anyway^^
Way to stir the bee's nest Mr. President-Elect Lee.... English-Only Classes fresh debate has erupted over President-elect Lee Myung-bak's drive for English-immersion education for secondary schools. Korean teachers of English, parents and scholars are divided over the plan calling for classes to be conducted in English. The debate began immediately after the Presidential Transition Committee announced Thursday that all English classes in high schools will be given in English from 2010.
Under the plan, high school teachers will be also required to give a few classes, including science and math, in English. Obviously, such measures reflect Lee's strong will to help students significantly improve their English proficiency in an era of globalization. In reality, high school graduates lack English-speaking skills even though they have learned English for six years in school. The problem can be attributed to the education environment focusing too much on taking college entrance exams. Read More...
TokyoCooney eats raw chicken in Japan...nuff said!!!
Here's a story from my not-so-long-ago home, Busan. More ESL teacher news.
Busan Questions Efficiency of Foreign Teachers
By Kang Shin-who Staff Reporter
BUSAN _ Busan education authorities are pessimistic about the effectiveness of native English speakers teaching English classes.
``Although many schools want to hire native English-speaking teachers, they can't afford to do so due to financial difficulties. Additionally, they are currently in need of teachers who can speak both English and Korean,'' a Busan education office spokesman said Thursday.
In the wake of this problem, the Busan Metropolitan City Office of Education plans to employ foreign spouses of Korean nationals or Koreans fluent in English as assistant teachers at elementary and secondary schools starting next month.
It is Busan's first official trial in hiring non-English native speakers as assistant teachers. The teachers will be required to teach a maximum of 14 hours a week, prepare extra teaching material and lead programs such as the ``English-only zone'' and ``English library.''
Some English teachers in the biggest port city welcomed the regional government's decision. ``Many children have difficulties with English native speakers as most foreigners cannot speak Korean. I think one-way classes will not work for quality English classes,'' a teacher in Anrak Middle School told The Korea Times.
The city education government will recruit a total of 10 bilingual assistant teachers and dispatch them to several schools for a three-month trial. The results of the pilot system will decide whether the system will be expanded to all schools in Korea's second biggest city.
