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!!!
