Module #3 Teacher Curriculum Interview

http://genieso.podomatic.com/entry/2010-05-01T08_15_06-07_00


I have never used curriculum for my class. As I am teaching students English in a small institute, it is not easy for me to conceptualize about curriculum. So I want to make a chance to know about curriculum used in school not institute through this interview.

His name is Kisuck Oh. He is teaching English in middle and high schools for almost 20 years.

Here are questions I asked during interview.
1. Thank you for giving me time for interview. Can you introduce yourself?
2. Since you are working in school I think you are teaching English based on curriculum, am I right it?
3. Who makes and provides curriculum for school teachers?
4. What are the contents of curriculum?
5. Which part do you think is being emphasized in curriculum provided by government?
6. Do you think class based on curriculum is helpful? If not why?
7. Can you modify the curriculum during class?
8. If you can change curriculum how do you want to change curriculum what do you want to be added or cut?
9. Almost all students are studying English focusing on tests in Korea. Do you think current curriculum is learner-centered or test-centered?
10. Personally, I think learner-centered curriculum must be utilized more than now, is it possible now in Korea?
11. Here is my last question. Do you have something to tell about curriculum?

After finishing the interview I talked more about curriculum with him. Before the interview I thought curriculum is not that important to teach because I am teaching English without curriculum for many years. But while I was having the interview I realized what I know is not everything.

As he is teaching middle school students English he is having a class based on curriculum provided by government. Even most school teachers are given curriculum they can modify and adjust it according to level of class and students. He said Korea English Education is in a transitional stage and curriculum also being changed. Current government made curriculum focusing on speaking than other parts. I feel the same as he said because government is emphasizing practical English more than ever. He has a very positive view in using curriculum for his class as curriculum suggests guideline and direction. But he wants government to make curriculum, emphasizing class of field practice. What I really want to know is how much teachers can apply curriculum to class under test-centered circumstance. He said it is not easy to do perfectly as in curriculum but curriculum is being developed to learner-centered. That’s why he mentioned transitional stage. He emphasizes curriculum based class is necessary and believes curriculum will be continuously improved to learner-centered practical one!

The interview was very satisfactory and it gave me a good chance to think about curriculum again^^.

Module #2 Blog Response on the Topic

To be honest, I don’t have much idea about curriculum design because I have been teaching students English in an institute without curriculum for many years. So I think curriculum is the one needed in school. As I am working in an institute, making students have a good grade is more important than having a class with a good curriculum with bad grade. Even though curriculum is great nobody is sure it can make students have good grade in English exam. Of course, having a good grade is not everything in learning language. Even worse right before school exam I am very busy teaching students skills how to pick up the right answers and letting them know the possible questions on the exam. But after reading a book and PPT related to curriculum I realize it is necessary to guide students effectively and take advantage of the class efficiently.

In order to make a curriculum, teachers must look trough and know the various contexts carefully to make decisions about the course. Designing a course is similar to designing a house. Graves (2000) showed the chart which summarizes the various aspects of the context that teachers can define: people, time, physical setting, teaching resources, and nature of the curse and institution. The more information teachers have the better course teacher can make . But if teacher design a course too much materials for the time given, or is built around the topics that are inappropriate for students, or depends on materials that are not readily available to the students, the course will be ineffective or, at best, require ongoing repair(Graves, 2000, p.18). Most of all, the curriculum must to be designed to meet the students learning needs. So teachers need to have a lot of information in order to design a structure that will fit the context (Graves, 2000, p.14). Module 2 PPT, slide 9 shows how teachers can develop curriculum.

.The term learner-driven suggests that learner - not the subject matter - plays a central role in determining curriculum.
.Learner-driven approaches draw upon constructivism, a theory of learning in which "people learn when they relate new information and skills to what they already know, actively practice the new information and skills in a supportive environment, and get feedback on their performance.
.To develop learner-driven curriculum, teachers need to view learners as active inquirers who use previous experiences - both mental and social - to make meaning of the world.
.Curriculum springs from students' purposes for learning and uses real-life materials and contexts.

In Korea, most of the students are passive in class, so developing learner-driven curriculum is very useful for students I think. But I also wonder whether it really works in test–centered Korean circumstances.

In addition to the context, teachers’ beliefs play a role at stage of course design (Graves, 2000, p.33). Among the examples of teachers’ beliefs, I like Denies Lawson’s. Denies Lawson is a teacher who designed an advance writing course for a university extension program in the Unite States. Three factors influences her beliefs: her experience as a teacher, her experience as a teacher and how the students responded to her and each other, and understanding from readings (Graves, 2000, p.32). Denies Lawson articulated four main beliefs that guided planning of an advanced composition course: her belief in learner-centered curriculum, a meaning-centered curriculum, a process-centered curriculum and her belief that the roles of teachers and learners should be clearly articulated (Graves, 2000, p.35). Rich and powerful beliefs have important implications to design a course but teachers focus on a few considered essential.

I think teachers try to plan curriculum based on context of the course, integrating their beliefs to help achieve the goals of students^^.

Module#1 About myself

My name is Yunjoung So born in 1974 in Seoul, Korea. I am a working mom. Four years have passed since I got married. I felt happier after having two daughters. Juhee is first and Joungyoun is second. They are 5 and 3 who always make me smile and my life get richer.

I majored in Russian language and graduated in 1998 in Korea. I have been teaching English to middle and high school students in an institute. And my target teaching levels are the same. I don't have any experience with curriculum as a learner and a teacher.

I am using my mobile phone just for making a call so I have never used mobile devices for language learning or teaching.

Most Korean students go to an English institute after school for learning English more. Since I am working in an institute not in school, I need to design my own curriculum for my class. As I don't have any experience in making curriculum I really hope to learn how to make it through EESL 614 course^^