I think teaching in elementary school is designed to give students the 'basics' through drills and useful expressions.
The purpose of many English classes is to help students enter college.
[WHAT CAN TEACHERS DO WHEN THEIR CURRICULUM IS CLEARLY DESIGNED NOT TO INVOKE CRITICAL DISCUSSION OR COLLABORATIVE INQUIRY?]
I also agree with the idea that elementary students have to learn basic for their further study. Basic knowledge is not always given by the traditional one way teaching. I understand that One way is easy and useful way taking less time. However taking more time for basic knowledge can be effective in te future. Currently, I think a lot about slowing step and giving more time to think even in English class. I have a tons of vague thoughts. I don't know the clear way. Still thinking...
ReplyDeleteI think it's still possible to teach the 'basics' while at the same time work on a critical level. The topic in my grade 6 textbook last week was jobs. I had to teach them the names of the jobs in the book and descriptions of those jobs. What I ended up doing was putting the students into pairs and having them make posters describing what they thought was the worst/best jobs in Korea (or in the book). They had to do short presentations, using the vocabulary from the book, about why they thought these jobs were desirable or undesirable to them. This led to further class discussions and they questioned each other about why they chose certain jobs. It really got them working together and thinking while at the same time learning basic vocab and expressions.
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