[etni] Fwd: Literature

From: ETNI list <etni.list@xxxxxxxxx>
To: Etni <etni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Thu, 23 Jan 2014 07:02:23 +0200
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Jenifer Byk <byk@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Literature

Since I am ‘only’ a private teacher, I have hesitated to leap into the
discussion of the literature programme, but last Sunday, after
teaching a student who had just written his module ‘G’ exam (Magen
grade 93), I felt that I had to say something.

You, the teachers on this list, are all dedicated and involved,
whether you are for or against the programme.  However, out there in
Non-Etni Land  there are many many teachers who are either floundering
as they try to implement the programme or just don’t care.

So what happened on Sunday.  Since my student had finished module ‘G’
and only has ‘F’ to complete, he wanted to discuss All My Sons.  I
asked him how far they had got in class, and he said they were at the
beginning of act two. I asked what they had discussed in class, and he
said that they hadn’t discussed anything.  It transpired that the
teacher played a recording.  They spent the lesson ‘listening’ to it.
Since most of the students in the class laughed a lot, he was  under
the impression that it was a comedy!  Since he had not read the play
(he was  under the impression that it would be too difficult for him
to read by himself, despite being a student with an average grade of
around 95 in all subjects and 100 on ‘E’), there was not a lot I could
do in an hour, other than outline the plot and mention something of
the symbolism.  When I read the end of Act Two, he was shocked. “Oh!
It’s a serious play!”

Last year he had a different teacher, who taught the rest of the
literature.  They did a quiz on each piece, and no written exam.

This is not an isolated case.  This student isn’t from my immediate
area.  In my area, I am aware of four different 10th grade 5 point
classes where the teachers are not dealing with the literature in any
way that the Ministry had in mind.

The reason this is such a problem is that an enormous amount of time
is being spent on this programme, leaving the teachers little time to
devote to helping their students improve the two areas of language
learning that are so vital in today’s world – vocabulary and writing.
I know that many of you will disagree with me on this, but I see the
results close up.  Most of  my students are outstanding and very hard
working.  It pains me to see that their hard work is not producing the
desired results.

Jennifer
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[etni] Fwd: Literature

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