“Thank you, teachers”
By Ernesto F. Herrera, columnist, The Manila Times

Some of the happiest days of my life were spent inside a classroom, first as a student, then as a teacher. Not too many people know that I started out as a teacher before I joined the labor movement, and then much later when I went into politics when Cory Aquino asked me run on her senatorial slate in 1988.

Teaching is very hard work, as any teacher will tell you. One is overworked and underpaid, but the psychic rewards are plenty and almost always worth the effort and sacrifice. I always found a good night’s rest after a day of teaching, perhaps because of the thought that I had done good that day; that, at the very least, one student had learned something from me that would make him a better person.

My teachers were as influential as my parents were to me as a student. Most of them were good teachers who knew their subjects, gave their best and expected the best from their students.

Full story...

“My Teacher, My Hero”
By Antonio C. Abaya, columnist, The Standard Today

I promised my friend Chito Sobrepeña, chair of the Metrobank Foundation that I would write about a teacher in my grade school, high school or college days who made a difference in my life. And I promised Chito that I would submit it in time for the Foundation’s 2009 Teachers Month campaign to focus the public’s attention on the theme of My Teacher, My Hero.

In my case, it is as clear as sunshine that the teacher who made the most profound difference in my life was Fr. Luis Candelaria, SJ—Fr. Candi—who was my teacher in first year high at the Ateneo de Manila in the school year 1947-48.

To put matters in sharp focus, I should mention that my grade school education came from a mish-mash of different schools of differing standards, made inevitable by the dislocations caused by the outbreak of World War 2, the Japanese Occupation and Liberation by the Americans and Filipino guerillas.

Full story...

The uneducated American
By Paul Krugman, Op-Ed columnist, The New York Times
 
If you had to explain America’s economic success with one word, that word would be “education.” In the 19th century, America led the way in universal basic education. Then, as other nations followed suit, the “high school revolution” of the early 20th century took us to a whole new level. And in the years after World War II, America established a commanding position in higher education.

But that was then. The rise of American education was, overwhelmingly, the rise of public education — and for the past 30 years our political scene has been dominated by the view that any and all government spending is a waste of taxpayer dollars. Education, as one of the largest components of public spending, has inevitably suffered.

Until now, the results of educational neglect have been gradual — a slow-motion erosion of America’s relative position. But things are about to get much worse, as the economic crisis — its effects exacerbated by the penny-wise, pound-foolish behavior that passes for “fiscal responsibility” in Washington — deals a severe blow to education across the board.

Full story...

Much Is Asked, Little Defined for the Nanny

By Susan Dominus, The New York Times

How is it that the English language, so rich in words, occasionally fails to provide the right ones for the most commonplace phenomena?

Take the private, paid child care provider. “Nanny” never sounded quite right; it’s a word that has airs, ones that I fear belong to the employer. “Baby sitter” does not do the job justice, and after that I pretty much run out of options. It may be one of those labels, like significant other — life partner? — that have eluded apt terminology because they evoke vague cultural discomfort.

Child care is not, of course, organic chemistry. Then again, isn’t it a lot more complicated? How much about the challenges of raising a child, not to mention the advanced diplomacy skills required to negotiate the employer-employee relationship with said child’s parents, can students learn in seven business days?

Full story...

Vatican astronomer: Science and religion are a match made in heaven

By Dan Falk, The Walrus

Installed on the second floor of a small building on the summit of Arizona’s Mount Graham, Guy Consolmagno is multi-tasking. He’s checking email on his laptop and listening to the Penguin Cafe Orchestra on his iPod, all the while keeping an eye on a bank of computer monitors. One floor up, nestled in a silvery-white dome, a telescope is trained on a potato-shaped chunk of rock and ice known as Haumea, which orbits the sun some six billion kilometres from Earth. Thin clouds have been drifting overhead since sundown, but if they dissipate, the telescope’s digital camera will record changes in Haumea’s brightness as it tumbles through the outer reaches of the solar system, offering Consolmagno and fellow astronomers hints about the structure and evolution of our planetary family.

All this is typical fare for a scientist. What is perhaps surprising is that Consolmagno is also a Jesuit brother, that many of his colleagues are ordained priests, and that they’re scanning the heavens with the Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope or, more affectionately, the “Pope scope.”

Full story...

Finding a job teaching English as a second language on the Internet

If you are fluent in a second language other than English and you can teach it to those who don’t know it, then you have a chance of getting a job teaching English as a second language or related job opportunity.

There are plenty employers that are searching for teachers that are fluent and are qualified to teach English as a second language to those who are not good with the English language. You can qualify if you are a native English speaker and should also possess a Bachelor’s degree in the same field. You should also be able to write well in the English language.

One place where you can get plenty of information about ESL jobs is the internet. You will find a lot of different websites that offer teaching jobs in ESL in the United States and across the world.

Full story...

Policies, problems and pathways
By Jeffrey Gil

In today's world, English plays a central role as the language of global communication and countries the world over are attempting to implement educational programs that will enable them to participate in global political, economic and cultural affairs.

However, learning English on a national scale also creates tensions and concerns. Korea's experiences with English aptly demonstrate the desire to acquire English for participation in a globalizing world on the one hand and the concern over its potential impact on a country's native language and culture on the other.

Formal English language education began in Korea in the 1880s and has since expanded considerably. By the 1990s, English language education was seen as an essential element of the government's “segyehwa,” or globalization, policy. According to this view, Korea's prosperity and ability to play an active role on the global stage depend upon having a population proficient in English.

Full story...

Boosting English language learning in Sri Lanka
By Susantha P. Hewa

We have to accept that our sacred formula for teaching English has been writing-centred. School text books for English do include speech activities, but they cannot be prevented from being glossed over because the gains students accrue by doing them go unnoticed as no tests are conducted to evaluate speech skills at the end of the school term. Moreover, parents who are left with no index other than what they can find in their child’s exercise book to get an idea of the amount of work the child has done during the English period are naturally happy with the more tangible writing output.

It is not surprising that they feel justified in being satisfied with this criterion of evaluation because it is only a written paper that the child has to face in the end. The strongest evidence for our inbuilt and institutionalized sluggishness about developing speech skills is that speech is not tested at the G.C.E (O/L) exam.

It is true that all academic work is unthinkable without writing. You cannot think of any worthwhile gain in the pursuit of knowledge if writing is to be avoided from the very beginning of the process…

Full story...