I've been teaching now for almost two months? (feels longer). I teach politics and world problems (2 different classes) to high school second graders, so they're about 16 years old. They're accelerated, their English is high level, and many want to be foreign diplomats. It's a boarding school so they live here full time and study all through the night - eat together, live together, listen together. All the time, all in one place.
But I've found teaching these subjects to be difficult. One assignment was to read a short summary on a civil war conflict, like in Yemen or Libya, and then as a group, further research the topic and create a concept map outlining and organizing the information (in English). The students were really passionate about their topics, but I feel like they got a bit stuck in the mire of details, unable to summarize the main point - e.g. what do you think is the main source of conflict, why do we care about this, why are we talking about it. The next step of analysis wasn't there.
And maybe this is because they're only 16? And maybe because my expectations are different? In school we never talked or wrote about serious topics like this. I'm not sure yet if this is a good thing going on here or not. And conveying the nuances of these political situations, that don't have answers, ends up being especially difficult in a foreign language. Things become watered down and simplified - on my end and theirs - in English. It feels a little cheap and babyish. I wish I could hear their Korean to understand.
This next topic is various human rights violations: Chibok girls abduction, Black Lives Matter and Black Incarceration, Child Soldiers in South Sudan, Women's Education in Pakistan, and the Mediterranean Refugee Crisis. This time I've included discussion questions that the groups should use to dig a little deeper: who should be held responsible for these violations? Who should be punished? Why is this issue important?
Today felt like a win. They really enjoyed the world café activity. Each group had a different topic to read, discuss, and share. My co-teacher insisted I make a playlist of "café music" and we have snacks and everything.
World Cafe
Presentations on civil war and conflict with my co-teacher Amy sansaengnim
The best gift from a co-teacher
Still, I feel like I'm teaching wrong. Some of the students can't keep up, and I worry that they can't all understand me as I speak. But then, it seems like the readings (I've spent so long to create) are too easy for their ability. I can't figure out how to ask the students questions to check understanding. For much of the class my co-teacher speaks Korean and I wonder about my purpose and wonder if I should be speaking to the class better. Like, maybe they're fixing my mistakes.
And, also, I'm teaching wrong - trying to teach the students how to be wrong, how to accept relativity, how to make an argument, how to defend it. The questions I like to ask them are opinion, based on given knowledge. But I feel like they're afraid to be wrong, and they're quick to admit that they don't know something (even though they do). Maybe it's because of the English? But presentations tend to be taken as absolute. Maybe I've been in college for too long.
One day a Korean teacher told me that the students say I'm "boyish." ?!?! I was like, "Is that because my voice is deep? Do I look manly?" And she replied, "Haha, no no, I think it is because you speak loudly and you are confident."
I hope the students gain more self-confidence and forming their own opinions. I don't mind being the goofy, loud one for them to help this. I also have learned that I really enjoy seeing them take the material I give them and turn it into their own. It has taken some time, it has taken several lessons, but they are finally starting to get there. They like this, they like having their own voice and being able to share it to others. That's probably the most rewarding thing I've seen. So I'll keep being wrong.
