Teachers from India join S'pore schools

[pinky]

SAHM_TAN:

pinky:

May I quote from the ST on this topic:

A local teacher from a top JC who mentored a teacher from India was concerned that he was not used to the way lessons were run here.
\"The teacher had a more traditional way of teaching - coming with a
prepared speech and not expecting questions by students\" he said.One of the new Indian teacher said he has to get used to the rather more
lively classroom culture here. He said, \"In Kolkata, students listen to you and the class is quiet. It is not the case here so it's a bit of a culture shock\".

It was reported that he took a test in written English, went through an interview and conducted a demo class to clinch the job here.

Shouldn't there be a sort of orientation course for them to understand our way of studying before they are being sent to the schools to teach?
So how will the teachers get over the culture shock and will they seek help to overcome this obstacle?????

I thought they will go through a course in NIE?

maybe they do but were they taught how to overcome the culture shock or not?

[sall]

vlim:

hope I don't offend anyone...I have a few workers from India..pretty hard to 'catch' what are they talking when they speak to me in 'English'...

Agree wholeheartedly. I have neighbours who come from India, very very difficult to understand their English.

[pinky]

way back in 2002, my ex-co bought a new accounting software package which came with free training for 5 sessions. The trainer was an Indian lady who though was very familiar with the running of the program but spoke in so thick accent we had to guess what she was saying.

She was so impatient having to repeat again so I told her to write down the important points and we would go through ourselves and tried them out.
After the 5 FOC sessions, we managed to scrape through the basic procedure with the written notes but when it came to phone assistance, it was worst trying to figure out what she was saying over the phone.
I highlighted the problem to my boss and eventually, we changed the vendor to save our hearing and possible high blood pressure.

I therefore can relate to the poor students who are trying so hard to catch the ball :stupid: .

[Funz]

To be fair, every nationality or race have their pros and cons and there are always the good ones and not so good ones.


I’ve had many horrible experiences with a certain nationality and ethnic grp that I was on the verge of being a bigamist but to look at it rationally, I’ve also encountered many who are really good.

2 of my best staff are from India. 1 on S Pass, another a rather newly minted Singaporean. Their accents are not that difficult to understand and in the short few years that they are here, they are already speaking our lingo and even a smattering of Mandarin and Malay.

My friends and I were kidding that we are being invaded by 摇头族 but fact is, if there are enough Singaporeans willing to take up these jobs within reasonable demands and have the attitude to match, who would want to hire foreigners.

That said, I would still prefer to my kids’ teachers to be locals.

[sleepy]

SAHM_TAN:

Sometimes I feel like I'm the foreigner in another country.

Me too :roll:

[hquek]

Tie in this topic with this thread... http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/forum/viewtopic.php?p=394045#394045


I'm starting to have bad vibes about the teachers my kids may be meeting in future. Siao liao...

[pinky]

LKVM:

pinky:

way back in 2002, my ex-co bought a new accounting software package which came with free training for 5 sessions. The trainer was an Indian lady who though was very familiar with the running of the program but spoke in so thick accent we had to guess what she was saying.

She was so impatient having to repeat again so I told her to write down the important points and we would go through ourselves and tried them out.
After the 5 FOC sessions, we managed to scrape through the basic procedure with the written notes but when it came to phone assistance, it was worst trying to figure out what she was saying over the phone.
I highlighted the problem to my boss and eventually, we changed the vendor to save our hearing and possible high blood pressure.

I therefore can relate to the poor students who are trying so hard to catch the ball :stupid: .

So that means even if they are trained they wont be able to perform same as our current teachers

local teachers are familiar with our culture, our exam structure, the way students study etc. These are important experiences which the foreign teachers have to learn and adapt themselves to. They have to integrate to our system and not the other way round.

[Laughing]

It took my co-worker from India to speak \"understandable\" English only 1 year plus. Another colleague of mine who just arrived here about 6 months ago still speak very strong Indian essence and it really need a lots of energy to try to decode what they are saying...


But I think this is unavoidable as more Indian friends are working around us and we do need to be highly adaptable la. :lol:

[Daddy D]

Funz:

That said, I would still prefer to my kids' teachers to be locals.

:celebrate: :celebrate: :celebrate:
Some things cannot be outsourced...

[vlim]

Laughing:

It took my co-worker from India to speak \"understandable\" English only 1 year plus. Another colleague of mine who just arrived here about 6 months ago still speak very strong Indian essence and it really need a lots of energy to try to decode what they are saying...


But I think this is unavoidable as more Indian friends are working around us and we do need to be highly adaptable la. :lol:

hahaaa...'decode'..ya that is the right word to use....maybe someone should come out with a decode handbook or machine