Sean Brown in Kyrgyzstan
Venting
Hey everyone. it’s a few days before New Years and I’m officially on break. I have two and a half weeks to plan lessons and recover from a pretty stressful first three weeks in site. My class schedule has been in no way demanding (18-20 hours a week) but I’ve discovered teaching in in this country is damn tough.
Tough is probably the wrong word. Frustrating is closer to the truth. The system of education is so drastically different from the American system that it’s appalling. Grades for example: In America, students take tests and grades are given based upon the results of these tests. Students are expected to do their own work, and cheating is considered a grave violation. Not so in Kyrgyzstan. Cheating is rampant, tests aren’t really given, and the grading system is a joke. The grading scale ranges from a 1 to a 5, five being the best. One could compare this five point scale to the American A-F scale, but this would be a mistake since in reality 1’s and 2’s are not to be given. If a student is behaves poorly in class, doesn’t participate or do work he is usually given a 3; a passing grade. Why? Because if a student fails a course he has to repeat it. This means more work for the current teacher, who already works 40+ hours a week and most likely has a family to take care of (this also is not comparable to America, since day to day living here is so much more taxing; try walking a quarter mile to fetch water a few times a day and you’ll see what I mean.) So the teacher passes students who don’t do the work and the student eventually graduates and is no longer the school’s problem. This is not an isolated phenomenon. In fact, it is unspoken policy from the Ministry of Education. As long as things look good, there is no problem. A particularly Soviet way of thinking.
Another post Soviet aspect is the idea of total control. Quarterly lesson plans must be approved by the state board of education. Sometime during the quarter an official comes to check all the teachers lesson plans. A few days into teaching my school was checked. Most of the teachers there were busy writing their lesson plans a day before. They said they don’t follow the plans anyway but have to turn them in or they will be fired. I asked why have this system if no one really follows it. Everyone shrugged and said that’s just the way it is. The government has this insane English curriculum which they expect every school to follow. Within the first year of instruction (usually 5th grade) students are supposed to learn 700 English words and master a dozen different verb tenses and modes. I have kids that have studied English for three or more years and can’t answer questions like “What is your sister’s name?” . The state curriculum is impossible, especially since students only have English class at most 5 hours a day and have no current materials or qualified teachers (It’s not uncommon for the local English teachers not to speak English, though this isn’t true at my school.) In short, expecting any class to be even remotely proficient in the English language would be impossible.
So where does that leave me, the local TEFL volunteer? Frustrated. My romantic idea of moving to a foreign country and teaching entire classes to speak English and better their lives has been crushed. The majority of my students don’t speak English and don’t want to. They are waiting till graduation and are going to work as laborers, farmers or drivers. There are a few students that I can think of (less than ten) that actually care about learning and hope to go to university and use their English. I had a student approach me the other day and ask if I would soon be teaching after school English clubs. I said I would start clubs in the new year. He said he wanted to practice his English because he wanted to live in the capital and be an English interpreter. After a whole day of blank stares to what should be easy questions, this student was a godsend. I’ve let go of my idea of teaching entire classes to speak English, and have decided that I am happy settling for teaching a handful of students who really have the motivation to learn and will use their skills to actually improve their lives.
Sean
