Ochieng,

You probably think that I'm a hard person for my reaction to Karin's report. If you knew me, you would know better. I have been an ESL teacher, teacher-trainer, consultant, manager, etc. for many years. What comes with this is a strong sense of protectiveness and responsibility toward students from other cultures. I am also an intercultural trainer and have workshops on how to deal with students from other cultures. My website describes this work. None of the recommended approaches are harsh.

Once a pattern appears and it's not just an incident or two, I have always diplomatically investigated and retrained, when feasible, so that the problem is reduced. However, the differences are often cultural. You come from a gentle culture that offers protection on almost all occasions to persons who exceed acceptable bounds. The problem here is that students are being hurt by persons with no concept of "face." Within the American school systems, unfortunately there is often a great deal of overt conflict between students and their teachers. The problem is that when some teachers move out of this environment into "the rest of the world," they are really very hard to change. Problem solving is always the best way to fix things. However, it really doesn't work much with those who are convinced that "negative reinforcement" is the only answer. I would rather train a young teacher or tutor with NO background in their subject than deal with some of the "old-timers," whose habits are ingrained after years of dealing within their own culture. 

Lao Tse, the Chinese Taoist philosopher divided all human activities into BEING, DOING and HAVING. We can change what a person has. Sometimes we can change what a person does. We can't change what a person is. In that situation, we are sometimes faced with the necessity of  moving the person on into another environment that fits who they are. That can be better for them and their students. 

Respectfully,  Ted
www.tedklein-ESL.com  

----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Ochieng kh 
  To: The Adult English Language Learners Discussion List 
  Sent: Tuesday, June 17, 2008 2:27 AM
  Subject: [EnglishLanguage 2652] Re: Problem Tutor How to Handle It


  Allow me to observe that no nonsense approach to issues is unilateral and always one sided. In life, there are two cardinal principles of justice, namely, that one shall never be a judge in ones cause and, that one shall never be condemned unheard. No non-sense approaches defy these important planks of justice. Suffice it to note that in everything we do, there is always a duty to society, meaning that whenever there is a problem, it is prudent to seek proper solutions as opposed to running away from the same because society need not suffer either directly or indirectly from a similar problem again. In the instance case, dismissing the tutor does not solve the problems, because she will run away with the problem to another place and surprising enough, she might not be aware of her weaknesses. Eventually society suffers. The best way is to make her understand the issues and if possible enable her overcome the problem. This is why investing in staff development or human capacity building programmes is important. After all if we were to live in a totally no nonsense society, we would all be dismissed because noone is perfect! It is better to nurture a society that believes in all and that each can be the best irrespective of challenges and difficulties. When we live one behind, we are literally hurrying to nowhere! Best wishes always, Ochieng M.Khairalla-Nairobi-Kenya.   

  "tbeyene at juno.com" <tbeyene at juno.com> wrote: 
    Karin's suggestion would be lovely in a perfect world, say in Kenya where they have this nice tradition of "Haraka, Haraka Haina Baraka."  or Hurry, hurry has no blessings.  Lunch, dinner, etc....  I don't know; who has the time and patience here in the states, Karin?  I like Ted's no nonsense approach.
    -T. 


    -- Ochieng kh <ochykheyr at yahoo.com> wrote:
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    Date: Sun, 15 Jun 2008 23:50:21 -0700 (PDT)
    From: Ochieng kh <ochykheyr at yahoo.com>
    To: The Adult English Language Learners Discussion List
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    Dear Karin Johnsey,
    I suggest you broaden the horizon of both parties. Dismisal is tantamount to running away from the problem or employing another tutor could prove counter productive and time wasting. Simply engage both parties in constructive dialogue. Have a detailed discussion with the tutor concerned and explore her teaching approaches as well as methodologies. Impress upon her that you had difficulties with earlier experiences with other tutors and specifically refer to specific aspects forming the basis of the current complaint. Equally impress upon her the need to descend into the very arena of the student. It might be of use to ask the tutor to have out door session with the student, say a lunch session just to understand each other and to break the wall. Communication is a cure to most of the problems. This could be followed by a broader session bringing together yourself, the tutor and the student, an evening dinner is important, at which dinner you will generally intimate to both parties that the ultimate goal of your project is to ensure the best services to both the tutor and the student as well as generate a family bond in which each is a part of the other. More interactions into the future is encouraged. Good day & best wishes,
    Ochieng M.Khairalla-Nairobi-Kenya.  

    Project CARE <ProjectCARE at morton.edu> wrote:

      I have a tutor who is a former high school teacher. She is retired now. She has been with our tutoring program for three years.

      There have been multiple complaints about this tutor on behalf of his/her students. The most recent example has been brought to my attention in the past couple days. It is the most extreme yet!

      According to the student, this tutor uses negative reinforcement..ie do you really want to learn? Uses inappropriate materials...ie not related to everyday life (she was a biology teacher, so she teachers biology to students), or material too hard for the student. She makes the student feel bad about his/her level of English knowledge, making them feel frustrated and ineffectual. Luckily the student told me about this. I am going to talk to the student more about the situation. Obviously the student doesn't want to continue.

      Do I formally dismiss this tutor? Or, do I just say that I dont' have any students for the tutor at this point and that his/her current student is too busy now with his/her new schedule, With the intention of never giving this tutor another student in the future? I am leaning toward the latter right now.

      Which course of action do I take and what is most effective for everyone involved. I don't want to make the student feel bad or have the tutor call him/her asking what happened? The tutor is very two-faced. Plus, they live in the same community, so I don't want them to run into each other again and have a bad experience. I want to protect my student, who I will try to find another tutor.

      Thanks in advance! Any techniques for how to handle this inappropriate tutor and/or breaking up the tutor/student pair will be very helpful.

      Karin Johnsey

      Project CARE
      Morton College
      Cicero, IL 
      708-656-8000 x383

      -----Original Message-----
      From: englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of Jlbogdan
      Sent: Thu 6/12/2008 4:15 PM
      To: The Adult English Language Learners Discussion List
      Subject: [EnglishLanguage 2627] Re: Best Listening, Bilingual, Online Test,& Video Site

      Hi Kate,
      If you are at school and that comes up it means that your network IT is blocking you from reaching the site. You could request from IT that they allow access to the site. They should check it out and get back to you with a yes--and allow the site to come in or no--and usually explain why they won't.
      If you can't get then you can try from home. 
      Hope it helps.
      Joyce


      ----- Original Message ----
      From: Kate 
      To: The Adult English Language Learners Discussion List 
      Sent: Thursday, June 12, 2008 1:57:15 PM
      Subject: [EnglishLanguage 2626] Re: Best Listening, Bilingual, Online Test, & Video Site


      Hi, Steph-

      If I tried to go on the Internet using the wireless access, but I got the "Page cannot be displayed" page, does that mean there's something wrong? Or is it just that I was in a place where I could not get a signal?

      Kate Diggins
      Director of Adult Education

      GuadalupeSchools
      340 S. Goshen St.
      Salt Lake City, UT
      84104

      work: 801.531.6100 (ext.1107)
      cell: 801.440.7519

      www.guadalupe-schools.org

      ________________________________

      From:englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of LaFerlazzo at aol.com
      Sent: Wednesday, June 04, 2008 5:49 AM
      To: englishlanguage at nifl.gov
      Subject: [EnglishLanguage 2602] Re: Best Listening, Bilingual, Online Test,& Video Site


      Hi, Everybody,

      Here are a few more "The Best..." lists:

      The Best Online Video Sites For Learning English
      http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2008/06/03/the-best-online-video-sites-for-learning-english/

      The Best Listening Sites For English Language Learners
      (http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2008/05/28/the-best-listening-sites-for-english-language-learners/)

      The Best Multilingual & Bilingual Sites For Learning English
      (http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2008/05/25/the-best-multilingual-bilingual-sites-for-learning-english/)

      The Best Ways To Create Online Tests
      (http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2008/05/22/the-best-ways-to-create-online-tests/)

      Part Seventeen Of The Best Ways To Create Online Content Easily & Quickly
      (http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2008/05/26/part-seventeen-of-the-best-ways-to-create-online-content-easily-quickly/)

      Larry Ferlazzo
      LutherBurbank High School
      Sacramento, CA





      ________________________________

      Get trade secrets for amazing burgers. Watch "Cooking with Tyler Florence" on AOL Food.




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