Language Teaching 51
The Challenges of Teaching as a Filipina Compiled by Dr. David E. Shaffer Filipino English teachers in Korea occupy a somewhat unique position. Although English is the primary medium of instruction from elementary school through university in the Philippines, and even though English is one of the two official languages of the nation, the Philippines is not among the seven countries that South Korea recognizes as “native English-speaking countries.” Although many Filipinos are eloquent English speakers, this distinction serves to create an undue bias against Filipino English speakers without regard to English proficiency. From the accounts of numerous Filipina English teachers in Gwangju appearing in last month’s Language Teaching article (“The Joys of Teaching as a Filipina”), we saw that there are a multitude of joys that Filipina teachers reap from teaching English. However, those were not their full accounts. What appears below is the other side of the coin, related by the same Filipina teachers who expressed their love of teaching in last month’s article. This is the rest of their stories.
“Emma” has lived in Korea for 25 years and has been teaching English for the past two decades. She teaches elementary students at two academies in two districts of Gwangju. In our last issue, she talked about the joys that she gets from teaching and that “God gives us different gifts; I just have to use mine and do the best I can in teaching my students.” Here is the rest of her account.
One of the Struggles
One of the struggles I encountered with the children was their quarrelling with each other. At first, I didn’t notice because I thought they were just talking, that is, until one
2020�9��(September).indd 51
Malyn Perez Rosales Kim is an after-school English teacher in Gwangju at Juwol and Shinam Elementary Schools. Before coming to Korea, she taught elementary school in the Philippines. She has been living in Korea for nearly eleven years and has been teaching for eight of them. Last issue, she told us that she knows that God has a plan for her and that she “loves teaching kids.” Here is the rest of her account. The first months after my arrival seemed to be the saddest of my life, as Korea was absolutely different from my life in the Philippines. Life here is so fast, with a focus on merely working and money. Some part of me wanted to magically return to my homeland. After more than a year had passed, an opportunity came: a project from the Office of Education offering immigrant women a twomonth study program leading to teaching their culture at elementary schools here in Gwangju. I was able to be a part of this program and to share with young students the culture of my country. From this great start, I was able to gain confidence and the will to pursue a teaching career
September 2020
Mary Joy Escobal is a missionary volunteer at the Gwangju Dream Seventh Day Adventist Multicultural Church located in Gwangsan District. She has been living and working in Gwangju for almost two years. She teaches English through the Bible to young learners and a Bible class to adult Filipinos. She previously talked about the difficulty of learning English and the “really great joy for me to teach children.” Here is the rest of her account.
Thorns in a Bed of Roses
www.gwangjunewsgic.com
To be honest, one of the difficulties I have with the students is managing them, particularly my sixthgraders. Maybe it’s because of my stature or my overly friendly personality. It takes a lot of prayer and patience to have a successful class with them, but I think teaching is difficult only if you aren’t equipped with the right skills and don’t like to be with a bunch of kids. Fortunately, I don’t have any major problems with the administration at either of my schools, except that both of my bosses hide my Filipino identity from the students’ parents, which is quite burdensome to me.
of them burst out in anger and I didn’t know how to stop them. One student went home crying, and the other is no longer participating in our class. I felt so hopeless at the time, but I just prayed for guidance on how to deal with the situation. God answered my prayers. He directed me to talk to our pastor, so I told him what had happened. The pastor talked to the students’ parents as well, and the next class, the students met again. It now seems as though nothing had happened between them; they’re on good terms, helping each other in some of the class activities that we have.
EDUCATION
It Takes a Lot of Prayer
8/26/2020 4:37:23 PM
