A community center for children was established from private class named 공부방 for students from lower-income families. And in 2004 it was officially set up by the government to prevent a vicious cycle of poverty. This case study has been carried ...
A community center for children was established from private class named 공부방 for students from lower-income families. And in 2004 it was officially set up by the government to prevent a vicious cycle of poverty. This case study has been carried out in order to analyze the needs of the education agents in a community center for children and provide information to implement its English program effectively. Among the 6 basic programs, the liveliest program is the academic programs. English is in the highest demand. But a community center for children is small in size and doesn’t have enough money. Programs are implemented respectively depending on owner’s and administrator’s abilities. Therefore, a systematic development of the education system is needed to reflect the requirements set by the needs of the owners and administrators. Regarding the systematic curriculum development and implementation, it is believed that a needs analysis is a mandatory.
Therefore, I selected Hcommunity center for children to analyze. I figured out the needs and the levels of satisfaction of the administrators, teachers, volunteers, students, parents in terms of the English programs. In order to analyze, I collected documents related to the community center for children. Also I collected data by carrying out a survey and interviews. The participants are 35 students (from 3rd to 10th grade) who are currently taking an English course and 20 parents of these students. The collected data was analyzed through frequency analysis, transcription and coding. The major findings of study were as follows:
The classes are leveled by grade. The first level of students is in the 3rd grade. Per week, there are two classes which cover a text at school for 3~4 grades and three classes for 5~6 grades in elementary. Some students also have on-line class and extracurricular programs for presentations on Saturday by volunteers. 1~3 graders in middle school have three classes that focus on test at school and have sometimes extra classes taught by volunteers. High school students have classes that were prepared for Korean SAT and school test by volunteers.
After conducting a needs analysis of the English program, it was concluded that there were many needs in each group. The introduction time for English classes, class schedule, evaluation coincide with their needs. On the other hand, the class organization, class activities, class text and content clearly showed that the needs of the group were very different. Also administrators think that volunteering of short term and uncertainty of English teacher’s specialty are difficulties of implementation of program and teachers consider that the gap of student’s ability and lack of educational facility are obstacles. The suggestions based on the results of the study are as follows:
First of all, there should be different ways of organizing classes for grades according to the situation because needs of groups in regards to organizing classes are different.
Second, teachers should use more English in class. Teachers usually use Korean when teaching English in class. In contrast, parents, students and administrators want them to use more English in class. They should use more English at the elementary level.
Third, class activities and methods should be improved. The survey shows the low satisfaction level of class activities and methods. Teachers should consider the most effective ways of teaching class when preparing the class.
Fourth, text and materials in class should include diversity. Reasonable EBS texts and free materials from internet help motivate and inspire students.
Fifth, a wide range of EBS contents should be used to overcome lack of teacher qualifications and it is essential to have systematic student management of teachers since online classes are more effective with face to face class.
In addition, teachers should instruct learning strategies with texts for students. Students in the community center for children have fewer opportunities for private lessons and volunteers tend to teach during short periods. Students need to get self-regulated learning abilities by having their own learning strategies.
Lastly, the English teacher education program should be improved for enhancing the specialty of teachers. Also the systems of hiring teachers should be changed to reflect teacher stability.
This case study indicates the importance of a needs analysis as a basis of developing and improving English program. By identifying the needs of education agents, it is possible to reflect their needs and raise the level of satisfaction in the English program. Thereby, it will help implement the program more effectively.
지역아동센터는 빈민운동의 일환이었던 공부방에서 연유하여 교육격차로 인한 빈곤의 대물림을 막고자 2004년 법제화되었다. 본 연구는 지역아동센터 영어교육 프로그램에 대한 여러 교육...
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