The students taking part in the course were all from agricultural and fisheries families and had been awarded scholarships from the South Korean Government
‘Stepping out of your comfort zone’ has been a phrase I’ve been encouraging my students at William Pike Challenge to do for the past eight years as the teacher in charge of the youth development programme at Havelock North Intermediate School.
Now it was my turn to step out of my comfort zone, in more ways than one.
I was selected to be one of six teachers to teach an intensive English language programme for two weeks in South Korea in January.
The adventure would take me from a sunny Hawkes Bay summer to temperatures that would go down to a bone-chilling -15 degrees Celsius at times. This was definitely stepping out of my comfort zone!
A diverse group of teachers were selected for the programme from throughout New Zealand.
Fortunately, two of our group had previous experience teaching in South Korea, albeit 20 years ago, and provided tips and guidance along the way.
The students were teenagers from rural parts of South Korea and had travelled from all over the country to attend the course. They were all from fishing or agricultural families and had been awarded scholarships from the Korean Government to attend the programme.
Some of them planned to study agriculture-related careers, some were keen to study medicine, marketing, and engineering. All wanted to improve their English skills to better their future careers.
Jane: "I enjoyed learning about Korean cuisine and took a cooking class on kimchi making and tea ceremony in a traditional house in Seoul."
Our accommodation, food and classrooms were in a huge hotel complex (up to 2500 guests) in a rural area two hours from Seoul.
All meals were provided in a canteen-style bistro in the hotel. We enjoyed sampling a wide range of Korean meals with lots to learn about the dishes each mealtime. Kimchi was offered at every meal, and by the end of the course, some of us were hooked while others remained cautious.
My class enjoyed exposure to the New Zealand technology curriculum, which involved coming up with ways to develop a new snack product. We took a class "field trip" to the convenience store in the hotel complex to research ideas.
Students enjoyed trying a range of Kiwi snacks and Kiwi classics such as WeetBix, Marmite and baked beans.
I carried my class ‘Attribute Board’ (a list of attributes/features to describe sensory terms for food) in my luggage and used it to help evaluate products and help with design features for their new snacks. Students then pitched their snacks to the rest of the class.
We were delighted that our students embraced our lessons on New Zealand culture, history, tourism, agriculture, sports, famous New Zealanders and school life.
As classes progressed, we were greeted all around the complex by a growing number of Māori greetings, from “Kia ora” and “mōrena” to “kei te pēhea koe?” and “ka kite āpōpō”. In turn, we made efforts to learn Korean greetings.
Students enjoyed telling us about Korean culture and everyday life, which provided us with valuable insights. After a few days, my students gave me a Korean name ‘Jian’ which means wise eyes.
At the programme's opening and closing ceremony, our group added touches of Kiwi culture by singing the waiata “Te Aroha” and "Tūtira Mai”.
In our classes, we explained aspects of Māori culture including the significance of pepeha. Our students were able to quickly identify their own awa (river) and maunga (mountain) showing their connection to the land.
We encouraged our students to speak in English throughout the day through playing games, readings, conversations, presentations and plays.
The engagement, focus and effort of the students was impressive. Their days were comprised of classes led by the New Zealand teachers followed by further lessons in the evening given by Korean English teachers.
All students were pleased with their English improvement during the two-week course.
Watching the changing of the guards at Gyeongbokgung Palace
Our group of Kiwi teachers bonded very well. By the time we left, we felt like a team that had been working together for much longer than just a couple of weeks.
As an Education Champion with the Asia New Zealand Foundation, the experience enabled me to learn about an Asian culture I knew little about.
I enjoyed learning about Korean cuisine and took a kimchi making course and did tea ceremony in a traditional house in Seoul. It was an appropriate birthday experience in Seoul for a Kiwi food technology teacher!
We all feel so privileged to have this opportunity to experience teaching in South Korea and learning about a new culture and developing greater understanding of the challenges students face learning English.
I gained further appreciation for cultural diversity and understanding, which are important skills for all teachers. We hope our students will remember their experience fondly and will perhaps visit New Zealand in the future.
The Foundation's education programme provides New Zealand educators with the knowledge, resources and experiences to equip their students to thrive in Asia.
Foundation Champions are a network with access to bespoke professional development opportunities such as workshops, conferences, cultural experiences, speaker engagements and targeted funding to grow their knowledge and awareness of Asia.