Unreasonable pressure from my tutor at college. Help please!

flossy_splodge

slummymummyof3 wrote: »

Yes but the language is a huge part and as a parent I would have concerns over your level of the English language. I hope the additional support you are to receive will improve your language.

So would I, and I believe many others also who have followed this thread.
I believe the OP STILL does not recognise how poor her language skills are.:eek:
More's the pity.
Something about horses to water comes to mind......:rotfl:

kingfisherblue

I have read this thread with interest. I have a degree in education and I also have close links with a nursery.

I agree with the above posters who feel that the OP does not fully understand or accept that her English language skills have not reached the appropriate standard. Nurseries and schools have the right to expect colleges to award qualifications only to those students who have achieved the standards required. Without these standards, qualifications would be worthless. It would be very difficult for employers to know which applicants are suitable for interview and which applicants to discard.

OP, I realise that you have worked hard to try to complete your course, but it is evident that you need further support in reaching the required standard of English. I hope that you receive this help, as you are clearly keen to work with young children. However, you need to accept that your college tutor is correct and that your English needs to improve.

I wish you luck for the future.

slummymummyof3

I am a qualified teacher, I teach in a school as well as in FE and HE. I would be in agreement with your college tutor - language skills are incredibly important and will have a big impact on the education you provide a child. I would have concerns over your ability to provide an adequate level of support to children with the level of written literacy skills you have exhibited on this thread and obviously I am unable to comment on your spoken English.

Additionally, it would appear that you have difficulty taking on board feedback. Part of working within a childcare environment is having the ability to reflect and make positive steps to improve your working practice.
The fact that you already possess a degree is irrelevent - someone could have a degree in palaeontology but be totally inept in a vocational career.

mountainofdebt

I know a canadian lady who taught the cambodian refugees english back in the 1970s

A group of refugees were transferred into her class from another teacher and she had difficultly in understanding when they were trying to speak in english.

After a while she realised that they were speaking with a scottish twang as their first teacher had a strong scottish accent.

theoretica

As has been pointed out, at some length, language skills are important. I share the opinion that it is an advantage for people interacting with young children to use language well, as childhood is such a natural period of language learning. A corollary of this is that learning some Chinese in nursery could be of great benefit to British children. I am rather surprised that your course tutor seems not to have though of this. I would hope that your Chinese language skills, especially if you speak Mandarin, would be of great benefit to you in finding a job.

http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/families/article1632772.ece

lanavdt

OP, I work as a nursery supervisor and I'd recommend you consider an evening class to improve your grammer and speech before seeking a nursery assistant position. That way, the nursery will put you through your NVQ while giving you on the job training.

jojo2004

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

I've been out of teaching in FE for 15 years and it was like that even then. When you link a college's funding with its course pass rate, what else could anyone expect?

Have you heard that Mandelson's paper on HE (which will of course incude FE etc) suggests that funding be given to those institutions which provide a 'quality student experience'. The flip side, of course, being that funding will be cut at institutions where the 'quality' of the student experience is deemed to be lower.

The main benchmark for the 'quality' of the experience students have is the National Student Survey. The annual response rate for this survey (which is optional) is less than 30% on average.

The responses fall into two main categories:
1. students who did well and can be bothered to write a positive report, usually in good English, and with constructive suggestions for any areas of weakness (I would estimate, based on six years of looking at responses, that this accounts for 3-5% of the respondents)
2. students who struggled with the course, did not attend the lectures, did not achieve their desired (or indeed a passing) grade, and who consistently handed in work after deadlines. You can imagine the kind of responses this category gave. "Negative" would be a polite description.

Great idea Mandy...

P.S. Can you guess my current job title? I'm a Quality Administrator in a University.


Anyway, I think everything I thought whilst reading this thread has already been said, but I would like to add my support to those who have gently pointed out to the OP that her English is not at the standard that most educators, parents and educational establishments require.

From my current work, I would imagine your IELTS score would be something like a 4.0, OP? - this is simply not high enough to gain entry onto an Undergraduate course in this country, and I'd be surprised if it is enough to allow you entry onto a recognised childcare course.

I'm sorry if it's a difficult thing to hear, OP, but you do need to improve your English. The job market is tough at the moment, and you wouldn't want your weakness in communication to stop you getting a job where you can let your passion for the work show, would you? At the moment, your tutors are quite right to tell you that you will struggle to find work; you would not be able to express yourself well enough in a letter, CV or interview situation. I hope you find a good English Language course, and I wish you luck.

As for the nonsense about 'racism/xenophobia' - you can't argue with people who don't understand the meaning of such terms. At no point did any poster express fear of the OP, nor were pejorative comments about her race made. Commenting on a lack of ability or training is not discriminatory, despite what 13 years of a Labour government has tried to teach us.