Last March 11, 2011 (Friday), Professors Jason Ham and Alice Park were awarded as best teachers of the Catholic University of Korea (CUK) for the full time lecturer and visiting professor categories respectively. Both were surprised, at the same time honored, to receive their awards.
During an interview with Jason, he shared that he was very grateful to the university for giving him the award. As he was not expecting the recognition, he was taken aback when he received the information that he will be awarded as one of the best teachers. He had been with CUK for five years now (from 2003 to 2006, and back in 2010), but it is his first time to be given such an honor. He taught in several programs of IFLE (International Foreign Language Education), now ILEC (International Language Education Center). He was very involved in Global English Outreach (GEO), and even became GEO program coordinator/manager during GEO10 camp last winter 2011. Currently he is teaching Practical Conversation English (PCE) 1 and 2. We asked Jason what his winning techniques are in teaching students. He shares that he is a believer of the T-S-S-T (Teacher to Student, Student to Teacher) interaction or the open communication between the teacher and student and vice versa. A believer of code-mixing technique, he thinks that learning should be fun and not stressful to students. This is the reason why he uses some Korean phrases like (himduro) to his students especially when he sees that they are tired and are experiencing difficulty in using the English language. In this way, his students can feel that he empathizes with them, hence they feel comfortable around him. Moreover, he focuses more on the similarities, rather than the differences of the English language and Korean language. This way, students can be better accustomed and be more open to learning the English language.
For Professor Jason, core repetition, classroom interactions and great atmosphere are some of the best ways to aid in learning the English language.
Alice is also astonished by the award that she received. Garnering the highest student evaluation score, she is very happy to represent the winners of the visiting professor category during the awarding ceremony last March 11. We asked her what her teaching method is and she shares that she believes that learning should be fun. She welcomes and encourages students to make mistakes. She believes that when students stop worrying about making mistakes, they start speaking up. For her, being confident is the most important of all. She shares that in her class, as long as students try their very best to express themselves in English, she welcomes them to make mistakes. They even laugh together in class whenever someone commits one. Furthermore, she reveals that she actively involves students and in case there are any difficulties, she encourages the class to work together and help each other. She is very happy to develop meaningful relationships with her students and shares that even after attending her PCE1 class, some students enroll in her PCE2 class again.
Alice shares "Be open minded. Just enjoy and have fun while learning"
Words of Wisdom from our awardees:
Jason shares: To teachers – Walk in that room and enjoy what you are doing; To students – This is your chance, make the most out of it; For both teachers and students, he adds: This is the most important place to be, at this very moment.
Alice imparts that everyone should have a positive attitude – the I LOVE ENGLISH mindset. Furthermore, she shares “Don’t be afraid of making mistakes. Let’s laugh together at our mistakes and enjoy our mistakes and learn from it”.
By: Abigail Go, GEO Blog Editor
