Continuing my studies…

I have been a little lax on the updates at the moment. This is not because there is nothing to report, but instead it is due to the workload. I will try and keep this brief!

Introduction to Education Theory

In all honesty, I did not enjoy this course. That is not to say it was bad, and it has given me a sound understanding of education theory. The course was well planned on the instructors part, but the main reading was a textbook (provided at no additional cost), and I have never been a fan of textbooks. Am I glad I took the course? Yes! Would I like to take it again? NO!

The course reading, as tedious as it was, was obviously intended as a springboard for further research, and in that respect it was successful. I found myself paying little attention to the course reading once I had fulfilled my obligation to digest it, and my assignments were mostly based around additional readings I had found myself.

The group assignment was fantastic, and I really enjoyed working on that piece. In fact, I would go so far as to say it was probably one of the best pieces I have written thus far.

All in all, it was a good course, and it did what was intended and provided me with knowledge that I am sure will be of use in the future. I just wish the subject matter was a little less tedious!

Effective Classroom Practices

As a direct counterbalance to the Education Theory course, this was FANATSTIC on every level. The readings were superb, and provided almost instant utility. My own classrooms are much better managed now, and that is a direct consequence of taking this course. This course, much like the RE course, was based around current articles and academic research. As a result, the content seemed much more alive, and thus held my attention more.

I was able to adapt what I was learning to my own classroom within 2 weeks of starting! This course alone has made my investment worthwhile, though I am sure it will be surpassed in the near future.

The Future (for me)

My next two courses will be in “Applied Linguistics” and “Child Psychology”. I am sure these will also provide me with some real utility in the near future.

The Future (for KEISIE)

The KEISIE website has received a makeover in the past few weeks, and I expect that more changes will happen in the near future. I have it on good authority that the school is actively working towards accreditation in the UK and the US, and it is hoped that they will receive full recognition in the first half of the new year.

I have also been informed that the school is working on payment options to make the school even more affordable, more accessible, and better equipped to provide access to students who want to take individual courses for credit-transfer purposes, or in order to satisfy their own professional development needs.

I will of course try to keep you posted!

More changes for KEISIE

I recently received some interesting news from the graduate school that will hopefully provide more utility for me in the future. A decision was made to move the base of operations for the school from Korea to the US. The school is now incorporated in Arkansas, and it is hoped that US accreditation will be approved in the near future.

The ultimate goal is to gain accreditation that would give teacher certificate approval to the courses, so that any person taking them could swiftly move into teaching in the US. This aspect doesn’t appeal to me so much as the opportunities it would provide me with international schools in Korea.

Dr. Bottiger is confident that full accreditation can be gained before my course of study is finished. This is a nice touch, and is much more than I had hoped for when I signed up for the course.

Dr. Bottiger is committed to keeping fees low even after US accreditation has been awarded, though looking at the costs for accreditation I am not sure if this is feasible. Whilst he seems confident that there will be no increases in cost, I would suggest that anybody considering the course sign up now, and beat any increase though could come from the additional expense of accreditation. Even at double the current prices, the cost of studying at the school would be much cheaper than the alternatives!

Even if accreditation is not achieved before the end of my course, I would suspect that the school would be willing to transfer in most of their old credits to allow an accredited degree to be awarded with minimal fuss.

The new session!

The new session at KEISIE Graduate School started 2 weeks ago. Thanks to the preview module I have already taken, I am able to sit just 2 courses this session. This is useful, as the increase in workload coincides with the increased demands of my 3 month old daughter. She is ‘talkative’ and likes to hear herself scream, and that is not helpful when I need to study. Taking 2 courses together has proven difficult when I am only free to study when she is sleeping, though I have managed well enough.

The courses I am taking are “Effective Classroom Practices” and “Introduction to Educational Theory”. The descriptions, as given in the course catalogue, are as follows:

EDU 6030. EFFECTIVE CLASSROOM PRACTICES. (3) This  course focuses  on the management theories, methods  and  approaches  used  in  educational classroom  settings.  Students  enrolled in this  course  will be  challenged to develop an understanding  of  the  relationship between theory and practice as it relates to classroom management.

EDU  6700.  INTRODUCTION TO  EDUCATIONAL  THEORY. (3)  This  course  examines  the  foundational  theories  used  in  education.  Students will explore the  various  models and  theoretical perspectives  used in  education  and determine  their best  use  for  global  educational needs.

I have already submitted the first assignment for each of these courses. The course on “Effective Classroom Practices” is essentially a classroom management course, as you would expect in any education course. The readings were varied, and the first assignment was a simple paper to check my understanding of what classroom management is. Since completing my TEFL course last year, I have continued reading up on TEFL, and so I was familiar with the ideas and concepts. This piece posed no real problems to me.

The second course, “Introduction to Educational Theory” was different! First of all, the readings included a textbook instead of the academic papers that previous courses have relied on. To make matters appear worse, the textbook was old. Very old!

My understanding of ‘theory’ has always been from the perspective of the EFL teacher, and this course deals with educational theory as it relates to all subjects. Any information I already had was marginally useful at best! Being of curious mind, I did some research into why this particular text was chosen. The book was old and the language was almost alien to me, so it was not an easy read. If I could just figure out why I was reading it, I may be able to get through it!

The research into the author answered all of my questions. The book is the foundation for all modern educational theory. The discussion questions that were suggested for the class forums were all about relating the theory to modern issues and determining just how relevant (or irrelevant) the book is today. Once I knew where the reading was going (and that I was only expected to comment on 5 select chapters for now), I was able to muster on and make sense of the book. Thankfully, this book is quoted in many of the theories being published today, so researching the theory was not as impossible as I first imagined. Indeed, the book is of such importance that journals and textbooks are still discussing it today, and many bricks and mortar institutions are also using it as the basis for their educational courses.

The first 2 weeks were difficult, thanks to the newness of the theory subject matter and the increased workload took some getting used to. Still, I feel better for completing it and I look forward to the next few weeks. I already have the next 4 assignments to start working on and I expect they will provide plenty of food for thought over the next few weeks.

 

Unit 3 (and 4) completed!

Thanks to my PC troubles, I did not post the unit 3 update upon completion. I managed to hand in the assignment on time, but the difficulties with the old PC meant that I could not bear to spend the time updating this site. Instead, I wrote most of it as a draft which I have adapted for this larger post.

The deadline 2 weeks ago was a busy one. I had 2 assignments to hand in at this time – a typical unit assignment, and a larger group assignment.

The unit assignment (Unit 3)dealt with issues of choice in the context of Religious Education. The course readings dealt with a number of issues including different interpretations of Christianity (and the conflicts that arise from this), and the issue of ‘forcing’ a particular religion upon people as experienced by the Native Indians of the US through the boarding school experience.

There were also a number of readings dealing with the legalities of including religion in the classroom, and these were based upon court cases in the US and the UK. Finally, there was a piece that considered the merits and pitfalls of home-schooling as a choice for parents.

All in, there were some long readings that pulled together a number of issues relating to the difficulties of introducing religion in the classroom, and my paper dealt with these issues and more in finding a way to introduce religion into the classroom in a way that would not alienate students or parents.

The group assignment was a holdover from the previous unit (Unit 2), but due to the fact that it involved a lot more work than a typical assignment, a 4 week deadline is given. This is an exercise in co-operation and so it is different from the typical assignment.

The KEISIE class software automatically allocates students a group, and gives them have a reading to download. (My reading was about a successful Christian school in the US that manages to draw enough private funding to be able to offer an excellent package to students in the area, and can afford to charge fees based on ability). The assignment involved writing a large proposal for a system of RE that would be implemented in the public school system.

The assignment had a lot of overlap with previous assignments, yet obviously required further research. I ended up doing a lot more research into the UK and Irish models for religious education before making my submission, and I completed over 3,500 words for this piece.

Despite what some may think, this course is still not pushing a particular (Christian) agenda. My Unit 3 and Group assignment work concerned inclusive religious education that gave equal rights to atheists, Muslims, Christians, Hindus and Jews alike. Needless to say, I was not penalised in any way for this and I was actually commended on my inclusive approach in private correspondence with Dr. Bottiger.

August 11th-13th was Mid-Term time. During this time, students are required to access an exam online and complete it within a set time. My exam comprised of 5 questions geared to ensure that I understood the course content so far. It took a few hours to complete, but due to their nature, were a lot less labour intensive than the regular assignments. (An exam does not offer time for research!)

The next week was when my PC decided to finally give up on me, and so I ordered some parts and waited for the delivery of my new unit. It took over a week for the parts to be delivered, and once the setup was completed, I already had a looming deadline! The upcoming Unit 4 included 5 readings, though this time there were just 40 pages in total.

The issues dealt with included religious institutions working with government, and indoctrination within religious schools. A paper was to be submitted dealing with Christian principles in the classroom. Once again, I adopted an inclusive approach that focused on similarities between the world’s religions and was not penalised for this. My research led me to look up a number of books and articles that show just how much governments and educational institutes in the US and Canada rely on Christian principles, yet do not actually label them as such. The teaching of morals, or principles for life was long the domain of religion as it does not fall within the mandate for any other subject in the school curriculum, yet we are now at a point where schools are neglecting to teach students to care about world issues, simply because educators do not want to enter the domain of religion.

As an aside, one of the biggest problems I am having with the course is keeping my assignment lengths down. The guideline is just 1,000-2,000 words, yet I find that I always have too much to say. In the end, I cut down a lot of my content in order to meet the guidelines, and also to ensure that my wife and child are not sidelined. I am sure that I could submit radically different assignments and still get good grades, thanks to the depth of material that is covered within each unit.

Unit 4 also contains an individual project that is larger than the regular assignments, and I will be honest here and say I have not had time to give it much thought. I will be working diligently towards completion for the next week, and will post my thoughts on the content in the next week or so.

Following that, I will have one more assignment to complete (the deadline is 2 weeks from today), and then my final exam. In 2 or 3 weeks I will be finished with this first unit of the Masters of Education program, and I will be able to spend some time to reflect on everything that has been covered.

Unit 2 assignment completed!!!

The second unit of the course had a lot more weight that the substantial unit 1. As well as dealing with some of the issues facing school administrators, we were prompted to look at the issue of R.E. in liberal societies that often promote the rights of the individual NOT to do something over the rights of others. (In this case, it was the rights of people to NOT to hear views on subjects such as homosexuality, over the rights of other who wish their views to be heard).

The content demonstrated implications for all branches of education, and not just for R.E. My research took me to a look at the Northern Ireland state schools, as well as into the secular and religious schools of the US and Canada.

It was a substantial project, and in addition to the 5 course readings (over 100 pages of text), I did additional research that led to me doubling the reading required. In 2 weeks! My assignment weighed in just a little over the recommended word count of 1000-2000 words, and try as I might, I just could not keep it down!

The next unit is still locked to me, and I have only just downloaded the course readings. This time there are 6 articles, totaling 74 pages of reading. Once again, the topics appear to be diverse. One paper discusses the forced religious indoctrination of Native Americans; another is from a History Journal and deals with the experiences in Ethiopia. There is a paper dealing with Christian support groups outside of education, and two that deal with the legalities of 2 seemingly innocent topics – graduation speeches and school uniforms, and a final paper on homeschooling.

It appears, at first glance, that this unit will be delving further into the debate about parental choice, though I will have a better idea when the instruction for the course is open to me (28 hours or so from now).

I will once again have an assignment to complete within 2 weeks, but this time things are complicated by the looming deadline for a group exercise in which an assignment should be submitted that outlines a theoretical outline for Religious Education in State Schools. My plan will be to complete the course readings for Unit 3 this week, and also complete the group assignment, giving me a free week to complete the research for the Unit 3 assignment. Thankfully, the research from the previous units means that most of the research for the group assignment is complete, so it should not be too difficult.

I recognise that I need to refine my methodology before the course starts properly, or I will quickly be overwhelmed by the workload. Right now it is 7:30pm and I have to do some work preparing for the classes I will teach tomorrow, and I need to find some quality time for my wife. At the same time, my mind is racing with ideas for the group assignment, and the readings for the next unit look somewhat intriguing!

KEISIE and ICAATS

If you exercise due diligence (and do a quick Google search), you will quickly discover that there is some controversy about the validity of ICAATS accreditation. Unfortunately, many people are involved are arguing from a position of opinion rather than fact. There are some people who are vehemently against any education system that does not follow the western model, and they are under the mistaken belief that ALL western education models are identical.

The people who do argue from a position of fact are those from India. Unfortunately, they appear to be connected to ICAATS in some manner. The most vocal defenders of ICAATS accreditation are those working for a university that is accredited by ICAATS.

Until very recently, I was not connected to ICAATS and I had no real interest in defending their position. I am not working towards an ICAATS accredited M.Ed, and whilst that could put my compromise my beliefs this is not the case. I will now try to outline my position.

Who are ICAATS?

ICAATS are The International Council For Accrediting Alternate And Theological Studies. They are an accrediting agency set up to accredit theological courses since 1954, and do so as an NGO. They received recognition from the Indian government in 2003 and now hold a license to accredit courses.

ICAATS are an NGO. In India, most degree courses are completed in Government approved institutions, and accreditation comes from the ministry of education. These institutions only teach and practice the national religion, Hinduism. 80% of the population is Hindi.

In order to preserve the rights of minority religions, the Government established a system whereby “All minorities, whether based on religion or language, shall have the right to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice.” This is written into the Indian constitution, and was signed into law in 1950, just 3 years after they gained independence. It was never necessary to seek accreditation, yet ICAATS was set up to offer a system of checks to ensure some level of academic integrity. Many religious institutions in India are self-accredited and their degrees are considered valid within India.

An amusing thing to note is that the Indian system of accreditation for institutes of higher education, and that of allowing religious schools to self-accredit (or seek the accreditation of an NGO) is reflected almost identically in the US education model, yet the US model followed a decade later. US Education was unaccredited until the late 1960’s. Nowadays, US educational institutes can seek accreditation from national or local organisations. As there is strict separation of state and religion, religious institutions in the US are either self accredited, or accredited by an NGO.

What is accreditation?

Accreditation is a third party verification of academic integrity. In the US, it is required to secure funding for students. In the UK, it is never required as the government grants a license to issue degrees to Universities and colleges whose quality they are satisfied with.

In the UK, the government license is required in order to secure funding for your college or university. In the US, national, state, or religious NGO accreditation is required. Essentially, accreditation is only sought so that that institutes can get funding. This funding is only available for domestic (or in the case of the US, state resident) students and so international students do not benefit from accreditation in any way. The UK Universities are not formally recognised in the US, and the UK will not formally recognise US education. That being said, both countries will recognise that the degrees granted by both countries are of a high quality and a US degree will be recognised by UK universities and UK employers, despite its unaccredited status in the UK. The opposite holds true in the US.

The Indian system is a mix of the UK and US system (though it came before the US system), yet people are unwilling to consider it genuine because, dare I say it, the standards are Indian! The Indian education system is first rate. Indian people are, for the most part, bi-lingual, and they are taking jobs every day from the UK and the US in a number of important sectors. These are not people who are receiving a substandard education!

Should an International School seek accreditation?

My honest opinion here? I do not think that an international school such as KEISIE requires accreditation. They are approved by the Korean government to grant degrees and so they are able to qualify their existence with that simple fact.

I know from speaking with Dr. Bottiger, and from my research into one-day opening a language school of my own, that the Korean Ministry of Education impose a very stringent series of checks to ensure the academic credentials of any licensed educational institution. When I provided feedback for the TEFL course that I conducted through KEI, I was told that the government actually verified the system of testing that was in place to ensure that standards for a simple TEFL certification were high, and this is despite there being any standard in place.

To date, KEISIE is the only licensed virtual school in Korea. The MOE actually invented a new series of balances (and by all accounts a new tax code) for them. They are government approved, and so they do not really need any other accreditation.

That said, most of their students will be from outside of Korea and I applaud their willingness to seek external accreditation. US accreditation gives comfort to people who are unable to take a global view of education. As most US accreditation agencies require some history before they grant accreditation, KEISIE will have to be in operation for a few years before they can realise this goal. Like many US schools, they will have to operate as an unaccredited institute before they can be considered valid.

Is an unaccredited degree a fake degree?

NO! Absolutely not! Many unaccredited colleges within the US are of a high standard. In California, people from selected unaccredited institutes are eligible to take the bar exam and practice law! This does not indicate a lack of validity when a degree is unaccredited. (Whilst relatively few people pass the bar exam when they come from an unaccredited institution, this is more a reflection on the quality of applicant who are likely to be unable to study at an accredited college. Most people studying will be from a poor economic background and so opt for the lower fees of an unaccredited college, and likely to be working as well as studying).

A fake degree, such as those you read about in the newspapers, is one that is a forgery or one where you “earn” your degree by signing a cheque. A degree that is earned through study and hard work is NOT a fake degree. As long as you are honest about where you earned the degree, your degree is not considered fake.

I personally believe that a program of educational study is as valid as you, the student, make it. If you receive good quality instruction and are willing to work towards your goals, you will come out of the program with a greater knowledge of your given subject. How much greater the knowledge is depends on the work you invest. Essentially, you are paying for an education, and that education should be your measure of satisfaction, NOT the accredited status.

With KEISIE, I will receive my M.Ed and I will be happy about both the education I received, and the price I paid. After discussions with friends who are studying distance MA’s, MBA’s and M.Ed’s, I know that I am doing as much work as they are, and that I am receiving an education as valid as they are. In the end, that is all anybody should care about.

Oh to be a student again!

We all have fond memories of our days as an undergraduate, or at least we should. Academic life was one of the best times of my life. I was playing lead guitar in a rock band, out “socialising” 4 or 5 nights a week, and at the end of it all I got a degree that has served me well. Don’t kid yourselves though, it isn’t the same the second time around!

The band has been replaced by a family, and the fun has been replaced by work. Most people simply can’t manage to take time away from all of that in order to further their education. I certainly could not manage to further my studies if it were not for the marvel that is distance education and given my current geographical location, the internet is really the thing making all of this possible.

But, I digress. I managed to complete my first assignment this week. With the wife and child finally home, I managed to throw myself into the readings and figure out my own position. I tested the waters on the student forum on the KEISIE class site, and was instantly given some reassuring feedback by my Professor, Dr. Bottiger. I expected as much. Whilst he is a man who clearly holds his Christian beliefs in high esteem, he is an educator first and foremost. Unlike many Christian educators, he is an Educator taking a critical look at Christian Education, rather than a Christian looking at Education.

The first topic led me (as I noted previously) into doing further research into the Catholic model, and my position was formulated using that as a basis. I found my further research was hindered by my geographical location, in that I do not have access to a public library, and bookshops take a long time to deliver here. The KEISIE site claims that this course can be done 100% online though, so I had to test that theory. Whilst I do hold a number of texts I can refer to in the field of Education, I am forced to rely on other sources for the Religious courses.

Using the course readings as a springboard, I made much use of Google scholar and was able to track down additional works. Thankfully, many of the authorities in Religious Education tend to make their findings available for free, and so standard Google searches also provided some useful material.

I worked hard in ensuring that my position was strengthened by solid research which was fully referenced. I am happy to note that my first assignment was submitted and I was more than satisfied with the results.

The next unit was unlocked at midnight, and I immediately downloaded the reading for it. The unit is called “Philosophical Concerns of Religion and Education”, and the reading this time around are much longer. I have only had time to read one of the texts, and this is concerned with an issue that plagues all industries these days, and whilst there are a handful of references to Religion and Education, this article could have easily been read as part of my BA (Hons)Business Administration degree. From skimming the texts, it seems that another piece is related to discrimination and legal proceedings in Canada. I am sure that these pieces (and the subsequent discussions and assignments) will benefit anybody looking to take up a role in Educational Leadership, and is not only beneficial to religious educators.

((Now that I have a little more time on my hands, I will make a number of posts in the coming weeks about how I arrived at my decision to study with KEISIE, and will comment on some of the issues that other people researching the school will undoubtedly stumble upon)).

What a week!

Ongoing sagas with the newborn have caused me to neglect my studies for the past week. Whilst I have had some time to read the pieces, I have not done much else. Registering a birth via the embassy, hospital visits, and the final days at my old job have taken much of my time, and preparations for the new job have taken up what is left.

Having read the articles, I have to confess to being pleasantly surprised. The reading have been about Religious Education, yet have not been particularly heavy on the religious content. Much of the readings have been about ensuring that faith based institutions can remain relevant in the modern age. The readings have left me impressed by the approach that the Catholic Church have adopted over the past 50(ish) years, and I think I will try and do some further research into the changes that they have implemented.

Essentially this unit is, at least in my interpretation, an argument about modern educational practices (those of evidence, open discourse, and unabated criticism) working against the interests of faith based institutions in their current format. We as students are being exposed to evidence that argues both sides of the fence from a Christian perspective, and we are to decide how faith and education can work together. Does faith need to surrender some authority to academia, or should faith be considered infallible and not yield an inch?

I know which position I will be taking. I guess the KEISIE people will have to show their hand quicker than anticipated! Does their affiliation with a theological school skew their academic credibility, or will they do as I expect and view my argument on its merits? I guess I will post more on this next week!

The Beginning

My daughter was born 3 days ago, and I have just got back from the hospital to check the first unit of the first course in the KEISIE M.Ed RE Program.

The course is one that goes by the title of “Philosophy of Religious Education”, and the first unit is called “The Foundation of Education from a Religious Perspective”.

The KEISIE site uses ATutor software to deliver its content. I am familiar with this software, having used it when I studied with KEI for my TEFL certificate. As I expected, I logged in to find the instructions I would have to become familiar with.

I was presented with 5 readings, all posing questions regarding various issues in RE. We students are then challenged to prepare small pieces forming an opinion about the readings (all articles from academic journals), and those pieces are to be the basis of student discussions.

Within 2 weeks, I am to have prepared a paper of up to 2000 words to present my position on the subject.

The pieces appear to be quiet varied in the Christian churches represented, as well as the tone and issues at hand. I have just 2 weeks to do any further research that may be required, and work on my position. I have the newborn to content with and the added stress of starting a new job in just 6 days. To be fair, I have only had time to skim the content so it all seems a little overwhelming at the moment. I will hopefully make more sense of it once I have rested.