7-Jul-2008 CENTEX Teacher Joins Hawaii Language Conference
The Center for Excellence in Public Elementary Education (CENTEX) school in Manila sent one of its teachers to the Summer Teacher Institute organized by Punahou School in Honolulu, Hawaii, on June 23 to July 4.
Mariecar Fernando, who teaches English and Journalism, was chosen by CENTEX Manila to attend the two-week “Integrated Second Language Classroom” of the Summer Teacher Institute which sought to provide attendees with new insights on second-language learning.
For seven years now, the Wo International Center at Ponahou School has been organizing teacher-training institutes to build cross-cultural understanding and to sustain a regional, collaborative network for teachers in the Asia-Pacific Region. This year’s focus was on the teaching of English as a second or foreign language.
This year’s conference drew 21 teachers from Australia, China, Japan, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Thailand. Fernando was the sole representative from the Philippines.
“All the sessions were fun and meaningful,” said Fernando. “We discussed various issues concerning the teaching of English, the relevance of embedding culture in the lessons, and the results of using content-based instruction. Examples of activities, lessons, and projects using the Internet in teaching were also identified.”
Fernando was able to compare her teaching experience with that of her fellow teachers from the different countries. “Public school teachers in a poor country can be at par with those whose children use a Macbook to communicate with the rest of the world,” she said. “I can’t help being impressed with how co-teachers in CENTEX Manila and Batangas, and with public school teachers in general, resolve the day-to-day problems and challenges of teaching.”
The Freeman Foundation, Punahou School, Ayala Land, and the Ayala Foundation supported Fernando’s participation in the 2008 Summer Teacher Institute.
