TEFL Kaysville Utah

76. Building Confidence in Students Part of the reason I chose to switch career paths and look into teaching english was to feel that I was making a difference in someone's life. In high school, I volunteered as an afterschool tutor for “at-risk” elementary students coming from unsupportive families who were in danger of failing their grade. It was the most rewarding experience seeing children's reading levels improve during the time I worked with them. A lot of the students had unstable family lives. They didn't have a mentor to look up to, or someone to praise them in order to built their confidence levels. I really felt like I provided that. Building confidence in students is important for helping kids live happy, healthy and successful lives. I find that this idea should be demonstrated more in South Korean society. Therefore, if there is one thing I hope to accomplish when I teach english in South Korea, it is to provide a supportive teaching environment for students. Before choosing to go to South Korea, I was steered against it for many reasons. One being that Korea is known as a very homogenous society, and the competition in appearance and education is among the highest out of any other nation. Koreans strive for absolute perfection, and nothing less. Unlike in the united states where beauty holds many forms, in Korea, this is not the case. Korea has one ideal standard of beauty and everyone is expected to achieve that mold. In fact, it is estimated that 1 in 5 women undergo plastic surgery at least once in their lives in order to achieve this standard. Sadly, it is common for students to receive their first cosmetic procedure as a high school graduation presents from their parents. Although Korean students are internationally praised for their dedicated work ethic and high rankings in educational placement tests, many feel this mold for perfection may be a little too extreme. This amount of pressure can lead to depression and other related mental health problems. In fact, one study estimated that in 2012, 140 students committed suicide due to exam stress, depression, and other family related problems (AFP- JIJI). It makes sense, considering students attend school for 14 hours a day and constantly compete for the top percentages in their classes in order to be accepted into the best universities. According to Korean standards, those who attend the best schools will more than likely land the best jobs, which equates to more money, providing security for their families. Basically, if students fail in school, it is pretty much seen as though they will also fail in life. From the same study, 88 of those students were high school students, 48 were from middle school and even 3 students were from elementary school (AFP- JIJI. Obviously the sole value of anyone's life is far greater than becoming beautiful or an academic scholar, but the fact that the fear of failure is so great that students would turn to suicide obviously shows that some of these students need a different outlook. Although I cannot change the ideas of South Korean society as a whole, I can at least try to build confidence in the students I will be teaching. I will present myself with confidence and preach that individuality is beautiful, even if they do not agree or understand what I mean. I will try to incorporate more activities that will force students to be creative. I will try to encourage students by praising them on the work they do correctly instead of reprimanding them for what they do wrong. Works Cited AFP-JIJI, S. Korea student suicides hit 139 in '12. The japan Times. Aug. 20, 2013. http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2013/08/20/asia-pacific/s-korea-student-suicides-hit-139-in-12/#.UktHhig_6AE.