Pioneering innovation in teaching and learning Vietnamese 1

(Baonghean) - The 2014 - 2015 school year is the second year that Nghe An is one of 42 provinces and cities nationwide implementing the Vietnamese 1 - Educational Technology (CNGD) program to meet the requirements of educational innovation. In particular, Thanh Chuong district is one of the pioneering localities in the whole province to implement the program on a mass scale and has achieved initial results.

In the 2013-2014 school year, Thanh Chuong district responded to the pilot implementation at 12 primary schools with 1,128 students studying the Vietnamese 1 - CNGD program. Vo Liet 1 Primary School is one of those schools. For the first time, applying the new Vietnamese teaching method with many differences compared to the traditional teaching program, so teachers were still confused. The District Education Department organized training for staff and teachers, and at the same time established a core team, attended classes to directly support teachers; the leaders of Vo Liet 1 Primary School regularly evaluated and commented on teachers to overcome shortcomings and difficulties. Thanks to that, the new teaching method has brought practical results.

Teacher Dang Thi Thoa, Principal of Vo Liet 1 Primary School, said: After the first year of piloting the Vietnamese 1 - CNGD program, the quality of Vietnamese teaching at the school has changed positively. Teachers guide students to learn according to a process with 4 specific tasks; focusing on the phonetic structure of the language, ensuring that students have a solid grasp of vowels, consonants, and a clear understanding of a syllable... In particular, students have a very firm grasp of spelling rules. Thanks to that, in the first year of piloting the program in 3 first grade classes, the rate of students reading and writing fluently in all subjects increased compared to the previous school year (only 1/88 students still wrote slowly compared to 2/63 students with poor handwriting and slow reading). The 2014 - 2015 school year is the second year of implementing the program, so teachers and students have gotten into the "regime" and are excited about the new learning method.

At the end of the 2013-2014 school year, all 12 primary schools in Thanh Chuong district that applied the pilot program Vietnamese 1 - CNGD recorded positive changes in the quality of teaching and learning Vietnamese; with over 96% of students achieving average or above average academic performance, of which 43% achieved excellent grades. To continue to replicate the new learning method, contributing to improving the quality of education, the district's Education Department has widely implemented this program in the 2014-2015 school year.

The preparation of all necessary conditions to introduce Vietnamese 1 - CNGD into mass teaching has been carefully prepared by the district's Education Department right from the beginning of the school year. Mr. Dang Van Hoa, Head of the Department of Education and Training of Thanh Chuong district, said: “Since May 2014, the department has coordinated with the Institute of Educational Science and Technology to organize a large-scale training session: inviting Prof. Dr. Ho Ngoc Dai - the author of the program and officials of the Department of Primary Education to train and foster cadres and teachers of 42 primary schools in the district. Thereby, cadres and teachers are thoroughly trained in ideology, viewpoints, and professional methods of teaching Vietnamese 1 - CNGD, especially practicing techniques of each type of lesson, sample lesson, phonetic knowledge, and spelling rules to be ready to implement the new teaching method. At the same time, schools are directed to focus on propaganda work to parents to prepare their children to enter grade 1 with the new learning method. Strengthen inspection and direct support for teachers to promptly overcome difficulties so that the program can be implemented effectively.

In the 2014-2015 school year, 100% of primary schools in Thanh Chuong district have implemented educational technology in teaching Vietnamese in 38 classes with 3,200 students. Ms. Tran Thi Thanh Tam, a teacher at Thanh Hung Primary School, said: After a semester, now she and her students are familiar with the 4-step learning method, so they find it easier and more enjoyable. Teachers do not have to prepare many lessons, so they have time to research and design lessons. Students think about the lesson by listening, understanding and writing, so they absorb it faster. It is easy to see that students understand what they learn. Therefore, at the end of the first semester, students can listen to write (not look and copy), and their writing is more even and beautiful. If in the past, most students could only read text in the second semester, with the new learning method, by the end of the first semester they can read fluently and write quickly. At the end of the first semester, according to the assessment results of Thanh Hung Primary School, 74 first graders could read and write, only 2 students read slower. Compared to the same time last school year, there were still 9 students who could read and write poorly.

According to the general assessment, the Vietnamese 1-CNGD learning method has been creating a new change, contributing to improving the quality of teaching and learning Vietnamese, creating a premise for students to learn other subjects well. In the coming time, the Thanh Chuong Education Department will strengthen the direction of the core team to coordinate with schools to directly observe classes to support teachers, evaluate and classify students. From there, the school has a plan to train weaker students to improve their listening, speaking, reading and writing skills. At the same time, the department conducts cluster-level seminars (each cluster has 8-10 schools), once a month, to evaluate, draw experiences, and gradually remove difficulties and obstacles with the determination to effectively implement the program, improve the quality of teaching and learning Vietnamese 1 - CNGD, contributing to the goal of comprehensive fundamental education innovation.

Dinh Nguyet