Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Pusanpoe]

I think we are seeing new meaner/ leaner universitiy administrations in Korea but not necessarily so much academically better. However, in my hometown, Pusan Nat. U has had a reputation of being meaner since a few years ago when students rightfully got fed up with the (past) poor quality teaching there of native speakers. Overall to be fair, the generally low quality educational environment at the post secondary level in Korea does not bring the best out of even the best native speakers. It is almost impossible to fail the most academically miserable miscreants. And in Korea, the extent to which you do publishing and research as far as native speakers go (though changing?) is a disgrace.

The only two countries to which one can give a pass for the quality of their native speakers-generally speaking are Japan and Singapore with Hong Kong up there. That is not to say that there are some outstanding instructors around but they have largely atrophied faced with the vast momentum of academic mediocrity.

Those bordering on being acceptable. SNU, Yeonsei. Ewha (a few others mostly in Seoul)
Those of acceptable quality KAIST, KJIST, Pohang Inst. Technology

The mergers and dumping of poorer professors is required and higher status, salaries and responsibilities need to be given to those who truly are dedicated to excellence and not supporting the drivel of giving b averages to those who almost never show up. Disgusting is the word for such approaches-with all due reverence to cultural differences may I add.

[BTM]

On the other hand, there's places like my ex-uni (as of 10 days from now) (which shall go nameless), which has lost its two most experienced, qualified, enthusiastic and popular instructors (me and one other), because they wanted people who were more Christian and who would work cheaper and teach kindies during the breaks.

Of the three newbies that replaced us two old hands, word has it that two of them have never actually been in front of a classroom before. Go go gadget instructional quality!

I'm not bitter, but I'm workin' on it!

[ulsanchris]

IF Korean universities are as poor as the origianl posting makes them seem then I feel sorry for all the students who basically give up their teenage years studying to get into them. All that studying to go to a poor university. Thats gotta suck.

[kimcheeking]

[katydid]

[some waygug-in]

[Arthur Fonzerelli]

are universities back in the west any better? if you get a liberal arts degree you're pretty much one of millions with the same worthless piece of paper saying you know how to bs your way through 4 years of higher education....

what did my lambskin get me?

a wonderful job teaching english in korea

[Len8]

Universities have a budget for native English speakers, and that's all many of those hiring are concerned about. Quality therefore is a potluck thing, and it always will be.The closest we get to being evaluated is by the students. All universities have their students evaluate both the Korean Professors and the native English speakers. The students are pretty fair. If you try in the face of total apathy on the part of the students, you usually get a passing evaluation. Our preparation for classes doesn't require a lot of academic input, so our minds can get a little jaded. Maybe if there was an organized University teachers group for all native speakers, something could get done for the whole university teaching thing.

[some waygug-in]

[jvalmer]

We only see the students in class for one english language instructed course. I don't see how we can judge Korean students or Universities on one class that most students view as an option and unlikely to use heavily later on. Maybe 10% of the population use english in their daily lives in any significant way. I highly doubt many of us have the language skills to truly judge a Korean Universities overall quality.

As for the technical fields, Korean Universities do pretty well. In the last ACM IBM Programming contest a Korean University tied 13th with 5 or so other places. I believe Russian and Chinese Universities ranked 9 of the top 10 in the contest. However, these days, the techinical schools in Korea are having difficulty attracting students to enter the engineering and science programs.

[some waygug-in]

[quote="jvalmer"]We only see the students in class for one english language instructed course. I don't see how we can judge Korean students or Universities on one class that most students view as an option and unlikely to use heavily later on. Maybe 10% of the population use english in their daily lives in any significant way. I highly doubt many of us have the language skills to truly judge a Korean Universities overall quality.



Perhaps not, but I can say this. No matter what class I had enrolled in, whether it was an elective, non-elective, useful or useless to me in later life, I had to do the work to pass the class! If I didn't do the work, I failed.

Yes Koreans seem to be more computer-wise than a lot of us in the west,
but they can't seem to think independently. This (the capability for independent and origianal thinking) is something that entrepreneurs and corporations are looking for, not the ability to copy everything in sight.

[canukteacher]

[quote]the ability to copy everything in sight.

My students even have a difficult time copying something from the white board without missing "the" "a" or the "s" on an end of a word.


Let's also remember this is a required course. They must pass English to graduate.

[Kalhoun]

The Korean university (moneyversity) education is one long stupid debutant party with idiots worshipping at the porcelaine and kissing the asses of their elders.

Kalhoun

[katydid]

[Medic]

Buisness majors are always good. Whenever I get them I find that they try hard to improve their spoken English. They are very aware of the need for English in buisness. We also have a big social welfare department, and we envy the native teacher who gets them as freshmen. He or she lucks out, because they are all girls, and very eager to not just learn English, but to also speak it.

The engineering freshmen are good, because their college csat scores were higher than most. The draughtsmen or arhitecture majors as they are called are down at the bottom of the barrel along with the Art and Physical education majors. They have neither the interest nor the aptitude for any academic work whatsoever.