Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Junior]

In 4 years I have never seen a Korean teacher or co teacher come up with an ORIGINAL IDEA.

They either copy all my teaching ideas or just do what the book says. The amount of times i see koreans copying my activities, games, etc is insane.

How is it koreans think they are superior when they are unable to come up with a single original idea???? Its actually quite incredible

[ChuckECheese]

[dmbfan]

I agree............I have yet to come across one K-teacher who had some form of creative insight (insite?).

I remember, back in the hogwan trenches, K-teachers would always copy our ideas........................not even a "Hey Dmbfan, that was a good lesson. I think I'll use that in my class".

But, as they say, "imitation is the greatest form of flattery".


cheers.

dmbfan


P.S. But, I am not really flattered when an idea that I came up with, is taken without anything said. Honestly, I don't like it. Oh well.

[Junior]

[dmbfan]

[Junior]

And the stupid, infernal, never ending DINNERS!

(Which I have long since stopped going to).

Get a new idea for pitys sake!

Go for a walk in the park or something! A movie! Anything.! Just something ORIGINAL!!

[ddeubel]

Junior,

I see you still don't have an original idea. Still trying to sell gross generalization and spite as intelligence.

I will copy your inane scribblings and show them to my Korean teachers (students). They can reply in kind.

I am in many, many more Korean classrooms than yourself and discuss much, much more about teaching and classroom delivery with Korean teachers than yourself. What you say is just wrong and you are wearing grey tinted glasses.

Sure, many aren't too creative (but this comes with English not being their mother tongue and the associated difficulties of confidence and curriculum knowledge) but a lot of native speakers are just doing the same thing also.....

Try looking at the world from a different angle than your rabid categorization and crouch. Stand on a desk or tilt your head.....and if you still see things as you do, just move into a house of mirrors and out of Korea.

DD

[dmbfan]

No, I don't think he is wrong.


I have YET to meet one Korean teacher, out of my four years here, who has one original thought (other than how to manipulate, cheat, or screw someone) about teaching English.


The hogwan K-teachers I worked with either did NOTHING, or copied ideas from the foreign teachers. The public schoo teachers I work with, think that repeating and memorizing the table of contents in their pathetic books is the ideal plan...............................

So, I stand by the O.P. on this one. Are there any original thinking Korean teachers? Possibly, but I have yet to see one.

Cheers.

dmbfan

[Junior]

[sniperteam6]

I'd be the first customer. I teach Koreans only in Thailand and could use more Korean=centric tools.
Good luck

[pest2]

[laogaiguk]

[crusher_of_heads]

[ddeubel]

First off Junior, who is making threats? I simply stated I would let the Korean teachers I teach, know about your comments and ask for their reaction. Then, I'd let you know what they think.

Second off. Glad to see you have tempered your remarks and are talking more about a problem in "teaching" and not just Korea. Lazy asses and uncreative people are everywhere. I've worked in my share of schools and what you describe could very well be a middle school I worked at in Toronto. Same ideas, same page, same day of the year. Or France for that matter, where it is a common joke that the Min. of Education can tell anyone precisely , what students of any level are studying, at any given time of the day/year.

I would also add that you somehow think you have "ownership" of ideas in your classroom and that no teacher can use them. That is just an unfit attitude for the teaching profession and for your own professional development. Where did you get your ideas from? Further, one of the tenants of being a "good" teacher is sharing. Being open about sharing materials and the betterment of education in general. It is about the students and not YOU. So any ideas that you have that are good, you should be proud to have out there, being used. That you want them to recognize and shout to the sky that it is YOUR idea, is only bluster and ego. Education rightly so, has special permission to use and disseminate ideas.

As to the original idea of this thread, about Koreans having no creativity. I just think many don't see or understand culture in more than a facile way.....It is just simple minded to think some cultures are creative and some aren't . Damn incorrect and I am calling you on that. The culture just masks this, but it is there always, in every case. As I said, try tilting your head ....

DD

[sconner]

When I first came to Korea I tried to discipline my students for copying their homework. They were required to write diaries at the hogwon where I worked. There were students who wrote the basics about themselves, name age, school,etc. and copied that same diary for the entire year I taught them, there were ones who downloaded them off naver,and then the classes where they would all have the exact same diary,mistakes and all. I told one class they had to redo them. I got called on it by my director. He said that's the way things are in Korea and that they had done the assignment. It starts when they're young and continues into adulthood. In many cultures cheating is considered wrong and students are reprimanded for it. Not in Korea, which is why their creativy is not developed. There were very few students that were an exception to the rule. I too agree with the OP.