Site Search:
 
Speak Korean Now!
Teach English Abroad and Get Paid to see the World!
Korean Job Discussion Forums Forum Index Korean Job Discussion Forums
"The Internet's Meeting Place for ESL/EFL Teachers from Around the World!"
 
 FAQFAQ   SearchSearch   MemberlistMemberlist   UsergroupsUsergroups   RegisterRegister 
 ProfileProfile   Log in to check your private messagesLog in to check your private messages   Log inLog in 

Kindergartens Employ 'Questionable Foreign Teachers'
Goto page 1, 2, 3  Next
 
Post new topic   Reply to topic    Korean Job Discussion Forums Forum Index -> General Discussion Forum
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
Whistleblower



Joined: 03 Feb 2007

PostPosted: Fri Oct 24, 2008 2:05 am    Post subject: Kindergartens Employ 'Questionable Foreign Teachers' Reply with quote

Straight from the horse's mouth. Some Korean governmental minister has now decided to paint teachers of kindergartens with one brush as questionable.

Quote:
96% of Private Kindergartens Offer English Classes

By Kang Shin-who
Staff Reporter

Nearly all private kindergartens run English classes, Rep. Choi Jae-sung of the Democratic Party said Thursday. Choi conducted a survey of 274 private kindergartens across the country and found that 262 or 96 percent provide English classes.

The monthly tuition for English classes averaged at 25,000 won per child. The kindergartens were found to have invested an average 2.7 million won for English education facilities. Also, 44 percent of them had native English speakers.

Choi said there are many unqualified English-speaking teachers at the kindergartens. ``We�ve found that many kindergartens are hiring questionable foreign teachers,�� Choi said.

Asked why they provide English classes, 66 percent raised ``demands from parents,�� 13.4 percent contributed it to ``competition with other kindergartens,�� and 10.3 percent said the ``government's policy strengthening English education.��

``More and more English education institutes for preschoolers have sprung up, shouldering parents with higher costs,�� Choi said.

[email protected]
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Captain Corea



Joined: 28 Feb 2005
Location: Seoul

PostPosted: Fri Oct 24, 2008 2:14 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
The monthly tuition for English classes averaged at 25,000 won per child.


Shocked Shocked
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
jkelly80



Joined: 13 Jun 2007
Location: you boys like mexico?

PostPosted: Fri Oct 24, 2008 2:26 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

They act like parents are forced at gunpoint to enroll their children and pay these fees. It seems to me the gov't is saying "because of the herd mentality of our culture, our citizens are incapable of choice".
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
bassexpander



Joined: 13 Sep 2007
Location: Someplace you'd rather be.

PostPosted: Fri Oct 24, 2008 2:28 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

When I worked at B....I in Hannam-Dong, they were charging 900,000 per month per montessori kid! The Chungdam branch was over 1,000,000 per month, and the gov't was trying to push down the fees.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
wylies99



Joined: 13 May 2006
Location: I'm one cool cat!

PostPosted: Fri Oct 24, 2008 4:45 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Kindy parents are usually charged AT LEAST 1 million won per month. The most I've heard of was 2 million.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
T-J



Joined: 10 Oct 2008
Location: Seoul EunpyungGu Yeonsinnae

PostPosted: Fri Oct 24, 2008 5:15 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

The 25,000 is in addition to the kinder tuition. It covers the pay of the teacher, and a little additional profit. The kids are only getting 2 - 4 hours a week instruction.

The Korean teacher at my son's kindergarten was pathetic. I could barely understand her and grammatically challenged to say the least. I would rather have a high school graduate from any Western country teach my son English than a Korean English teacher. The Korean definition of qualified needs to start in their own backyard.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Whirlwind



Joined: 03 Jun 2005

PostPosted: Fri Oct 24, 2008 5:26 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

For the millionth time, who hired them? Koreans. Stop complaing about them when you bring them on over. Here's another newsflash for you, Korea: Qualified people aren't going to come over here for a year or two, giving up everything that they have back home, work for peanuts(and yes, 2.5 million is peanuts even without the currency drop), no career advancement whatsoever and deal with whether they get paid or not. You have to accept who you can get. You ain't gonna get the upper crust, so stop with this obsession of having "qualified" teachers...they ain't coming. Either accept who you can get or stop having English classes with foreign teachers. Real simple.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
umpittse



Joined: 13 Oct 2008

PostPosted: Fri Oct 24, 2008 6:23 am    Post subject: Re: Kindergartens Employ 'Questionable Foreign Teachers' Reply with quote

Whistleblower wrote:
Straight from the horse's mouth. Some Korean governmental minister has now decided to paint teachers of kindergartens with one brush as questionable.

Quote:
96% of Private Kindergartens Offer English Classes

By Kang Shin-who
Staff Reporter

Nearly all private kindergartens run English classes, Rep. Choi Jae-sung of the Democratic Party said Thursday. Choi conducted a survey of 274 private kindergartens across the country and found that 262 or 96 percent provide English classes.

The monthly tuition for English classes averaged at 25,000 won per child. The kindergartens were found to have invested an average 2.7 million won for English education facilities. Also, 44 percent of them had native English speakers.

Choi said there are many unqualified English-speaking teachers at the kindergartens. ``We�ve found that many kindergartens are hiring questionable foreign teachers,�� Choi said.

Asked why they provide English classes, 66 percent raised ``demands from parents,�� 13.4 percent contributed it to ``competition with other kindergartens,�� and 10.3 percent said the ``government's policy strengthening English education.��

``More and more English education institutes for preschoolers have sprung up, shouldering parents with higher costs,�� Choi said.

[email protected]


First of all, read the quote. "We've found that MANY kindergartens are hiring questionable foreign teachers" Many means a lot, not all.

Second, I have worked in these so called Kindergarten schools and Choi is right. There are many questionable native English speaking 'teachers' working at them. I worked at one Kindergarten school where I was the only native English speaker with a real degree and it's a Bachelor of Education degree. And by 'real degree' I mean one that requires you to study for four years at an institution of higher education. The fact that they didn't possess any higher education wasn't what in my mind made them questionable. I know many ESL teachers without university degrees who are very compeptent educators. It was there behaviour and attitudes. One of them showed up drunk several times a week and another was just a plain nutcase. The nutcase would wear a long black trench coat and a MP3 player while teaching. Furthermore, he was extremely negative towards kids, teaching and life, and, was the most anti-social person I have never met. Sadly, these are only a few of the many examples I could draw upon to illustrate my support of Choi's assertion.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Young FRANKenstein



Joined: 02 Oct 2006
Location: Castle Frankenstein (that's FRONKensteen)

PostPosted: Fri Oct 24, 2008 6:59 am    Post subject: Re: Kindergartens Employ 'Questionable Foreign Teachers' Reply with quote

umpittse wrote:
Second, I have worked in these so called Kindergarten schools and Choi is right. There are many questionable native English speaking 'teachers' working at them. I worked at one Kindergarten school where I was the only native English speaker with a real degree and it's a Bachelor of Education degree. And by 'real degree' I mean one that requires you to study for four years at an institution of higher education. The fact that they didn't possess any higher education wasn't what in my mind made them questionable. I know many ESL teachers without university degrees who are very compeptent educators. It was there behaviour and attitudes.

Considering is it illegal for E2'ers to teach English in kindergartens, the entire news "story" is moot. Did any of these school owners get fined for hiring native speakers to teach English illegally in their kindergartens? My bets are on "not".
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Join Me



Joined: 14 Jan 2008

PostPosted: Fri Oct 24, 2008 6:59 am    Post subject: Re: Kindergartens Employ 'Questionable Foreign Teachers' Reply with quote

umpittse wrote:
Whistleblower wrote:
Straight from the horse's mouth. Some Korean governmental minister has now decided to paint teachers of kindergartens with one brush as questionable.

Quote:
96% of Private Kindergartens Offer English Classes

By Kang Shin-who
Staff Reporter

Nearly all private kindergartens run English classes, Rep. Choi Jae-sung of the Democratic Party said Thursday. Choi conducted a survey of 274 private kindergartens across the country and found that 262 or 96 percent provide English classes.

The monthly tuition for English classes averaged at 25,000 won per child. The kindergartens were found to have invested an average 2.7 million won for English education facilities. Also, 44 percent of them had native English speakers.

Choi said there are many unqualified English-speaking teachers at the kindergartens. ``We�ve found that many kindergartens are hiring questionable foreign teachers,�� Choi said.

Asked why they provide English classes, 66 percent raised ``demands from parents,�� 13.4 percent contributed it to ``competition with other kindergartens,�� and 10.3 percent said the ``government's policy strengthening English education.��

``More and more English education institutes for preschoolers have sprung up, shouldering parents with higher costs,�� Choi said.

[email protected]


First of all, read the quote. "We've found that MANY kindergartens are hiring questionable foreign teachers" Many means a lot, not all.

Second, I have worked in these so called Kindergarten schools and Choi is right. There are many questionable native English speaking 'teachers' working at them. I worked at one Kindergarten school where I was the only native English speaker with a real degree and it's a Bachelor of Education degree. And by 'real degree' I mean one that requires you to study for four years at an institution of higher education. The fact that they didn't possess any higher education wasn't what in my mind made them questionable. I know many ESL teachers without university degrees who are very compeptent educators. It was there behaviour and attitudes. One of them showed up drunk several times a week and another was just a plain nutcase. The nutcase would wear a long black trench coat and a MP3 player while teaching. Furthermore, he was extremely negative towards kids, teaching and life, and, was the most anti-social person I have never met. Sadly, these are only a few of the many examples I could draw upon to illustrate my support of Choi's assertion.



Please...I have worked at the same hawgwan (kindergarten) for several years. The first owner was a great guy but also an alcoholic who would get in fist fights with his wife at company dinners (she loved it as much as he did). Our current director? Her favorite past time is to drag young middle school students into the hall and scream at them at the top of her lungs until the kids break down and cry. She loves to tell us how she "has to make them cry." The foreign teachers I have worked with have been the definition of "normal" compared to the management.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
wylies99



Joined: 13 May 2006
Location: I'm one cool cat!

PostPosted: Fri Oct 24, 2008 7:09 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

T-J wrote:
The 25,000 is in addition to the kinder tuition. It covers the pay of the teacher, and a little additional profit. The kids are only getting 2 - 4 hours a week instruction.

The Korean teacher at my son's kindergarten was pathetic. I could barely understand her and grammatically challenged to say the least. I would rather have a high school graduate from any Western country teach my son English than a Korean English teacher. The Korean definition of qualified needs to start in their own backyard.


Korean parents are paying much more than 25,000.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
yingwenlaoshi



Joined: 12 Feb 2007
Location: ... location, location!

PostPosted: Fri Oct 24, 2008 7:31 am    Post subject: Re: Kindergartens Employ 'Questionable Foreign Teachers' Reply with quote

Young FRANKenstein wrote:
umpittse wrote:
Second, I have worked in these so called Kindergarten schools and Choi is right. There are many questionable native English speaking 'teachers' working at them. I worked at one Kindergarten school where I was the only native English speaker with a real degree and it's a Bachelor of Education degree. And by 'real degree' I mean one that requires you to study for four years at an institution of higher education. The fact that they didn't possess any higher education wasn't what in my mind made them questionable. I know many ESL teachers without university degrees who are very compeptent educators. It was there behaviour and attitudes.

Considering is it illegal for E2'ers to teach English in kindergartens, the entire news "story" is moot. Did any of these school owners get fined for hiring native speakers to teach English illegally in their kindergartens? My bets are on "not".


What?
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
crusher_of_heads



Joined: 23 Feb 2007
Location: kimbop and kimchi for kimberly!!!!

PostPosted: Fri Oct 24, 2008 7:41 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

jkelly80 wrote:
They act like parents are forced at gunpoint to enroll their children and pay these fees. It seems to me the gov't is saying "because of the herd mentality of our culture, our citizens are incapable of choice".


It is impossible to debate that premise.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message AIM Address
Whistleblower



Joined: 03 Feb 2007

PostPosted: Fri Oct 24, 2008 9:50 am    Post subject: Re: Kindergartens Employ 'Questionable Foreign Teachers' Reply with quote

umpittse wrote:
I have worked in these so called Kindergarten schools and Choi is right. There are many questionable native English speaking 'teachers' working at them.


Thanks for the confirmation. For a second there I believed that you doubted me.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
hari seldon



Joined: 05 Dec 2004
Location: Incheon

PostPosted: Fri Oct 24, 2008 11:12 am    Post subject: Re: Kindergartens Employ 'Questionable Foreign Teachers' Reply with quote

Young FRANKenstein wrote:
...Considering is it illegal for E2'ers to teach English in kindergartens, the entire news "story" is moot. Did any of these school owners get fined for hiring native speakers to teach English illegally in their kindergartens? My bets are on "not".
Is Castle Frankenstein in Taiwan? Very Happy
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Display posts from previous:   
Post new topic   Reply to topic    Korean Job Discussion Forums Forum Index -> General Discussion Forum All times are GMT - 8 Hours
Goto page 1, 2, 3  Next
Page 1 of 3

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum


This page is maintained by the one and only Dave Sperling.
Contact Dave's ESL Cafe
Copyright © 2018 Dave Sperling. All Rights Reserved.

Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2002 phpBB Group

TEFL International Supports Dave's ESL Cafe
TEFL Courses, TESOL Course, English Teaching Jobs - TEFL International