Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Korussian]

Two of my high school classes were sufficiently out of control and unteachable/unlearnable that I had to insist to my school that we do a 180.

Since most of the students in the class can't read 3-letter words (most elementary students have better English skills), one aspect of the new strategy is to pick up a textbook that doesn't require them to read long paragraphs with multiple tenses, like their current one does. Plus, the textbook will help my co-teacher to better understand the learning structure I'm trying to bring into these two currently hellish classrooms.

I found a decently applicable student book & workbook series at Kyobo and purchased one each to give to my co-teacher.

My co-teacher now says there is no budget for buying the new books for the students and we can't make them buy the books themselves (makes sense). She plans to take the books to a professional printer's, and have one or both books copied page by page, for each of 66 students.

It seems to me that, even in Korea, this is seriously against the law. Just find the budget for 1,000,000won of textbooks your students can actually use to learn.

Yes, it is nearing the end of the semester, but these books will need to be used for the next semester, and the next, and the next...

How much of a stand should I be making here? Should I just close my mouth and be happy my students are getting useful learning materials?

[wesharris]

It isn't your place to decide Korean Law. It is fluid and dynamic, changing to your situation.
_+_+
Wes

[icnelly]

[harlowethrombey]

Ask them if they can copy some DVDs for you next. And then perhaps take them to a professional to sell to the Russian mafia.

Also, does your school have any leads on any blood diamonds I can buy for cheap?

[Xuanzang]

A lot of things are against the "law" here yet happen anyway. I would break copyright law if it meant those kids get some sort of education. Once you dont have to shell out of your own pocket for the copies - just go with it.

[Burndog]

I agree with everyone else...just go with the flow.

[Kilgore Trout]

Reminds me of a time I worked for a large hagwon chain which shall go nameless here and the company wanted the foreigners in my office to record the stories in our Harcourt readers so that they could develop listening materials from them. We all grumbled about it. It was make-work because the school was new and we hadn't a full load of classes yet. Regardless, the company booked studio time and got a recording engineer, set up a schedule and we all went into the studio (located in the same building as our office) to do our bit. When we arrived, one of the teachers asked the hagwon official who was with us: "Did you get permission from the publisher to do this? I'm pretty sure it's a violation of copyright laws."

The look on the hagwon guy's face was priceless. He said, "Wait a minute" and got on the phone. He talked a bit with whoever in the head office was on the other end, then hung up. He told us: "We won't do it today. Another time." He spoke to the engineer a minute and we all left.

Never heard another word about it.

[Big Mac]

I found a way around this by projecting books on the TV screen using an overhead projector with a camera in it.

Works very well. And I don't have to worry about kids flipping through the books and reading ahead. I can also point to pictures and words on the screen to help with understanding.

[English Matt]

[English Matt]

In addition to my above post however.....Korean students tend to write all over their textbooks. So the idea that you might be able to keep these books for a new crop of students is out the window. It's probably against copyright law, but lord knows there are plenty of laws that are disregarded in Korea on a regular basis.

I wouldn't make too much of a fuss about it, at least they will have textbooks. Additionally, I think there are many English teachers in Korea whose life would be a lot more difficult had they not had access to electronic versions of textbooks illegally uploaded to websites like scribd.com. If you don't have any shares in the publishing house this textbook comes from, I wouldn't worry too much. But look into what's happening with your budget anyway.

[OiGirl]

It is against Korean copyright law. Copy shops are supposed to seize books you take to them to copy. Yeah, that actually happened for about two days when the law passed. You know what the law is. Koreans will copy the book without caring. You can decide whether following the law is important to you or not.

[Korussian]

Thank you everyone for your responses.

Update: My co-teacher has now said that if we include a couple of our own worksheets in the photocopied pages, then it's no longer illegal to photocopy the books.

I told her that my agreement with the VP is that the students will have level-appropriate textbooks, and I have gone out and bought some to show her. Anything beyond that (photocopying the whole book, weight of photocopy stock, justifications for breaking the law, binding options) is over my head, so I won't be drawn into commenting on it.

I'll see what she's able to provide, and then go from there.

In terms of budget, I am at a private high school, so that may affect things. I'm sure any budget allotted for this foreign teacher has long ago been spent on other things.

Thanks again for your thoughts.

[The Gipkik]

You always have choices. You can quit in moral outrage. You can get some accurate numbers on your school's English budget and go from there. You can request that they deduct money from your pay to pay for the textbooks. You can make your own lessons from scratch and tell them to never mind the textbook. This is what I do. You always have choices.