Korean Job Discussion Forums

[PatrickGHBusan]

Good article about a great move by ATEK.

http://www.koreaherald.com/lifestyle/Detail.jsp?newsMLId=20100713000612

This group has really made progress since they dropped the shrill political advocacy-Human Rights abuse line.

They are becoming a real asset for foreign teachers.

Well done.

[ChilgokBlackHole]

[Nester Noodlemon]

[PatrickGHBusan]

Basically and as far as I can tell they stopped releasing shrill and aggressive press releases about human rights and removed themselves from political advocacy.

Instead, they focused on builing up their association slowly and establishing links with other organisations, namely KOTESOL.

This link with the SMPA is also smart. It can help in many ways.

Basically instead of being an advocacy group more concerned about getting headlines, ATEK has become a grassroots association bent on providing information and networking for Teachers.

I have no idea how far this association will get but the services they are offering are quite useful for teachers.

This in itself is a great move on their part after a less than stellar start.

[plato's republic]

Providing information on what? Networking for what end? How are they helping teachers?

[sojusucks]

[schlotzy]

I think they seem to be making some steps in the right direction, although I was skeptical at first.

From what I understand, they've also recently obtained a lawyer on permanent retainer in a Gangnam Law firm to help with contractual issues faced by ESL teachers.

[TheUrbanMyth]

[Milwaukiedave]

Definitely a step in the right direction. The guy interviewed in the article has a good point about public officials (including police officers) making an effort to speak English even though they may be weary of their abilities to do so. I have seen and experienced the same thing. Students going into public service need to realize that Korea is going to become more multicultural and that English is going to play a bigger role in communicating with people.

I went to my local office about a month ago to sign up for the fitness club (by the way anyone wanting to find a cheap fitness club look to see if your local office has one!!!) to sign up to use it. The two women up front were both flustered and nervous about speaking to me. Finally they got a guy who sits toward the back (it could have been their boss maybe) who spoke pretty decent English and he helped me. The thing they don't understand is that is a missed opportunity to speak English and learn how to help foreigners.

[SleeplessInHannamdong]

[ChilgokBlackHole]

[plato's republic]

There's nothing wrong with advocating on behalf of others if it's done in a calm, intelligent and effective manner. ATEK should be lobbying the relevant Korean governmental authorities, not engaging in some love-in with the Korean police and translating documents, which bears no real relevance to helping E2 visa holders. They would also benefit from establishing a good relationship with the media in Korea too.

[sojusucks]

It would be more impressive, and relevant, if they would offer to translate for court officials especially during hearings. That could definitely go a long way towards helping teachers in the civil court system. There is a backlog of cases because of the lack of trained translators. Also many foreign teachers have problems with the paperwork needed to file civil suits against schools after winning at labor.
Translating for the police will help some tourists beat a public drunkeness rap but it's hard to see any long-term gain for teachers. ATEK should be looking out for teachers, first.

[SleeplessInHannamdong]

[tiger fancini]