Korean Job Discussion Forums

[toonchoon]

[jrwhite82]

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[Junior]

[ThingsComeAround]

[kcweaver]

Reading many of these posts make me shake my head in disappointment and disbelief with many here. You don't have to settle on Korea. English is the international language and there are many places you can teach. I have the sneaky suspicion that there are many here like being pampered. The way they do things here in Korea is the exception to the rule in ELT. In other places you have to find your own living accommodations, pay for your own airfare, etc. And you can get all this without investing in a CELTA or some other recognizable teaching award. But many forget that it takes that to get people to come to Korea in the first place because in reality, Korea is not that great a place as compared to Southeast Asia, Latin America, or Europe.

I have taught English in Europe. In all but one case I had to provide my own housing and airfare, but I was allowed to work at other places and do privates without restriction... if I wanted (which I did). I had more freedom than in Korea. And I had plenty to do and see...unlike Korea. And I had better students.

Many of you are under the false assumption that one needs a native teacher to learn the language. "Native speakerism" has been condemned by most linguists and professional teachers. In many countries in Europe, students do not have a native teacher in their classroom and the students manage to learn English fluently. (Just talk to a Dane, Norwegian, or a Dutchman and you will see what I mean.) What is important to the learner is that he or she gets enough exposure to the language. That means that Korean teachers can teach their students effectively, if they use only English, even if it is not the best English. Student need input and it does not matter if it is comes from a native speaker or a non-native speaker (See the Theory of Comprehensible Input by Dr. S. Krashen.) Korea student need to start listening to more English language music, watch more English language movies and TV shows, and read more English books. In Korea there is very little exposure to English. In Norway, Denmark and the Netherlands, they watch a lot of English language programming and listen to a lot of English language music. This exposure makes them very good language learners.

If Koreans stop being so ethnocentric (Korea-centered), they would not have the language learning problems they have.

Which brings me to the nut of it. Koreans have created their own problems and no matter how many native speakers come to Korea, their problem will not ameliorate. They need to change their attitudes about English language and how they view themselves. They need to learn to accept other cultures and be willing to be exposed to it. If they can't do that they will still fumble in learning English.

Many of you think that this is all there is when it comes to a job. They are always looking for good teachers around the world. But you must be a professional and a professional gets certified. A professional joins professional associations. A professional goes for professional development proactively, even if one has to pay for it him- or herself. A professional does not worry about whether some bureaucrat in a distant office is looking to slash a native teacher position because the professional knows that his skills, experience, and education will carry him or her far. A professional knows he or she can go somewhere else to be appreciated. A professional does not bitch and moan about losing a job that is really a non-essential job. Yes, schools do not really need native English teachers. They need trained competent teachers and that kind of teacher is not limited by the fact that he or she is not a native speaker. And a job that requires one to be a native speaker is a job that is non-essential to the learning of English. As stated before, a student does not need a native speaking teacher exclusively. He needs a competent teacher who will expose him to the English language. A Korean teacher can do this, if he or she is competent.

[LizMarsh242]

A professional, like everyone else, does worry about losing their job in the short term, though. Having to change countries does take time and money, no matter your credentials.

[Catfisher]

[edwardcatflap]

[ThingsComeAround]

kcweaver, that sounds like you got your opinions from out of a Tom Hopkins book!

Most of what you said, I agree with. Some parts, like the part about comparing English ed in Korea and Europe is like comparing apples and oranges.

All that you said about being 'professional', is great. We do want to be professional, however that isn't what our employers (in Korea) want. Most NETs here are only visiting, working here for 2 years then moving on. That does not develop a healthy environment for professionalism.

Other posters hit the nail on the head, when mentioning that professionals, like everyone else, don't want to be subject to nonsensical demands (ex: visa renewal checks) just to keep their jobs. Professionals go where they are treated as professionals.

I shake my head and wonder, what are you doing here?

[brento1138]

Here at SMOE there are massive budget cuts too. Apparently this is due to the hiring of new "discipline" teachers. I heard that they already cut the budget to train Korean teachers overseas by 50% and may eliminate it altogether.

I also heard they won't cut many NET jobs, however, they are now starting to ask schools if they wish to renew their NET. Many schools have apparently requested to keep the NET, but there will possibly be a few that didn't really like their NET, and will not rehire for 2011. I heard this through my co-teacher who is in touch with higher up SMOE people...

Money has become an issue.

Even when I started this job, my co-teacher informed me that SMOE has a 5-year plan. In 5 years or so, I don't believe there will be many (or possibly any) NETs left at SMOE schools...

[masada]

Just to add to this discussion.... I was hired for a GEPIK position a little over a month ago with a start date of Dec. 1st. I was notified by my recruiter just yesterday that my job was placed on "hold" due to the school not receiving funds from the government. I asked exactly what policy had come into effect and she told me it was due to "A free hot lunch for all students" program. Apparently she said the government was using the funds to hire new foreign teachers into this.

Well I suppose I may have to look into a hakwon position now.

[jrwhite82]

[brento1138]

[earthquakez]

kcweaver - your talk is very cheap here. I'd guess most native English teachers in Korea don't have the option of working in countries other than Asia or in South American countries if you like getting paid peanuts.

You've worked in Europe? How wonderful. Unlike citizens of countries in the European Union, North Americans, Australians, New Zealanders and South Africans cannot work in Europe unless they're lucky enough to have dual citizenship or the right of return in other ways. That's a big reason, I'd say the main reason, why they've come to Korea.

I'm a Brit who knows Australians with completely English ancestral lines for the last 400 years and more but because their Grandparents weren't born in England then they can't get residency and working rights apart from the working holiday agreement both countries have. Ditto for Irish ancestry. Having completely Irish names on his family tree plus Great Grandfathers and Great Grandmothers born in Ireland means diddly squat for an Australian friend of mine.

He cannot get any benefit from his ancestry including the right to work in Ireland or base himself there and take it from there to work in Europe. Same for North Americans, New Zealanders and South Africans.

And I disagree with your notion that native English speakers are not needed in Korea because many Swedes, Germans, the Dutch etc speak fluent English without native English speaking instructors.

We're talking about apples and pickled cabbage here. Europeans share common cultural reference points and histories with the UK. Korea's about as far away from that as you can get despite its superficial westernisation. Same case with Japan.

It's not just about language - it's about Koreans learning to modify a lot of the insularity, xenophobia and gaps in knowledge about a world that they want to be respected by.

English is the global language and countries like India and the functional countries in Africa have more in common in key respects with western English speaking countries than Korea does. The more exposure Koreans have to native English speaking teachers rather than Korean English teachers, the more beneficial it is to their understanding the way things are done outside Korean norms.

No matter how good at speaking English they are, I haven't encountered Korean English teachers who don't have a certain wooden way of speaking to an extent. A minority of Koreans speak genuinely fluent English despite the fact that more Koreans generally use English than the Japanese do. That minority have had extensive overseas experience that the great majority of Korean English teachers at schools lack.

Korean English teachers too inevitably come up with nonsense in minor or relatively minor ways about foreign culture no matter how well meaning they are. School textbooks reinforce this. It does them good to have native English speakers around to correct them politely.

[liveinkorea316]

I also believe that Korean teachers could potentially be ane answer. But as most people in this country know they are not yet and are look far from being. It is not just their English proficiency that holds them back, to me it is mostly their training and methods that are no good for students.

They often run an English class like they run their maths and science classes. This should tell you alot. It is all teacher-centred, students regurgitate and memorize discrete vocabulary and grammar and the textbooks and nothing but appalling in public schools.

Hagwons do things alot better. They have native teachers with Western ideas of how a class should run (even if they don't have formal training) and the textbooks are sometimes alot better thanat Schools.

The answer in MY opinion is to aggresively recruit foreign ESL teachers to train Korean English teachers en-masse and solve the problem from its source along with accepting foreign published English tests such as Oxford or Longman series' of books.

But that ain't gonna happen. Because that would be admitting that their own system is wrong.