Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Zed]

[ryleeys]

So, for those of you that haven't read the other thread floating around... I modified the stand in the corner punishment so the child has to hold a glass of water tied to a string in such a manner that if they let their arms down, they get water on their head.

I was talking about this with my mother (a teacher of 30 years in America) and she was telling me that a teacher in Washington DC was just arrested for making poorly behaved students hold buckets of water on their head for punishment.

Come and get me you bleeding heart liberals that refuse to ever allow any punishment! It's really to the point in America now where the teacher is not only not allowed to hit the students, but they aren't allowed to do anything to embarass the student, single out the student (punitive homework, etc), or anything else that might bring a little discipline in.

[Corporal]

[Gwangjuboy]

[Gwangjuboy]

[Mr. Pink]

[Zyzyfer]

[jajdude]

Most kids are nice but some are just stupid little rude buggers. I'm in favor of giving these a$$hole kids a hard time just to shut 'em sometimes. If they behave like idiots they deserve some sort of unwanted consequence. I rarely get outright angry but when I do the class shuts up .... at least for a day or two

[shawner88]

Back in the states when I was student teaching in my senior year, my cooperating teacher told me he felt bad for me coming into education when I was. In his prime he could whck the kids around with full parental support. Emphasis then was on learning not on discipline. Students rearely misbehaved. These days, he said, not only could he not even touch a kid, but he was required to document raising his voice to them. Kids were out of control. He had to think before yelling too loudly.

[FUBAR]

[yisunshin]

There is no doubt that the level of education of the average Joe in Korea is lightyears ahead of our Western populations. Very few people anywhere go to University: about 20% or so at the most of any Western country's population. And, in University, it's usually a pretty specialized subject area that you study. In Korea, by the time they finish highschool, the people are fully educated in about 16 different subject areas from Maths to Arts to Phys-Ed to City-planning and so on. I taught in Korea for a year in a Middle School/High School, and in Canada for a year at a High School before entering graduate school. The kids in Korea grow up to be responsible adults afraid of breaking rules, and with an incredibly advanced level of awareness about the world, science, history, the arts etc... Canadian kids grow up to be rude, ignorant, aggressive adults. It's a travesty of civilization! Of course, the corporal punishment in Korean schools is what underlies their superiority. Its use by teachers is supported by the vast majority of the population in poll after poll. Here in Canada, most people don't support teachers using corporal punishment, so as a democtratic decision, I accept it. I don't agree with their opinion. Most people here, however, do support parents using corporal punishment on their kids, if they feel they need to. When I was studying Judo in Korea, the instructor gave the class including me corporal punishment(not 'cause we were fooling around but to make us practice harder), and it is not some horrible thing. a short episode of a few seconds of pain which leaves no lasting effect on your body is not some shrieking travesty of your human rights. It's actually quite humane, simple and doesn't interfere with your life. The teachers in Korea can be very friendly with the students because they don't have to act tough or scary to instill respect. A lot more learning gets done as a result, and it is in a fun atmosphere. Ask any Korean kids, and they say they love going to school where their friends and so on are. It is a very comfortable place for them to be. Everyone knows the rules and knows that the teachers can protect them from each other and that the idiot students can't mess up the class. Here in Canada, we have to portray an aura of authority we don't have, when we teach. Our punishments are ineffective and involve telling the student to leave the room where s/he canot learn the lesson at hand. Our most serious punishment is suspension from school for a day or for several days. In this case the student is being denied his/her education. It is really quite silly and counterproductive. I don't see why punishment just because it is physical is bad.
Another thing about corporal punishment is that it takes away the need for yelling, so the kids don't learn to yell and scream. On the contrary, they learn to speak gently.
Anyways, I'm probably the only one on this board who has been on the receiving end of Korean corporal punishment, so that's pretty funny.

[Mr. Pink]

[Mr. Pink]

[yisunshin]

Yeah,
it wouldn't hurt to add a bit more of that kind of stuff into the curriculum. Their base knowledge of everything would make for some amazing results!
Man, I wish I was back teaching in Korea!
I can speak Korean somewhat well, so for me it's an ideal place to teach. Such a fun and comfortable atmosphere!

[Mr. Pink]

I doubt I will ever teach back in Canada.

I seriously thought of doing it. Even now I think of doing it, but the thing is this:

Over here I can have friendly relationships with my students. It doesn't really effect the classroom, as the students know the boundry lines.

Back in Canada, no way could I be as friendly as I am here. Nor could I touch the kids or talk about serious problems such as drinking or smoking.

I can't say I will stay in Korea forever, but I do enjoy it here and the school atmosphere is really comfortable.

Take a year and come on back if you miss it.