Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Weigookin74]

[dairyairy]

[quote="orosee"][quote="edwardcatflap"]

[newb]

[jdog2050]

Personally I think this recent spate of articles is more than likely a mental *prepping* for another round of mass firings. If you think I'm paranoid, a lot of the same articles started appearing about a year or so before the big SMOE lay offs.

[PatrickGHBusan]

[Adventurer]

This is really non-news. Many Koreans would prefer their own countrymen. That's not surprising. However, there is probably some xenophobia at play, though it's understandable many want to be taught by people they can relate to the most, and they can relate to Koreans more than us. However, Korea is not doing so well when it comes to learning English when one factors the money spent on education. Yes, I have said Korea has made some strides, but it has not learned from other countries and wants to focus too much on Coleman Report and Grammar Translation styled learning and then the students wonder why they can't speak English that well.

I asked a Chinese girl who is in my Korean class why she speaks better English than so many Koreans, including English majors, that I meet. She said her instructors did work hard on getting her to speak English in class. That's something Korean teachers don't do enough of, unfortunately. The problem is not Korean teachers or foreign teachers, it's the antiquated, discredited methods that people still follow.

[Dodge7]

Grades 1-3 should be exclusively taught by Koreans that have a good command over the English language. Sorry esl teachers.

But grades 4 and up really do benefit from my teaching and conversations. I have to use so much Korean with the young kiddos, but when the 4th grade comes in it's all English. I always start with using easy English sentences to get their confidence going then try to ease in a new word every so often and tell them what it means and repeat it several times. By the end of class they have memorized about 3-5 new words. I can see how much the 4th and up grades try to understand me and participate with their English. My time with them is THREE times more useful when we are free-talking (which I devote 20 minutes a day per class with the older kids, and btw is also way more useful than a stupid book) than the rote memorization or whatever else it is they do with the Korean teacher. Grades 3 and lower it's play time to them and they don't understand much of what I say or teach anyway.

[Squire]

[some waygug-in]

[mike1two]

[Unposter]

There is a big difference between what people want and what they need. A child may want candy but it is not what they need. Koreans may prefer Korean teachers and Caucasion (sp?) teachers but that does not necessarilly mean that it is good for their education (nor does it mean that it isn't).

The way the question seems to be asked seems pointless unless the research was to prove that Koreans are racist. In fact, of all the possible conclusions this research could lead to, this seems the most likely. And, I for one, if I were Korean, would be pretty upset at either how the journalist reported the story and/or the research that was reported about. I would also think that the research was flawed based on the type of questions that was asked - it was almost like an entrapment for racism.

Now, in most countries, one of the purposes of foreign language education is cultural awareness and understanding, if not communication with people from other countries. One would think that if you based your educational principles on a theory that certain races/nationalities are superior to others as educators, it would be hard to reach this purpose.

Now, I also know that if you just give people what they need and ignore what they want, well, you have a pretty dull life and quite possibly a lifeless, unmotivated student. The key to most things to life, not just education, is to balance what we want with what we need. We actually need both but in the right amounts.

From this point of view, it would make more sense to give Korean students some of the things they want [Confuscian moral education (?) and language games (?)] as well as some of the things they need (cultuarl awareness, cultural understanding, inter-cultural communication, grammar, vocabulary and all the other building blocks of language teaching).

Just a thought.

And, if you are having problems connecting with the young ones, change things up a bit, there is almost always a way to connect, maybe not with every last one, but with a majority of them certainly. It may not be that you are a native speaker of English that is hampering the class but that you just don't connect with kids of that age, which there is nothing wrong with, but please don't just conclude that kids that age "need" a Korean teacher; it could be for a whole host of other reasons.

[Malislamusrex]

Korean students like Korean teachers because they don't care if they do any work.

[some waygug-in]

I distrust this "survey" or study or whatever name you want to call it.

I doubt that it was administered fairly, and I doubt even more the claims

it makes.


But I have no doubt that education officials will use this piece of trash

as justification to rid the PS system of more weigukin-dul.


In their minds, they are defending their sovereignty, their country, their culture etc. They don't want their children to be overly influenced by

Western values. (In some respects, I tend to agree with them on this)

It's not really racism, but an overblown sense of nationalism.

They may get their way in the short term, and there may be some more

firings coming down the pipe. Who knows?


I'm not defending them by any means, just trying to make sense of it all.

[NohopeSeriously]

Well, thank goodness that I'm a gyopo and a proud Christian. At least I can completely assimilate into the Korean society with ease.

[Yaya]