Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Demophobe]

I was ....well....argumentative with him. His post is a response to mine. I edited my post as it wasn't right to say those things here.

I guess I should explain;

I just came out of a situation very similar to Derrick's, and my coworkers, as Derrick seems, were happier than a pigs in feces with it. They had no responsibilities and were basically flaccid white puppets to be paraded around as mascots would. There is no pride to be found in a job like this, and I was humiliated, embarrassed and totally spayed as far as all of the years I have spent to become a better teacher and not just a honky token.

It upsets me when people find complacence in these demeaning positions and as long as they exist, they only undermine what I and many others have been trying to do for 9 years here: get some respect as a real, bona-fide teacher.

Being a slacker in the West has no real consequences; at least, not the kind it does here. I feel that these positions do nothing for "the cause" of having ESL recognized as a true profession. We are percieved as oddballs and misfits, and I feel these kinds of jobs only deepen that perception with Koreans. No, I am not a hardcore workaholic, nor am I Mr.Work Ethic, but I do believe that in order to set the record stright with ESL teachers in Korea, a line must be drawn. These empty positions offered fall far outside my personal line in this sense.

I guess there is no solution as long as there are people willing to be some kind of trinket for the fatheads in the big offices to add to their keychains. I quit that job with a vengence (the head teacher wanted to fist fight me!) and swore to rail against these exploitive, redundant and meaningless positions, and your post got into my sights at a peak moment.

If you are happy, then more power to you, but I for one despise these kinds of "jobs" and just cannot be slack with the people who accept them, revel in them and promote them as "work", "jobs" or "teaching".

Just my opinion and I really don't want to start a war. If you think I am wrong, slam me in a PM...don't follow my previous, ill-concieved lead and do it out here.