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Smee
Joined: 24 Dec 2004
Location: Jeollanam-do
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 Posted: Fri Sep 29, 2006 7:45 am Post subject: "Art of Teaching English" |
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Art of Teaching English
By Choi Tae-hwan
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A 26-year-old native English speaker, introduced as an American, applied for a position as an English tutor. His resume showed that he had experience teaching English and had graduated from an American university. A private English language institute hired the so-called American teacher, who received a monthly salary of about $2,000. However, it was later revealed that the teacher was not American but Nigerian nor was he a university graduate. He was forced to leave Korea by the Immigration Bureau after it became known that he had been in Korea since 2001 on a tourist visa, going around to various language institutes to make money by taking advantage of the fact that anyone who is a native speaker of English can make money at private language institutes in Korea.
Can you imagine having your children taught English by a native speaker who committed a crime? It was recently reported that John Mark Karr, the 41-year-old former schoolteacher who was suspected of murdering Jon Benet Ramsey. Karr worked in Korea for nearly a year in 2001 and 2002 teaching English to Korean children between six and twelve years old.
Immigration law requires that foreigners who want to be English instructors present their university graduation certificates and E-2 visa to the Immigration Bureau. Many private tutoring institutes and kindergartens employ unqualified foreign instructors not only because learning English is in vogue nationwide but also because of the temptation to pay a low salary. Last year, 69 unqualified foreign teachers were kicked out of Korea by the Immigration Bureau because of forged graduation certificates and academic reports. In addition, there were 240 unqualified native English teachers in Seoul during 2005, and so far this year some 20 to 30 unqualified foreign teachers have been exposed.
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A few days ago, the Korea Foreign Teacher Recruiting Association announced on the Internet a blacklist of unqualified instructors including their names, misdeeds and background information. They are believed to have committed crimes such as forging university degrees, submitting counterfeited documents, leaving Korea without notice after vacation, stealing personal computers, committing sexual harassment, etc. The purpose of the blacklist is to assist language institutes and employers in Korea to avoid hiring unqualified and illegal foreign instructors and also prevent any potential harm to our young English learners through sharing with one another information about unqualified foreign tutors and instructors.
I was angered by Adrian Deutsch's article titled ``Let's be honest about English teaching,�� in which he used the words ``amateurish, hate-mongering and race-baiting�� regarding the announcement of the blacklist of unqualified foreign instructors. Deutsch writes, ``If I try to get into this country with no degree, that's my mistake. But if I succeed, it's no longer my problem.�� It is totally outrageous to use such an argument to justify one�s falsifying their background to get a teaching job in Korea. Does this also mean that if I succeed in committing a crime such as a theft or even murder, it is not my fault but the victim's fault? What nonsense this is!
I am reminded of the popular quote, ``What is teaching? Teaching is an art.�� Having knowledge about a particular subject is one thing and teaching that subject is another. That is, being able to speak English as a native language is one thing but teaching English is another, just as I can't just start teaching foreign children Korean just because I am a native speaker of Korean. It goes without saying that anyone who is a native speaker of English should not be entitled to be a foreign English instructor in Korea without qualifications for teaching English.
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http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/opinion/200609/kt2006092620492954060.htm
Article referenced by Choi:
http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/opinion/200608/kt2006081816494454060.htm
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The hunt for illegal and ``unqualified�� teachers has gone on for years, and there are a number of steps in the application process to ensure that teachers are, in fact, ``qualified.�� Last December nearly all foreign teachers were required to visit immigration to present their degrees in a sort of be all to end all registration process. Additionally, prospective E-2 holders must present their diplomas and passports numerous times both before and during their tenure in South Korea. It should stand to reason, then, that all native English teachers have been checked and rechecked, and that all native English teachers fit the definition of ``qualified.��
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dulouz
Joined: 04 Feb 2003
Location: Uranus
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| Posted: Fri Sep 29, 2006 7:51 am Post subject: |
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| There are many reasons why this article is bad. Which one is your favorite Smee? |
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Smee
Joined: 24 Dec 2004
Location: Jeollanam-do
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| Posted: Fri Sep 29, 2006 8:00 am Post subject: |
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The one where he gets the author's name wrong is nice. Who is Adrian?
The blacklist issue has been talked about here before. But, really, who's to blame if a Nigerian is successful, for 5 years, posing as an American? Should all foreign teachers take the blame for a guy being on a tourist visa since 2001?
If the guy's a good scam artist, then maybe it's not entirely the hagwon's fault. (The maybe is a stretch, I know.) But isn't that what immigration's for? 아이고, 미치겠다. |
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gang ah jee
Joined: 14 Jan 2003
Location: city of paper
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| Posted: Fri Sep 29, 2006 8:14 am Post subject: |
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| Smee wrote: |
| But, really, who's to blame if a Nigerian is successful, for 5 years, posing as an American? Should all foreign teachers take the blame for a guy being on a tourist visa since 2001? |
Nobody's to blame. The guy was Nigerian - those dudes are like Ben Kenobi in Star Wars, wave of the hands, all using the force: 'you do not need to see my qualifications; I am the teacher you are looking for'. The hakwon wonjang's eyes glaze over and he repeats back mechanically 'I do not need to see your qualifications; you are the teacher I am looking for.'
In the insurance industry, losses to Nigerian scams are considered to be acts of God. |
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Smee
Joined: 24 Dec 2004
Location: Jeollanam-do
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| Posted: Fri Sep 29, 2006 8:25 am Post subject: |
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| all look same. |
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dulouz
Joined: 04 Feb 2003
Location: Uranus
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| Posted: Fri Sep 29, 2006 8:57 am Post subject: |
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| If the guy's a good scam artist, then maybe it's not entirely the hagwon's fault. (The maybe is a stretch, I know.) But isn't that what immigration's for? 아이고, 미치겠다. |
Its immigration's fault, it really is. |
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Steve Schertzer
Joined: 17 Jul 2006
Location: Pusan
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| Posted: Sat Sep 30, 2006 5:27 pm Post subject: |
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You can email Choi Tae Hwan at
[email protected]
to let him know exactly how you feel.
Also, check out pusanweb.com There's a great thread on this topic as well. |
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Atassi
Joined: 14 Feb 2006
Location: 평택
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| Posted: Sun Oct 01, 2006 6:44 pm Post subject: |
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| Nobody has said it so I will. Chances are, the "unqualified" Nigerian was more experienced and therefore a better teacher than all of those "qualified" backpackers that hagwons and parents love. If the guy made some money and taught some children effectively, I'm sorry he was caught. |
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Steve Schertzer
Joined: 17 Jul 2006
Location: Pusan
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| Posted: Sun Oct 01, 2006 10:14 pm Post subject: |
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Atassi,
That the Nigerian may have been more qualified than Hagwon backpacker teachers is irrelevant given the level of xenophobia and excoriation that Choi Tae-hwan has heaped upon a whole class of ESL intructors here in Korea.
He even uses John Mark Karr as an example; a very dangerous example given the fact that Karr was a substitute teacher in California and was more qualified that over 95% of ESL teachers in Korea or Thailand for that matter.
What makes using Karr as a very dangerous example is the fact that he is a pervert and a paedophile with extremely sick ideas and sexual predilections. The John Mark Karr's of the world are a dime a dozen in places like Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam. But his ilk is not a big problem here in Korea. So for Choi to lump us in with the likes of Karr is especially nasty and dangerous.
As for "qualifications" for the McHagwon industry, let's keep this in perspective. How qualified does a McHagwon teacher have to be to stand in front of 15 Korean false beginners, hold up a flashcard of an animal, and say, "This is a pig, it goes oink oink. This is a cow, it goes mooooooo!" How qualified does a McHagwon teacher have to be to talk to a gaggle of lonely housewives in a so-called free talking class who just want to escape their soju-swilling husbands for an hour a day? How qualified does a McHagwon teacher have to be to use a pair of scissors to cut out an article from the Korea Times and discuss it with a bunch of bored, tired business people?
These are only hagwons we're talking about, ladies and gentlemen. The very some hagwons that are owned by unscrupulous business people who have never taught a day in their lives! Where are the hagwon owner's qualifications may I ask? If it weren't for us English speaking "Cash cows", these McHagwon owners would be reduced to selling McHot dogs on street corners!
Qualified or not, (whatever qualified means), we are people and deserve the same respect as the Korean teachers. I hope we can agree on that. |
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Atassi
Joined: 14 Feb 2006
Location: 평택
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| Posted: Sun Oct 01, 2006 10:35 pm Post subject: |
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| Qualified or not, (whatever qualified means), we are people and deserve the same respect as the Korean teachers. I hope we can agree on that. |
We can definitely agree on that, whatever "qualified" means. I wouldn't and wasn't arguing against that. |
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John Henry
Joined: 24 Sep 2004
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| Posted: Sun Oct 01, 2006 11:10 pm Post subject: </ | | |
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