Korean Job Discussion Forums

[lastat06513]

People on this board go on a huge tantrum whenever they hear about unqualified people come to Korea to teach as they pose a risk of tarnishing the image of the qualified teachers and drive down the salaries because of the saturation of foreigners in the job market.

I feel that they do pose a threat to the image of teachers in Korea because there are in fact many people who are devoted to their job and want Koreans to get a favorable impression of foreign teachers and whenever an unqualified person is caught doing something bad, it reflects on the foreign community as a whole.

Yet simultaniously there are people, who are very qualified to teach even in their home countries, who go on committing many heinous offenses that could have been caught if people saw the subtle warning signs people like Chris Neil leave on internet blogs such as this one. And what scares many people is that they are very qualified to teach and who could be considered archtypes of the education field, so it is really people like these that do great harm to the community than the ones who come to Korea without degrees with the simple desire to make a buck (or loon) or two....please don't get me wrong, I am not condoning their activities, yet I want to express the comparison of an unqualified migrant worker (which is what an unqualified person truly is) and a person who uses their qualifications and experience to manipulate people's trust to their own unscruplous advantage.

The main point of my post is that it is not the qualifications of a person that judges their actions, it is their personality and character that raises suspicion in people.

A person can have no formal qualifications what so ever yet through his experience and if he wishes to continue to teach undetected, that individual will do everything in his power to become a better teacher with the sole motivation to make as much money as possible.

However, that is not always the case, as ESL is notoriously known as a "backpackers' Industry"

And a person with qualifications might not be concerned with their development and may want to pursue "other interests", as Mr. Neil did.

I feel the industry needs to be much more stringently regulated with more rigorous criminal background checks to ensure that people of high moral character are the only ones trusted with the education of a nation. When I say this, I don't just speak about Korea, but for every and any country as well.

Just because a person has a degree doesn't make them any better a teacher or a person.

[itaewonguy]

I agree, senators, politicians ivy league graduates have all been known to commit crimes! doesnt matter what your back ground is..
and to all the legal teachers who cry about illegals here making a living and breaking the law.. ask yourself this.,, "do I teach privates"
if you do then you are no different to an illegal teacher here.. so keep your mouth shut...
personally when I meet or I know of a teacher here who doesnt have a degreee, im like good luck to you.. hope you make some good money.
because personally just becuase you have a degree doesnt make you a better person, or a better teacher. the market is HUGE and plenty of room for everyone to make a living.. and at the end of the day..
making 2 grand a month with a college degree is nothing to write home about.. got a university degree to make 2 grand a month.. WOW arent we cleaver...

[Milwaukiedave]

Lastat,

I tend to agree. In fact, I was just watching a program (yes it was real) about a foreigner engaged to one Korean and sleeping with another. It is things like that which make all expats (especially men) look bad. People's actions both in and out of the classroom have an effect on all of us.

[Hater Depot]

It will never be possible to stop pedophiles from going into careers that involve working with kids... priests, teachers, camp counselors, etc.

[thegadfly]

Lastat,

"Subtle warning signs?" More like "hindsight is 20/20." There are truly horrible people in the world, and once we find out how horrible they are, we all want to make them into monsters -- make them somehow different than "us." To do so, we look for the "signs" that would have shown us the difference...and while the abuse of animals does seem to be an indicator, many of the "signs" people point to are nothing of the sort.

If I said, "if one more kid calls me 'teacher! teacher!' I will go ballistic," no one would think it was a sign, because it probably isn't -- it is a common comment of frustration. If later I indeed shot some people, there would be hand-wringing and cries about "not reading the signs!"

When I hear about people looking for "subtle warning signs," all I imagine is even more distrust and paranoia -- the world already sucks enough without adding more misery to the stewpot.

[Beej]

[Beej]

[rusty1983]

I think that the least suprising thing Ive seen in Korea was that that guy was a kiddy fiddler. It wouldnt suprise me if there are a few more either, be honest, how many complete oddballs have you met that teach English here??!?! I guess theres some obligation to talk to them and it does my head in, cos some of em are clearly way out there.

It also seems to me that paedos usually DO look like paedo's(that guy, Gary Glitter, Michael Jackson etc etc), or someone you could imagine being a paedo, so maybe the hagwons could just take a closer look at the pics we send before we get here.

PS - Have you ever seen the Brasseye Paedoggedon episode?

[Young FRANKenstein]

[jdog2050]

[Pak Yu Man]

[Ilsanman]

So am I bad if I teach privates legally?

[Roch]

[Roch]

[Roch]