Korean Job Discussion Forums

garykasparov · Joined: 27 May 2007

Level Headed Thinking

By David Thiessen

I wrote an article in the Oct. 23 edition of The Korea Times using the example of the teacher who is a suspected pedophile. Too many readers focused on the word ``pedophile" and missed the point of the article.

That point was, we do not need paranoid type thinking running this industry. It ruins the environment of the classroom, it hinders recruiting good teachers and it teaches the wrong lessons to our students.

We cannot let fear dictate the policy of the classroom, for then we teach our children all the wrong things and they, when they get old enough, will not be prepared to face life and will not be able to pass on their knowledge to the next generation, they won't have learned the right lessons.

Too often those who have not learned the right lessons in life are the most vocal and do not possess the minutest amount of intelligence to handle an issue such as teaching in the classroom. They do not have a clue as to what they need to teach beyond the textbook.

There are many lessons which are not covered by the printed curriculum and they are taught by example and can be taught only by those who possess such knowledge.

These lessons are on how to be just, merciful, fair, how to forgive, put others ahead of themselves, to be wise and so on. These lessons are lost as the numbers who know them dwindle with each passing generation.

It used to be that all one needed to do business was a handshake, because that act was known to be a commitment of one's word and sometimes that all a person has is their word and reputation, breaking that handshake meant ruining one's reputation.

Nowadays it doesn't matter as the character of people is quickly sinking to a point where integrity, honesty and reputation are part of the lives of only a few. Kind of sad really.

No one wants to put the work into making an industry excel but instead opts for the easy, blanket answers which do nothing to solve any problem except to make one feel better.

It is not difficult to learn to ask the right questions, to analyze a person by the answers given, the body language shown and other aspects of reading an applicant. Honest questions elicit honest answers and when they don't, there are ways to tell and the employer can make the decision to pass on the potential employee without damage to his other workers or customers.

It was the honest way to do business and such honesty is long gone now from both sides of the fence. Now we assume a person is guilty before proof is provided confirming that fact. Trust is now gone ― yet in the classroom, we need trust now more than ever, if we want our children to learn properly.

As a Christian I think differently than most other teachers here in this country. I believe in honesty, character, integrity, mercy and justice for all and not a few.

The old ways I described above bring out those qualities as they treat all the same and allows the applicant to show what he or she is made of before being pigeon-holed into a category they will never be able to escape.

By implementing the wrong requirements, like a criminal records check, we open the door to bias, discrimination, condemnation, hatred, and other sins we need to avoid. It also allows for elitism and superiority complex attitudes to rule and produce false standards, a class system and the wrong lessons for the students to learn.

I am not and never did advocate sending a pedophile into a classroom; but I cannot dismiss God's and Christ's healing and redemptive powers either and know we must use our intelligence wisely, cleaning up our own lives first before condemning anyone else.

I am advocating doing what is right so that the innocent do not get hurt, or have their lives ruined while allowing those who made mistakes in their past a chance to make good on their promises to turn their lives around.

It is about teaching not only teachers but also students on what is right and what is wrong and implementing that teaching.

The easy way is rarely the right way and the majority isn't always right. We do not need to import Western ideas when they tend to destroy instead of build up generations of people. We do need to think first, find what is right and do that no matter how loudly Westerners complain.

This isn't back home and what is right should take precedence over what is popular if for the only reason that our students need to learn the right lessons.

The writer an English teacher in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province. He can be reached at [email protected].

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/opinon/opi_view.asp?newsIdx=14540&categoryCode=162