Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Big Mac]

My co-teacher just told me today that a new Grade 6 homeroom teacher at my school will be taking my place when I leave in March. She is Korean, and I doubt she can even speak English all that well. I haven't met her yet, so I'm not sure though. She will be co-teaching with another Korean.

My co-teacher says that for the upcoming school year all the public schools in my area, and perhaps throughout Korea will be replacing their foreign teachers with Korean English teachers. Most of us are the first wave of foreign teachers at the schools in this area, and I guess they've had enough of us already! I'm in a rural area and no one at my school can speak fluent English and it's rare to find anyone at all in this area who can speak English.

Apparently there are a few factors, one of the main ones being that new Korean teaching graduates are finding it difficult to get jobs right now, so they are trying to make room for Koreans. Also, and I guess we all know this, many Korean public school teachers and school board officials (especially here in hicksville) don't really think foreigners are the most desirable things to have in their classrooms. They would much rather not have us there. We're too difficult to deal with and we don't "fit in."

She also says that she heard that the cancellation of the 100 jobs in Seoul was sort of the beginning of this trend.

Do you think my co-teacher is out to lunch on this? Do the public schools really need native teachers to teach their crappy curriculum anyway? Can they do it on their own?

My thought is that the quality of English education is so low in the public school system anyway that it doesn't really matter...they're not going to learn much anyway. So let the Koreans have jobs and continue on with their crappy teaching methods. The rest of the world will continue to laugh as Koreans go back to their Hermit Kingdom mentality and continue to have a horrible command of the international language.

[roadwork]

[Skippy]

This sounds like a typical Korean flip flop. They say they need more wayguk teachers, then they say they don't. I could see the phase out of English teachers then a bounce back as they will want them again.

They really do not like to do long term planning here in Korea. This sounds like a typical great short term brilliant idea by point haired manager that is so not long term thought out that it later explodes into 1001 hassles after a few years.

[rickig]

Maybe it's for rural schools. They might not have the budget for foreign teachers. They like to make koreans pull double duty. Poor kids though. Ooo the english in the teachers text book is so bad.

[pie eater]

I think the Koreans are starting to flap over this surge of teachers coming over. Last thing they want are a large number of long termers in their country trying to escape a depression.

What I think may happen if this carries on for much longer is that the Korean government will probably limit the E2 visa to three or four years for any one teacher. The visa process is strict enough as it is. However - in my humble opinion - this surge will have died off this time next year and life will be back to normal.

As for bringing Korean teachers to take over from our jobs - it is the equivalent to building half a house and then using tarpaulin as a roof and saying it is built! It may happen - don't overestimate the stupidity of the Koreans - but I don't think even they are that daft!

[Rusty Shackleford]

Tehe. This thread again.

[D.D.]

I smell a troll. Ya rural schools don't want us but they just started the programs and in most areas they are bringing in new teachers. I made a difference in the English abilties of many of my co-teachers and students because I did what was needed to be done rather than the crap they wanted me to teach.

I really feel sorry for the poor rural kids and I wouldn't be surprised if the scrap the jobs for rural schools in favour of keeping the city kids with a higher level of education.

[WendyRose]

My co-teacher told me that GPOE is actually increasing the number of English classes required for each student. Next semester grade 3/4 will be required to have English 2x a week (as opposed to 1x) and then I believe the semester after that they are upping the number of classes for G5/6 to 3x a week instead of 2x.

Could have been a rumor, but I have every reason to believe my co-teacher. So for those reasons alone, I highly doubt they are replacing native teachers with Koreans.

[Big Mac]

[nfld_chingu]

I had only heard that they wanted to increase the number of NETs in public schools ... I never heard about replacing them with Korean teachers.
I have a Korean friend who teaches in a public school and she told me that they just got their first NET recently ... so I guess they didn't get the memo.

[Ruraljuror]

The one thing this thread is missing is an analysis of what Gerald Celiente things about this issue.

Asmith...where are you?????

[zipper]

There are still a lot of teaching job offers in Dave's ads.

[oldtactics]

To be honest, I hope this is true, for students' sake. Most of our jobs are a joke, especially those of us whose students don't get graded and therefore mostly don't care. I'm not pretending like I'm an expert teacher who has all the answers, but teaching 800 teenagers a week with coteachers who stand at the back and do nothing, not even discipline, is a complete waste of my and their time. They'd learn more English if I let them sit and read quietly for the 50 minutes.

I'm going through some job dissatisfaction this month, if you haven't noticed.

[andrewchon]

Sounds like a good idea, oldtactics. Have you tried that?

[flarestar]