Korean Job Discussion Forums

hellofaniceguy · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Location: On your computer screen!

Who decides and by what standards are these idiots going to choose who teaches?

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2009/12/117_58147.html

conrad2 · Joined: 05 Nov 2009

So the Korean education ministries are going to thoroughly train native English teachers? Its a great idea except for the glaring fact that they cant even train themselves. This is a bit rich considering the high level of ineptitude of the Korean English teachers.
Im sure the main criteria they will use will include such things as : likes to eat Korean food, pours drinks for the principal, looks attractive, etc, etc...

nautilus · Joined: 26 Nov 2005 Location: Je jump, Tu jump, oui jump!

I don't think anyone would mind if it was going to be a fair and just process.The problem is that Korean co-teachers appear to utilise the evaluation process to needlessly criticise in order to make themselves look better.

is there any evaluation process to remove bad korean teachers? Apparently not.

runthegauntlet · Joined: 02 Dec 2007 Location: the southlands.

This has disaster written all over it. So one coteacher could basically end your public school teaching career in Korea?! Shocked

Olivencia · Joined: 08 Mar 2009

Don't know about anyone else but this would be the last straw for me..actually when this contract of mine is done I want out of this place.

BreakfastInBed · Joined: 16 Oct 2007 Location: Gyeonggi do

What happens when YOU decide not to renew and the vindictive suits at your school decide to screw you over? What recourse do you have? I don't like this at all. "Do what we say or we'll fix it that you can never get a visa here again." Sure, this power won't be abused.

Moldy Rutabaga · Joined: 01 Jul 2003 Location: Ansan, Korea

dragon777 · Joined: 06 Dec 2007

Is this for PS's or hagwons? Knowing everything that happens in Asia; it will take a long time to happen. I would not be too worried, if you feel that as a teacher, you don't quite cut the standard.

BreakfastInBed · Joined: 16 Oct 2007 Location: Gyeonggi do

This just burns me up. Where is Smee? He is on the money with the whole problem here.

Teachers will be evaluated? ON WHAT? No one has ever been able to communicate to me what exactly my role here is or what is expected of me. Talking to other public school teachers doesn't help much either. Some work at two or three different schools. Some teach only one grade, some teach every grade multiple times a week. Some have co-teachers, some don't. Some do everything, some are the most expensive audio/visual aid in the school.

How about this. Evaluate yourselves first. Figure out what you want. Get some help putting it into clear, non-offensive English, and communicate it to us directly. For instance, what is an English camp? We all do them, and we have all come up with our own cynical answers, but what was envisioned originally? What was the initial intent? Is it really just day care or a cash grab? This has never been communicated to many of us I suspect. It certainly wasn't to me, and I've done four of them now. What do you really expect me to accomplish with no suggestions, no guidance, no assistance, and a mixed class of 3-6 graders? Sure, I make a go of it, but really, what are they thinking? We are going to be evaluated?

First tell us...

WHAT DO YOU WANT?

Most of us get here all gung-ho ready to work hard and make a difference. The kids are often sweet and our co-workers kind. But I have yet to meet anyone who could effectively communicate what is expected of me. And it's not only that, aside from not knowing, there is a general indifference to our plight. They just don't get it. Most teachers I know really want to help when they arrive. In fact, their first burning questions are "How can I help?" and "What would you like me to do?". The unfortunate reality is, the best answers we ever get to these questions are, "Teach English" and "Do everything I say without question."

Olivencia · Joined: 08 Mar 2009

That's why "teaching" here is a joke. You asked good questions and as you correctly see no one seems to know. In fact, ask the same person the same question ten minutes later and get a total opposite response.
It doesn't matter here. This is Korea. It's all a big mess. They will never listen to us on how to clean it and when they try cleaning it it gets worse!

TheMeerkatLover · Joined: 26 Mar 2009

Will never happen. My reason for saying this is because its illegal in Korea to do what they Education office is requesting.

"Article 39 (Prohibition of Interference with Employment)
Anyone shall not prepare and use secret signs or lists, or
have communications for the purpose of interfering with employment
of a worker.

According to this, employers who contact Immigration requesting that certain employees not be granted a new visa permitting the employee to work in Korea is in violation of this provision of the Labor Standards Act and therefore subject to the following:

Article 110 (Penal Provisions)
A person who has violated the provisions of Article 6, 7, 8,
30(1) and (2), or 39 shall be punished by imprisonment for less
than five years or by a fine not exceeding thirty million won."

Quite clearly, they are trying to break the law. The first second you think you're being evaluated and given any possible 'consequences', you go to the police station and file a criminal complaint. This is imho all huff and puff since they would know damn well that won't fly.

I personally think this tactic is to reduce the number of people who may end up working a 2nd year in hogwans. Work in public school, leave and you can't return, hence shrinking the teacher pool. But even as they may 'request', immigration doesn't have to do anything since they've 'requested' for fillipino and Indian teachers for years, but immi said 'no' because the laws would not allow it.

Relax all of you. This is a bad paper with even worse reporting and no real consideration of the facts at hand.

It will never fly. If it would have, they would have implemented this system YEARS ago.

Meerkat

BreakfastInBed · Joined: 16 Oct 2007 Location: Gyeonggi do

kprrok · Joined: 06 Apr 2004 Location: KC

Smee · Joined: 24 Dec 2004 Location: Jeollanam-do

Just banged out a little write-up, thanks for calling.

http://briandeutsch.blogspot.com/2009/12/korean-government-to-create-blacklist.html

So they're going to blacklist "incompetent" teachers but haven't decided what competent means?

I wonder if they'll start with every Mr. Kim and Ms. Choi who can't speak English, who conduct classes in Korean, and who control their classes with bamboo weapons.

Anyway, to sound like less of a jerk, what they need to do, like BreakfastInBed just said, is figure out what they want. Make plans, make a curriculum. You can't evaluate foreign teachers when there isn't anything to go on. You can't evaluate foreign teachers on something just decided, when they didn't know they were to teach according to those guidelines to begin with.

I expect a lot of evaluations will say "Brian is good teacher and so handsom ^^ " and "MR. brian is teach bad. His class is not funny."

MHS · Joined: 08 Dec 2009