Korean Job Discussion Forums

[JoelCosmeJr]

The director of our hagwon told us on Friday that he wishes to install AV cameras in classes which can be accessed via the internet and viewed by parents from home/office anytime. The cameras would be on all day and parents can hear and see the classes in order to monitor their children's progress and whether classes are taking place as the director indicates they do.
All of the teachers rejected this idea. However, it seems to me that the director has already made up his mind since he purchased a large flat screen TV to place in front of the school for visitors to view.
He has told us that we would need to sign new contracts that include AV cams in classes.
Do any of you teach at a school/hagwon that has video cams in class? Do you have live feed AV cams? Are there any legal actions the director needs to do before he installs these cameras? Do the teachers have a right not to allow themselves to be recorded and broadcasted online (even if only those that had ID/PW access can only see them)? If the director gives us new contracts and we do not wish to agree to the terms, what can be the repercussions? Can we be fired for not agreeing to this (It's inlikely, but just want to ask).
What are your opninions about this? He said he wishes this to be something permanent in order to bring in business and make the school better known and perhaps even spread out to become a chain (only on hagwon). He made a comparison of the school to Avalon. He said our school is David and Avalon is Goliath. That simile is not apt in my opinion, but he has high hopes. Responses to this please ^.^

[passport220]

If I were a parent and I had a choice to send my child to a place where I could see what was happening in the classroom and one where I could not�..no brainier, I would pick the place with the cams. Your boss may have a valid point.

I can see how it might be uncomfortable at first and there is the danger of anyone viewing �nit picking� your actions. However, I would not assume right off the bat that is what is going to happen. On the contrary it may help improve the students behavior and performance. What is your concern?

P.S. I do not work in a place with AV cams, but I think it is a interesting topic.

[lastat06513]

I went through this problem not in Korea, but in Kuwait.
I was working for the ministry of defense and the commander of the school told us that the cameras being installed were to keep an eye on the Kuwaiti soldiers to prevent them from damaging any of the computers in the classrooms.

Yet the camera were not pointing at them, they were pointing at the teachers....it was a way for him to micromanage us at work, which was terribly annoying....and which is one of the reasons I didn't renew my contract after the first 3 months...

I think camera in the classroom might be ok for kindy classes, but for any classes above that age is strictly an invasion of privacy and do more to interfere with creativity rather than manage how a teaccher conducts his class.

[lover.asian]

[goodgood]

It sounds like an ok idea for the school, but for the teachers....oh god. I'd quit immediately- I couldn't handle the stress of having my every move analyzed by the parents.

[Bukowski]

It's a great things all the way around. It can serve to improve the behavior of the teachers and the students. If you do your job, they only serve to help and protect you.

This topic has been covered several times in the past, and I don't see what the objections could possibly be (unless your a complete slacker).

AC

[Qinella]

I worked in a place that had cameras. I don't know about online, but the viewing room (for parents) downstairs had about 12 screens, and also one of the teachers' rooms had a wall of screens. It can be a good thing and a bad thing.

Good: If there are discipline problems, you will have evidence of bad behavior.

Bad: The parents may blame the teacher for their own child's abhorrent behavior. (This happened to me. My child is yelling and throwing things! Bad teacher!)


Good: It can help the school's enrollment.

Bad: A lot of parents think they are experts in language teaching methodology. Teachers will get ridiculous and contradictory instructions from parents/customers on how to run their classrooms.


If you can handle hearing a bunch of micromanaging nonsense from your director, then it won't be too bad. Just learn to smile and nod and continue to do things the way you see fit. Arguing is futile.

However, about the whole online broadcasting thing, I'm not so sure I would be very comfortable with that. You know how vicious Korean netizens are. What's to stop someone from capturing one of the video feeds of you and manipulating it, or using it to mock or harass you?

[Son Deureo!]

I don't think he really needs your permission via a new contract to install the cameras in your classroom. Legally, it's his place of business and I'm sure he has the right to install those cameras if he likes.

Since he's asking for your permission, however, and you're obviously uncomfortable with it you might as well refuse to sign. I worked in a hogwon that decided to install cameras in the classrooms with feeds to the parents via internet when I was about halfway through the contract and all I can say is it is I'd never tolerate it again. This opens the door for constant micromanaging by both the parents and the director. Suddenly there were constant counterproductive complaints all the time about how much class time was spent with their textbooks on the desks, how much time I spent sitting down in class, who looked bored, how much I wrote on the white board, ad nauseum. It added a lot of extra stress to what had already been a pretty crappy job.

Since there was no sound feed for the cameras, there really wasn't any way for anyone watching to really know anything about the academic content that was in the classes they were watching, so the only possible feedback was about the most superficial things. As for it protecting the teachers, all I can say is that it never seemed to be used that way. Unless the cameras are actually recording what's going on in the classroom for later use, any dispute over what happened in a classroom at any given time was still nothing more than a "he said, she said" argument.

OP, I'd seriously consider quitting over this if I were you.

[Canadian Club]

My school has cameras, and there was no mention of it in the contract, or in any of the interviews that I had with the school. I only found out on my first day when I saw the thing.

I don't like it, but I also know that there isn't anything that I can do about it, so I really don't stress much.

I've had parents call in and complain that their children were crying (well, yes... they're six or seven year olds, and they get upset when ther are disciplined/called names by other students at playtime/told that they're losing stickers for speaking Korean). Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it), there is no sound, only vodeo, so the parents/principal have no way of knowing what is being said.

If I had a choice, I would choose a school without cameras... but how do you ask during an interview without sounding like a 40 year old pervy man who wants some "private time" with his little kindi kids?

[oneofthesarahs]

My hagwon has AV cameras in every classroom. Everything is recorded, but quite honestly our director is too busy to bother watching every single class. I do know she reviews teaching methodology with the Korean teachers by having them watch some of their classes, but she doesn't bother with the native teachers, since we're pretty much just there to for the kids to have a complete "immersion" class once a week. As long as the kids aren't totally running amok, and they're learning what they're supposed to learn, she doesn't bother us too much.

However, there is one flat screen TV out in the lobby that shows every classroom (no audio) on splitscreen. There are eight different classrooms, so you can barely see what's going on when they're all split up into tiny little pictures anyway. Occasionally a parent will come in and the director will put their class up on full screen, but that's pretty rare, and it's rarely with the native teachers (although she did watch me when I first started).

It doesn't bother me much, since she doesn't micromanage. From a business standpoint, it's good quality control if the teachers know they are being recorded. Also, if a dispute arises about how something happened in the classroom, it's all on tape.

[willneverteachagain]

Bukowski: u must have a very small brain if u cant figure it out.

I wasn't told about the cameras in my school either, but first day of school, they were there. I almost quit too.

[ChuckECheese]

What's your worry? It may be your gateway to stardom. You'll be famous.

[willneverteachagain]

the worry is the parents will pull their kids for rediculously dumb reasons like a 7 year old crying, call the school every day probably and the foreign teacher will be blamed for "the down fall of the school"

[alabamaman]

This is interesting. If a Foreign Language Teacher asked for changes in a contract, then the employer would reject such requests a "majority of the times."

Q: Is there a clause in your labor contract regarding changes in your labor contract? Please post it if you feel comfortable doing so.

Nevertheless, you should call the Labour Board on Monday. Dial 1350 and wait a minute before you press 7 to speak to someone in English. I've called them before and had my questions translated to a lawyer who spoke Korean only. Write down a list of questions before you call. The purpose isn't to report your boss, but to get a better picture regarding your employers requests to sign another labor contract.

In my humble opinion, the following questions would be good for you to ask:

(1) Can I be fired for not agreeing to sign another labor contract?

(2) If the director gives me a new contract and I do not wish to agree to the terms, what can be the repercussions?

[Bukowski]