Korean Job Discussion Forums

[tob55]

Check out the following article:

The Qualities of Good Teachers

It is an article that provides some insights regarding the personal qualities of good teachers, and what skills they bring to the classroom.

[Sody]

[tob55]

You are right Sody, the intrinsic and extrinsic motivation present does create a number of concerns...

[Jizzo T. Clown]

Teachers in Korea create "motivation" all the time--how many of you believe in candy and stickers, even for high school students?

[ontheway]

Motivation means encouraging and providing incentive for students to study and learn, so yes, it's an essential part of any teacher's job.

Candy and stickers are not methods of motivation. They are bribes that create spoiled brats instead of good students. Korea is already full of spoiled children: too many Dudleys raised by too many Dursleys.

Unfortunately, too many parents and teachers do not know the difference between motivation and bribery.

[Jellypah]

[tob55]

Does motivation for learning exist before the incentive to participate is given?

[mack4289]

So if candy and stickers aren't a legit form of motivation (which I disagree with), what is?

I don't know about the love of teaching part. Does anyone here actually love the work part of their job? I get some satisfaction out of doing it well and take it seriously but I definitely wouldn't say I love it. I'd say I like it enough.

[sojourner1]

I read the article and it does make sense that loving what you do is key to success. I love teaching when I get students to sit down, be quiet, and be actively interested in and speaking, but kids sure are mean and unruly allot which makes job satisfaction difficult at times. I think I would love teaching teens and adults, because they will sit down on their own, listen, have a broader vocabulary, and probably are high enough English level to engage in conversation in order to build rapport. I think business English would be a great gig, except the split shifts and it being a hagwon, so a company job during regular business hours would be the ideal situation.

[Donkey Beer]

I agree, candy and stickers only make students continue acting like babies. I have often seen them go to my Korean co-teacher, demand stuff, and actually get it! Food, money, and stickers- all for the asking.

Sure, they like you better but it's just like buying friends.

If students want to act up because I don't give them what they desire, it's going to be a long and miserable year for them. They may not learn English, but they're going to get a dose of what proper manners are in my class.

[mack4289]

If you give them candy and stickers for no reason or simply because they ask, then yeah that's a bribe and an ineffective one. But if you give or refuse to give them based on their behavior and performance in the classroom, that can encourage them to be better students.

[Sody]

Interesting thoughts so far.

I would have to say that clearly, motivation is our responsibility as teachers because in order to teach effectively any good teacher must be able to motivate students. By necessity of being a "good teacher," you have no choice but to motivate. You can't have one without the other.

We've all had classes where the students aren't receptive or classes in which a number of students question the purpose of our activities or assignments. In order to address these concerns we need to address the student's question of "Why should I do this?" Or "Why should I participate in this activity, it's boring and I don't like this."

In other subjects like math for instance, a good teacher will include motivation into the structure of the lesson plan. Some teachers use incentive plans, give free time to students who successfully complete their work or let students do preferred activities like reading or drawing.

If you think about this carefully, and I have, there is no incentive whatsoever to motivate students in Korea. Here is a list of reasons for why I think motivating students in Korea is fruitless:

1. There's no benefit to motivating students because being a bad teacher has no consequences at all. Even if I do a bad job as an ESL teacher in Korea and was forced to get another job, well there are hundreds out there for me to choose from. In Korea, supply will always be greater than demand.

2. If I put all this effort into motivating students what will it ultimately accomplish? Koreans only enjoy socializing together. They are socially inept and sometimes completely against the idea of socializing with foreigners. I can't begin to tell you how many Koreans I have met abroad who simply cannot socialize with other groups, even other Asians. They simply cannot get along with others for some strange reason. Their culture focuses too much on cell phones and video games.

3. The education system is detrimental to true learning and as such, whatever you motivate them to learn now will probably be forgotten as they grow older because there are so many forces and factors which work against your encouragement.

4. It doesn't benefit your country in anyway. Well I guess if you are from America/Canada like me then you will agree with this somewhat. Hell, I would even argue that teaching in hagwon is actually detrimental to Korea, but that's just my 10 won.

5. This is probably the most important point of them all. All of the effort and stress you put into motivating your students will be unappreciated by anyone except yourself and your students. Those of you who work at a hagwon know what I mean I'm 100% sure. It's even worse when you try and be a good teacher and the repressed and overworked students simply don't care. In Korea it's so easy to give up. That's part of the reason why programs like GEPIK are sh*t. No support. That's also why so many Korean teachers don't care either and have to resort to corporal punishment.

I'm biased, but after thinking about it for a long time the only reason I can come up with for motivating your students is this:

1. You care about them for who they are as people, you take pride in your work as a teacher and you really want to motivate them.

Is this enough though? For me it is because I have students that I love. It's not always easy but I do it for myself and for my students. I don't do it for my dumb ass principal, GEPIK, Korea or the parents.

As for candy/stickers, yes they are definitely incentives but I would have to disagree that they are legit. Certainly they are not legit in other countries. In Canada you might even get fired for giving a student candy, especially if that student had an allergic reaction to it.

Sody

[ontheway]

Using candy, toys, stickers, dessert etc as rewards for good behavior or their removal/denial as punishment for bad behavior is one of the things that psychiatrists teach parents in child rearing classes NOT to do. Perhaps they need some classes for teachers as well. It is this that creates the Dudley Dursleys of the world.

Many children (not only in Korea) are spoiled rotten by the use of candy, stickers etc. They become brats and do not make good students. You can buy temporary results, but you have to feed the addiction with ever increasing doses, which leads to an escalating cycle of need for such rewards: ie you create spoiled monsters.

The best motivation is love: the teacer loves his/her students sincerely, wants them to succeed to the highest possible level each can attain individually, encourages them to do so, admonishes bad behavior, and rewards good behavior with praise, encouragement and love. The goal is to encourage a love of learning and a desire to learn and succeed in the student that transcends the need for the temporary addictive reward of candy, stickers, money and other bribes.

The difference between bribes and motivation is that motivation can be aquired and internalized by the individual who becomes self-motivated. Bribes must constantly be renewed and increased and can be turned against the giver by the recipient into demands and extortion.


Sales commissions are not the same as the candy bribery problem if properly designed and constructed. They consitute payment for real services rendered and must be earned. The bribery of children is not payment for real service or work, but consitutes a bribe for actions or behavior that is not work but merely what the recipient should have done on his own accord.

[mack4289]

[Woland]