I wrote a piece about ten common misconceptions Koreans have of native speaker teachers, and it appeared on the Korea Times site this evening. I hope to be allowed to turn each point into a full-length article, because each one really needs fuller explanation and amplification. And a word count limit meant that I had to leave quite a bit out. It's important to point out not only why these misconceptions exist and the extent to which they do, but why they're harmful to us.
There are other misconceptions that deserve treatment as well: we do drugs, we have AIDS, we are buffoons, we are on call to practice your English at your convenience, we are decoration, we are helpless, we aren't necessary, and of course the catch-alls like we don't understand Korean culture or we don't like Korea. I had a couple of those in the rough draft, but swapped them out later. There are other things that drive me up the wall---getting asked if I know bibimbap, being told kimchi is too spicy for me to eat---but it's probably not best to go running to the paper about those just yet.
I also left out that when these misconceptions are circulated they're often defended by saying "many foreigners" do this, "some foreigners" do that, or "I heard about" native speakers doing something or other. There are bad apples among us, of course, and it's insulting to pretend there aren't. But the actions of a small few are consistently used to disparage an entire demographic, which suggests a number of larger forces at work, issues I hope to explore later. Don't get me wrong, "we" have a lot of growing up to do, and if we want to grow as professionals we have to defeat these stereotypes by continuing to set positive examples. We need to set these positive examples for our Korean neighbors and also---and more importantly I believe---for each other, and for a quote-unquote community of teachers that does not yet exist, because too often our introduction to the country is in the form of bitter veterans who treat Korea as a place to survive, not succeed.
But as far as this article, I hope to draw attention to how we're portrayed in the media, and how this portrayal---by Koreans and foreigners alike--- is neither responsible nor accurate, and that even the act of trying to "prove" these negative stereotypes ought to lead one to evidence of just how uninformed they are.
36 comments:
If you do end up covering each of these points in separate pieces, I suggest starting with the sexual predator one (or at least make it an early topic), and use cold, hard statistics about arrest rates, if you can find them (and if you can't, I might know a sympathetic criminologist in Korea who can help out). I would treat the "child abuser" and "rapist" memes separately from the "stealing our women" meme, if I dealt with the debauchery topic at all.
I had suggested before making a concise but honest assessment of the "negative" face of the English-teaching community, but you do acknowledge the "bad apples," which is appropriate for the theme of this article.
Ultimately, the problem probably requires two things in order to be resolved: public awareness about press abuses vis-à-vis these isssues AND allies within the Korean media to get that message across, plus a return by the English teachers themselves to earlier levels of professionalism. Clearly your article is addressing the first part of #1 (though something like a dispassionately organized "media watch" database is probably in order), but it's going to take an anti-ATEK that actually takes some of the concerns of the Korean public, about drug usage, criminal backgrounds, etc., seriously. From this and other writings, you seem to understand this, but the people who claim to represent you seem not to.
Though I think this was well-written and successfully covered a lot of important areas, I have just one quibble/recommendation. When you write about "Korean teachers who beat children, sexually abuse students, take bribes or participate in anti-government rallies," it's not really helping your case. Many Koreans already have a negative general concept about Korean teachers and there's a lot of controversy about what to do about that. Thus, taking a tack that basically boils down to "Oh, yeah, well what about the Korean teachers?" doesn't make the native English-speaking teachers look better, it only serves to bring them down to the sinking level of Korean teachers in the public's mind. Describe the small number of arrests compared to the large number of E2/E1 instructors, along with a discussion of how background checks should reasonably weed out most of the rest. Demonstrate that the problem is exaggerated by the media, rather than demonstrating that Korean teachers can be worse.
Focus on the successes of the native English teachers, provide an honest assessment of their problems, and address how these problems — however minor they actually are — can be resolved. Be the better group.
WORD VERIFICATION: no nom — ha ha
I am very glad you wrote this article, and I am even glader that it is in the public domain to counter recent nonsense that has been printed in the Korea Times.
Your choice of medium, however, gives me pause. Is it a good idea to publish this in a newspaper that encourages xenophobia, has clearly no editorial competence, and publishes the rantings of a fourth-rate academic? Yes, going into the lion's den might force a few stalwarts to think different, but it might also incite a lot of rage as well.
I cannot help but wonder: are you just playing Alan Colmes in this article?
Top marks to ANYONE who uses the word "behoove"
Nice.
I find it hard to defend the "We're unqualified" one, because all you need is a B.A. Sometimes I feel underqualified because I don't have a B.Ed.
Just to elaborate on my last comment, I feel like I need the B. Ed because if I was to go back to Canada and teach ESL, I'd need a B. Ed.
qualifications as an ESL teacher is a very sensitive topic, much more a debatable one.
But thats a very good point livefrommasan.
One thing is sure, many of the ESL teachers here in Korea are qualified. But on what fraction? I dont know.
We all know what this is; it is like low-life rednecks who hate black people. They know that they are shit, but need to think someone is lower than them. That is where native teachers come in. They are an easy target. I think this is just a deflection away from the scandels, murderers, rapists, child perverts, child rapist perverts, murderous rapists, taxi driver rapists, fuck....you could combine those words dozens of ways to descibe society here. Fact is that the expat crime rate is far lower than that for Koreans. What the fuck do you think would have happened if 3 English teachers had systematically raped a retarded minor for years? No jail time and given the rape victim back? They would have gone to town with the media trail and criminal trial and they would have never seen the light of day again.
good article, brian. hope you do get a chance to expand on it.
Brilliant. Well written.
I have worked with several foreign instructors with Master's in TESOL and Education . . .
I can honestly say that what you have on paper doesn't mean shit in this country. The curricula and training are based on western cultural norms, and perhaps more importantly teaching/learning/testing norms--a lot of the time these don't apply here.
If you don't have the needed prep time and specific info about goals/needs/etc of the Korean language learners you will be teaching (and assuming that these things also don't change several times too) you cannot teach well no matter what qualifications and/or talent for teaching you have. ALL EFL/ESL native instructors have experienced the schedule changes, types of language learners expected in classes changes, etc etc etc . . . so when someone talks about 'professional qualifications' on paper I laugh--none of that seems to do much for people teaching here.
I tend to think of people with the paper work to 'prove' they are qualified tend to be at best high level technicians in education factories . .. they have no real talent for teaching, and punch in and out of the factory, teaching only in terms of what they know and have learned according to the teaching system them have 'mastered'--cough, ahem, NOT!
And when the factory conditions don't match the teaching method system the quality of teaching and actual things done often differ drastically due to a lack of ability to adapt to the actual circumstances forced on the instructor . ..
The more time I spend in Korea the more I realize personality type, life experiences, and motivations play more important roles than what people have on paper.
If you spend time on lesson prep, buy some good teaching method books (and read/study them, INVEST in good lesson/resource books, and have a talent for teaching and a passion for the job too--these things seem to produce far better 'qualifications' than anything else I've witnessed in Korea.
Jumping through the hoops of the ESL/EFL circus training ring, or getting the Master's in TESOl, or in Education (especially in North America--"education" does NOT mean the same thing HERE!), frankly doesn't seem to guarantee that a 'qualified' teacher comes out the other side of this process. You DO get someone who knows how to do more tricks, but does that make them a 'good' teacher--I'd argue not based on what I've seen . ..
I think Kushibo makes an excellent observation about strategy in trying to produce some changes. Open-minded Koreans do generally say that things need to change, and that there are problems in the system. But step on a linguistic-landmine by writing about bad/corrupt/unethical/unqualified Korean teachers and you just show a degree of rhetorical ignorance in writing and analyzing the Korean EFL/ESL landscape.
There are good "CORE" teaching methods and skills that are cross-cultural, or rather, cross-ELT-classroom/curriculum/ed systems . . . . but KNOWING how to use these teaching skills/methods IN Korean ELT classrooms is another matter altogether.
I've worked with NEWBIES that have Master's in TESOL and/or Education . . . and while they drown more slowly and with less obvious problems . .. they still struggle with many of the problems that newbies that don't have the training . . . but who do have the innate/intangible teaching talent and characteristics of a good teacher . . .
The primary thing I want to stress here is that the 'qualifications' you have on paper all too often don't mean much when you're new to the Korean EFL/ESL scene. More often it's personality type, passion for teaching in general, and willingness to work hard in terms of lesson prep and overall improving your teaching that end up with the best results . .. in spite of what in the West would be considered unprofessional teaching and working conditions . . . .
It's 1am, and that's all I have to say about this . . .
J
livefrommasan/arvinsign.
I will try to clarify what qualified to teach ESL means in Canada.
A Bachelor of Education does not qualify one to teach ESL in the public school system in Canada. All Bachelor of Education graduates must still complete an officially recognized TESL Canada and TESL Ontario training course, which is 310 hours in length, with 100 hours of practicum teaching. A training institute must be approved by the Canadian Ministry of Education to teach the training course, so those Internet TESL courses are worth shit in Canada.
Also, a Master of TESOL does not qualify one to teach in the public school system in Canada, but the TESL Canada and the TESL Ontario do.
To teach ESL in a hagwon in CAnada requires the 110 hour TESL Canada diploma, which is also the prerequisite diploma to the TESL Ontario.
Why is this? A Master of TESOL is an academic degree that does research in ESL related topics, but the degree has no guided practicum.
B.Ed holders hate having to complete the 310 hours of additional training because they think they are qualified, but they are not in the eyes of the Canadian government. They are qualified to teach academic English, not ESL
In short, the word qualified has a specific meaning in Canada. Someone qualified to teach ESL in the public school system is one who holds the two TESL diplomas. Holders of a B.Ed are unqualiied to teach ESL in the public school system. Their teaching ability as academic teachers of English is irrelevant.
To add to what Samuel said there are thousands of hagwons in Canada, (many owned by Koreans), and it seems like each one requires a different TESL or TESOL or whatever diploma. In order to be employable in Canada as an ESL teacher a person pretty much has to take half a dozen of these programs that are a joke to anybody who has a few years of good ESL teaching experience, to get magic paper that grants us entry into the ESL job market. The purveyors of a lot of these "diplomas" are just businesspeople who make agreements with the hagwons to share the wealth gained from tuitions. In short it's a corrupt system that has nothing to do with teacher qualification and everything to do with money. Sound familiar?
I agree with Jason, paper doesn't mean that much. Certainly a Masters or Doctorate degree in pancake flipping or dog walking or chemistry doesn't make you a better ESL teacher than me. They haven't figured that out yet here in Korea. I think, as in any profession that requires an artistic, flexible, free-thinking, decisive, socially well adapted person who can multi-task, think on his/her feet, handle responsibility and discretion well, what we learn OUTSIDE the class is more important than what we learn in school. Especially if you receive training rather than education in the classrooms. But until we can get some sort of a degree in LIFE from Harvard University, the Korean system won't put any weight on life experience and will continue to judge foreign ESL teachers largely on academic degrees.
On the topic of ESL hagwons in Canada, I was able to get a job at two hagwons with no certificate. I talked my way into both jobs. It is possible to still get such a teaching job, but the pay is usually rock bottom.
It is true that a lot of Koreans own such hawons in Canada, and call them something-or-other English Academy. Using the word "academy" to refer to such schools always struck me as odd, but I digress.
The school I worked for was run by the biggest asshole Korean in the world. True story: he told me privately that he thought black-people were lazy, so he fired the black person I had hired as the school's head teacher.
Also, he ran a TESL diploma course that let in any Korean who could say her ABCs. The certificate was worth nothing, because the Canadian government hadn't approved the school officially;however, he was within his rights to offer such a course.
Just 6 months ago the Canadian government stepped in to stop hagwon owners from offering TESL courses. Now all TESL courses must be approved by the Ministry of Education. For professional ESL teachers (and yes, for some of us, ESL is a career) this certification is a huge relief. It also improves Canada's image by not allowing asshole owners to deceive their students with worthless, but previously legally permitted, hagwon TESL diplomas.
Thanks Samuel for your comprehensive examination. I think i got myself confused with academic English, and teaching English as a second language.
In the former, primarily a degree/diploma/academic publication etc is probably a necessity, while in the latter, experience weighs more.
correction.."comprehensive explanation"
Samuel thanks for that information! I have a B.ed from an Ontario university and was looking to do a masters while still here in Korea so that I would remain competitive in the job market. After reading what you just wrote I am so glad that I had decided against doing my MTESOL.
I think the attempt with the article is an important one, but it would be better served to print it in the Korean media, especially if you were going to turn it into a series.
Printing it in the English rags isn't getting it out to those who need to see it.
Hey Brian, it's a real blood-bath over in the comments section of The Korea Times. Are you really going to write ten more articles about this? You're going to give quite a few KT readers aneurysms, if not something much worse!
It doesn't matter what Brian or any other foreigner writes. The Korean asshats in the comments section have their opinions written in stone and have no other agenda in their comments but to spread their hatred of foreigners.
If anyone wants confirmation of the racism we see in Korea (and written in English rather than hidden away in Korean behind Naver/Daum's real name system) one only has to point to those posts.
So much for KT's posting TOS.
ROK Hound wrote:
It doesn't matter what Brian or any other foreigner writes. The Korean asshats in the comments section have their opinions written in stone and have no other agenda in their comments but to spread their hatred of foreigners.
I'm going to violate my own one-common-per-post rule (which is actually an average so this isn't really a violation) because I think this requires some perspective.
First off, Brian isn't (or shouldn't be) trying to convince that group of people. Yeah, their opinions are probably set in stone and you aren't going to change them.
By presenting intelligently written articles or op-eds in the Korean-language press, it will reach a broader audience of people who are perhaps sympathetic (or could be made so) who are simply unaware of the troubles and issues facing foreign residents in Korea, particularly the English-teaching scapegoats who are just trying to do an honest day's work.
Second, who those vitriolic commenters are is another issue. See this Marmot's Hole post on the "Comments Super Tribe" for some perspective on this.
If anyone wants confirmation of the racism we see in Korea (and written in English rather than hidden away in Korean behind Naver/Daum's real name system) one only has to point to those posts. .
The most vehement commenters are more likely to spew more of their crap the more they see society changing in a direction they don't like.
(Not that I want to get into a political argument, but it's like the conservative members of the GOP who see their party's popularity ratings sinking and they think the response is to be more conservative, to show the true spirit of pure conservatism, while the other half of the party is talking about the need to change and be flexible and reach out.)
The KT racists (and they are on both sides) are representative of what? To make my point with a parallel example, I could point you in the direction of the comments section of most any article involving someone with a "Mexican-sounding" surname at the Orange County Register to give you a similar taste. Does that intense animosity, racist in many cases, represent the average OCer? Some, I'm sure, but most OCers would look at the same stuff with embarrassment.
Okay, but whether you buy that or not, Brian or whoever can make a difference by putting this stuff in the Korean-language media. There is an imbalance in the narrative and things need to be set right.
So much for KT's posting TOS.
Someone needs to make it clear to the KT that their comments section is way out of control and needs to be reined in. It would behoove them to actually pay someone to monitor it and keep comments on topic and vitriol-free.
Brian,
A wonderful article - and as usual I find myself agreeing with you on many points. At this point almost any amount of writing in English is singing to the choir, therefore who among us can step up and help Brian out by, say, translating into Korean and writing for the Korean newspapers? The Korean newspaper has no interest in translating - and even if they did they may not publish it anyway.
It is a shame that we don't have the same ability of speech (let alone freedom of speech). Allies in the media (as kushibo suggests)?Wonderful - now where are they?
Great article, I do agree with other posters that it needs to get into the Korean press...
I have a problem with #9 on the list.
Are we not here for money? Would any of you be here were it not for the wads of cash thrown at English education in this country?
The number one reason that I'm in Korea is to make money and pay off my gargantuan student loans. I really don't understand the stigma attached to that honest answer.
Do you think migrant workers in the US are there to learn about American culture, or that Koreans working in Canada are there because of maple syrup?
Why are we so ashamed to say that we're here because Korea offers high paying work for our profession?
"Why are we so ashamed to say that we're here because Korea offers high paying work for our profession?"
Thats a very honest point. If this is true, then this must be connected or related to No. 6 as well (Pls clarify if my observation is wrong).
If the reason for coming over is not money, or anything related to No. 6, so then what is it? Is it passion for teaching? Not to mention the fact that most (not all) native teachers felt that they are being mistreated , yet they are still here.(Unless if married to a Korean).
The list is ok, but i think the explanation is somewhat out of line. And also the choice of the publication material is bad. Most people here tend to be bias about KT. If its Jon Huer writing, then you can expect a barrage of criticisms from many expats. (I dont like him either, but i respect his opinions and my hats off to his professional accomplishments) But now that Brian posted something that favors the native teachers as a group, then everybody seems to agree.
Kushibo, as my first post stated, we are in agreement on the "post it in the Korean media" point. I think it's important to get it to the largest audience as possible and the English "press" isn't even close.
I know Brian is not writing it to convince anyone to bend to his/our POV, but the articles DO serve the purpose of getting dialogue between the two sides. Even if the dialogue doesn't materialize as hoped, there's at least a small chance of cognitive dissonance appearing somewhere out there.
Places like the KT comment boards (where the English-speaking Korean racists tend to congregate) or Dave's (where the native English-speaking racists tend to congregate) are not going to generate any amount of healthy dialogue.
Maybe I'm naive, but I'm hopeful the article(s) will generate water cooler talk at the very least.
Wojciech, are we here for the money? The answer should be: yes and no. Cut our wages in half and you'll see us all leave, but money is not the be-all end-all of why we're here in Korea.
Money was never the over-riding factor in my decision to come to Asia (not only to Korea). Hell, I'm not sure it was even in the top three. Twelve years on, and money is still not the over-riding factor for me to stay.
Could I make a lot of money here if I wanted to? Absolutely. I was pocketing nearly 4 grand a month when I quit the hagwon game, but I gave up all that lucre for a job I love and time off where I can enjoy my life a little more. A secure, pleasant, stress-free job beats out a 35-hour 6-day workweek just to make an extra grand a month. Beats it in a landslide.
If I had wanted only money, I would have stayed in Canada where I could have made nearly $100/hour (as an RMT).
Course, this is me. I'm not exactly in debt from uni loans and have no financial obligations back home, so I can afford to be a little more choosy about where and why I work.
I do understand why some are not so blessed, and feel they must come here to "cash in" on the Korean ESL market. Not exactly an ideal choice these days, but I can see why the mercenary sort are drawn here.
The editor nixed the idea of doing ten separate articles. He wrote, and I quote, "In journalism, we refrain from publishing the same subject in a series." Meanwhile Jon Huer is still doing his two or three articles a week.
I'll be expanding on THAT in a little while, and perhaps I'll post the ten articles on this site for the sake of completeness.
"Meanwhile Jon Huer is still doing his two or three articles a week"
- Maybe thats how they define the difference between a regular columnist and a contributing writer. Just give the old man the space he deserve, anyway he is a Professional.
He is a professional in the sense that he gets paid for it, you're right, though we've established he doesn't act like it.
The fact that you or anyone doesnt like his style of writing (primarily because of contrasting opinions about a certain matter) doesnt make him wrong. This guy is a PROFESSOR, an AUTHOR of several books and WELL experienced in his field of expertise. Not to mention he is a doctoral degree holder in a field that he is dealing (or writing about) with.
Your negative impressions about him was due to your own personal biases.
You dont like him (or people like him), and he doesnt like you (or people like you), period.
Where is he currently a professor? I was under the impression he hasn't had anything to do with his field of "expertise" for quite a while. Certainly his knowledge of Korean sociology leaves a lot to be desired.
Writing a book does not an expert make. Obviously.
@ ROK Hound
this is from KT:
Who Is Jon Huer?
Jon Huer received his Ph.D. in Sociology from UCLA in 1975 and is the author of a dozen books of social criticism, including 1977's The Dead End, which TIME Magazine's Lance Morrow called "an important and often brilliant book"; The Wages of Sin in 1991; Tenure for Socrates in 1990; The Great Art Hoax in 1992; The Fallacies of Social Science in 1989; Marching Orders in 1988; The Post-Human Society in 2005; and The Green Palmers in 2007. Most of them are available at Amazon.com and Barnesandnoble.com. Dr. Huer taught at the University of North Carolina, Wilmington, where he was an associate professor of sociology before joining the University of Maryland University College in 1994 and is currently a professor of sociology at UMUC-Asia. He specializes in American society and considers himself an avid observer of all things Korean.
"Writing a book does not an expert make. Obviously."
True. I agree. But it depends on the overall quality of the book. Plus a "dozen" book is surely not a joke. Obviously.
Its light years better than a gazillion pages of amateur blog.
Look, I'm not going to sit here and pretend this is anything more than a personal blog, or that I'm anything beyond a guy with a laptop. I don't rival Huer's on-paper credentials or his age, and even though I won $50 in a writing contest in college, I don't have anything on his dozen books or so. I'm not going to debate that, even though I could make a strong case. But I think people are right to question what the English-language media is doing giving a forum to a guy who is so clearly out-of-touch. It would be one thing if it were just me bitching about him from my parents' basement, bitter because the KT won't publish my stuff. But it's person after person, respected Korean writer after respected Korean writer, and even Korean after Korean, complaining about how off the deep end is about this guy. Don't we deserve better?
I used to be a professional book critic in the U.S. can can assure you that in my professional estimation, Mr. Huer's articles in The Korea Times are an abomination and can only be rationalized on the very off chance that he's intentionally being tongue-in-cheek in order to provoke extreme reactions and thereby increase readership.
As someone who lived in Japan and am very fond of its culture and people, I am especially offended by his serial bashing of Japan in literally every article. If I could be bothered, I would string together all his quotes on Japan from his column series, and they would form an entire article in itself that would reveal what a profound bigot he is, and certainly no worthy "sociologist" by any standard.
"But I think people are right to question what the English-language media is doing giving a forum to a guy who is so clearly out-of-touch."
- Yes thats right. But have you also considered the possibility that whatever opinion that you and other people has on a certain person (or anything) is because of your preconceived notions/biases thus distorting your view of what is right and what is wrong? You are as subjective as others.
"It would be one thing if it were just me bitching about him from my parents' basement, bitter because the KT won't publish my stuff. But it's person after person, respected Korean writer after respected Korean writer, and even Korean after Korean, complaining about how off the deep end is about this guy."
- I suppose the number of people expressing (in personal blogs, Korea Beat, Marmot's hole etc your personal acquaintances) their hatred of someone or something does not constitute a universal unified opinion on anything on this planet. You are seeing only what you want to see. In the same way that Huer is probably telling only what the Koreans want to hear.
Brian, dont get me wrong. I like the informations found in most of your blog articles. They are very very informative. But this time i think you are way over board. It irks me that sometimes bloggers tend to think that they are on the same caliber already as seasoned columnists in newspapers or magazines.
As far as i know, blogging is different from real journalism. (Regardless how popular the blog is or how jerk the regular columnist is)
and to answer your question, of course all of us deserve better. So the solution is JUNK the KT.
"So the solution is JUNK the KT"
Won't have to, 'tis the future.
www.newspaperdeathwatch.com
The recent film, "State of Play, documents the rise of blogging as a major method of news dissemination and the death of a major U.S. newspaper as part of the back-story. It's not a bad film. Not as good as the British television mini-series, but not bad.
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