* August 21, 2009: "SMOE cuts tons of native speaker English teacher jobs days before start of semester."
* August 25, 2009: "Teachers pissed about last-minute SMOE cancellations; SMOE putting the blame on foreign English teachers?"
The part of today's column that deserves further thought comes at the end:
Teachers, too, should be mindful of things beyond just the risk of taking any teaching job in Korea. The times are changing. Korea has long been a teachers' market, one where demand far outstripped supply, to the extent that schools would hire foreign-looking people literally right off the street.
But between this, the firing of a teacher for catching swine flu -- another big story in August -- and the faltering economy that's bringing more and more teachers to Asia, it's clear that schools will begin being more choosy, perhaps skipping over and even firing people if someone better comes along.
Something I'd seen repeated on other blogs and message boards is that while SMOE have indeed always over-hired to protect itself from teachers who suddenly quit, schools should now understand that with a rough job market back home, this will probably happen less frequently, and they should change their hiring practices accordingly. I think we'll find the market here turn far more cruel, especially because schools can consider themselves far more choosy. If Korea is still a popular destination for college graduates and teachers, I think the days of countless job opportunities and automatic renewals are numbered. We've seen articles about how poor job markets back home are encouraging ceritified teachers to look to Korea, though the big questions are not only whether schools here will pay for quality, but if they can even recognize a quality NSET in the first place.
Indeed, I've often wondered how much longer native speaker English teachers will even be used in public schools. You've got school districts training their Korean English teachers and offering incentives and certificates for becoming competent in English, the government trying to hire thousands of part-time Korean English teachers better-skilled in communication, and creating an English test to replace the TOEFL domestically, a test that will test "practical English." I stand by a comment I made in an earlier Herald piece:
The government has been recruiting thousands of Korean English "lecturers" to teach practical English, a change that will coincide with the introduction of a home-grown English assessment exam that will domestically replace the TOEFL in a few years. These lecturers have a better chance of success not because they are Korean, but rather because the system is not setting them up to fail.
If only the same amount of planning and foresight accompanied the use of native English speakers in the classroom.
Clearly there isn't a lot of planning and foresight when using us. And considering how sporadically we're used and that our strengths are trumped by the demands of teaching for tests, I wonder how long it will be until administrators consider it no longer efficient to put a native English speaker in every school.
9 comments:
Ironically, these firings could lead to more teachers bailing on contracts. That is, if I've got a contract offer from SMOE, but maybe I'm an inexperienced teacher, I'm thinking they might cut me in August. So I'd also have some offers lined up with hagwon, just in case. True, you can only process one visa, but if SMOE drags their feet, or does something fishy, maybe the teachers with contracts will take their back-up choices.
"Many foreign teachers give up working with us at the last minute, perplexing schools that are supposed to have native English speakers, so we secure extra teaching hopefuls every year. For this semester, we selected enough applicants for a possible shortage as we recruit a large number of teachers."
Those damn fucking English teachers!
Brian, regarding the 6 month program and this long term plan to get rid of foreign native teachers and just use Korean English teachers--let me say this: a 6 month program does not an English teacher make.
Jason, what six month program? TaLK?
I don't think those thousands of Korean English teachers are here to replace native speakers, although Kang Shin-woo of the Korea Times tried to imply it. As I said in the Herald piece and the post that accompanied it here, they seem to be dispatched to improve schools where there aren't English teachers to begin with. I mean, a lot of us are teaching at multiple schools, and some schools don't even have native speakers at all. Furthermore some schools aren't able to make use of these "after school" conversation classes either b/c there isn't a native speaker, or b/c the native speaker is too busy with other schools.
But I do think that plan to use thousands of additional Korean English teachers does indicate a change in thinking, one that is looking at more options than simply hiring a ton of native speakers. But, as you can see from the link, they didn't recruit enough teachers the first time around. And unless they're considering becoming full-time teachers in the future, why would somebody want to participate in that program? Koreans who DO have good English aren't going to toil in the public school system, but will instead explore opportunities where they can put their English to use.
"Many foreign teachers give up working with us at the last minute, perplexing schools that are supposed to have native English speakers," said a representative from a nation where no last minute decision has ever been made and where everything is planned months in advance, precluding the possibility of unforeseen circumstances and the consequences of poor preparation.
Amen to that, Stevie Bee.
If SMOE's defense is that they must hire a surplus of teachers as insurance against other applicants bailing out at the last minute, why don't they just tell these "surplus" teachers, on the front end, that they are "stand-by" or "alternate" candidates?
I was one of the recent 100 teachers to be told at the very last minute that I would have to wait until March of next year to start work because they had "hired too many teachers". Granted, I had submitted my application relatively late in the game, but I was interviewed, sent a contract, signed the contract, received the work visa, and was THEN told that SMOE, oops, "hired way too many teachers".
This, of course, was after I had quit my job, moved out of my apartment, and packed my bags.
Completely unacceptable. A total disgrace. Stay away from SMOE.
Yeah, the idea of a waiting list of potential candidates is not exactly a new concept. JET has been using it for nearly two decades. When Korea set out to copy the success of JET (first with KORETA and later with EPIK, and its program brethren), you'd think they would actually implement its effective policies.
I imagine there will always be, at the very least, some token non-Asian faces associated with English education in Korea -- particularly in camps, festivals, and other "educational" events that function mostly as photo-ops. But when it comes to day-to-day teaching, I imagine that phasing out NSETs must be a long-term goal in public schools, since nobody has yet figured out how an NSET can be truly helpful in preparing students for their Korean-style standardized tests. Of course, it will probably come down to whether or not hagwon can still attract customers without foreign faces on display. As long as hagwon hire NSETs, I imagine most public schools will too, as parents would probably complain if they didn't. The necessity of having an NSET on campus has always been based on the popular opinion of parents anyway, rather than on any educational benefits (whether those benefits exist or not).
As for licensed teachers coming over to Korea to teach English, I doubt that would ever be lucrative for the teacher, unless they simply cannot find work back home and need to settle for lower pay. I can't imagine many Korean employers being willing to pay a licensed NSET what they're worth. For all the talk of "unqualified" teachers, I doubt that many Korean employers truly give a crap how skilled an NSET is, as long as they show up and don't "cause trouble". That lack of respect, too, would have to be pretty frustrating for someone who actually has an ed degree, and sees themselves as a career teacher.
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