The Korea Times
amn_close.png
amn_bl.png
National
  • Politics
  • Foreign Affairs
  • Multicultural Community
  • Defense
  • Environment & Animals
  • Law & Crime
  • Society
  • Health & Science
amn_bl.png
Business
  • Tech
  • Bio
  • Companies
  • World Expo 2030
amn_bl.png
Finance
  • Companies
  • Economy
  • Markets
  • Cryptocurrency
amn_bl.png
Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Columns
  • Thoughts of the Times
  • Cartoon
  • Today in History
  • Blogs
  • Tribune Service
  • Blondie & Garfield
  • Letter to President
  • Letter to the Editor
amn_bl.png
Lifestyle
  • Travel & Food
  • Trends
  • People & Events
  • Books
  • Around Town
  • Fortune Telling
amn_bl.png
Entertainment & Arts
  • K-pop
  • Films
  • Shows & Dramas
  • Music
  • Theater & Others
amn_bl.png
Sports
amn_bl.png
World
  • SCMP
  • Asia
amn_bl.png
Video
  • Korean Storytellers
  • POPKORN
  • Culture
  • People
  • News
amn_bl.png
Photos
  • Photo News
  • Darkroom
amn_NK.png amn_DR.png amn_LK.png amn_LE.png
  • bt_fb_on_2022.svgbt_fb_over_2022.svg
  • bt_twitter_on_2022.svgbt_twitter_over_2022.svg
  • bt_youtube_on_2022.svgbt_youtube_over_2022.svg
  • bt_instagram_on_2022.svgbt_instagram_over_2022.svg
The Korea Times
amn_close.png
amn_bl.png
National
  • Politics
  • Foreign Affairs
  • Multicultural Community
  • Defense
  • Environment & Animals
  • Law & Crime
  • Society
  • Health & Science
amn_bl.png
Business
  • Tech
  • Bio
  • Companies
  • World Expo 2030
amn_bl.png
Finance
  • Companies
  • Economy
  • Markets
  • Cryptocurrency
amn_bl.png
Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Columns
  • Thoughts of the Times
  • Cartoon
  • Today in History
  • Blogs
  • Tribune Service
  • Blondie & Garfield
  • Letter to President
  • Letter to the Editor
amn_bl.png
Lifestyle
  • Travel & Food
  • Trends
  • People & Events
  • Books
  • Around Town
  • Fortune Telling
amn_bl.png
Entertainment & Arts
  • K-pop
  • Films
  • Shows & Dramas
  • Music
  • Theater & Others
amn_bl.png
Sports
amn_bl.png
World
  • SCMP
  • Asia
amn_bl.png
Video
  • Korean Storytellers
  • POPKORN
  • Culture
  • People
  • News
amn_bl.png
Photos
  • Photo News
  • Darkroom
amn_NK.png amn_DR.png amn_LK.png amn_LE.png
  • bt_fb_on_2022.svgbt_fb_over_2022.svg
  • bt_twitter_on_2022.svgbt_twitter_over_2022.svg
  • bt_youtube_on_2022.svgbt_youtube_over_2022.svg
  • bt_instagram_on_2022.svgbt_instagram_over_2022.svg
  • Login
  • Register
  • Login
  • Register
  • The Korea Times
  • search
  • all menu
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Photos
  • Video
  • World
  • Sports
  • Opinion
  • Entertainment & Art
  • Lifestyle
  • Finance
  • Business
  • National
  • North Korea
  • 1

    14 injured as escalator reverses at Sunae Station in Bundang

  • 3

    JYP founder to work as guest commentator for NBA finals on Korean cable

  • 5

    Gov't to launch intensive crackdown against foreigners committing drug crimes

  • 7

    Experts skeptical about effectiveness of S. Korea's UNSC seat to rein in NK

  • 9

    S. Korea wins seat on UN Security Council for 2024-25

  • 11

    Korea, Poland celebrate rollout of Warsaw's first FA-50

  • 13

    Yido bridges East, West via fusion cuisine in crafted ceramics

  • 15

    Ad or song?: Coca-Cola Zero ad featuring NewJeans becomes marketing blueprint

  • 17

    Apple's Vision Pro likely to accelerate Samsung's race in XR eyewear biz

  • 19

    INTERVIEWSpaceX's Starlink in Kyiv is wake-up call for Seoul

  • 2

    RM to attend Seoul festival to mark BTS' 10th anniv.

  • 4

    BTS lifts veil on upcoming 10th anniversary event

  • 6

    Heart transplant recipients tie the knot

  • 8

    Seoul Queer Culture Festival venue moved to Euljiro

  • 10

    Dog meat traders condemn first lady, animal rights groups' push for ban

  • 12

    Samsung to unveil new foldable phones at Galaxy Unpacked in Seoul

  • 14

    Coupang, Baemin under pressure from radical labor groups

  • 16

    Rise in temperatures, solar radiation by 2100 inevitable: weather agency

  • 18

    Big events come in threes for Korean football

  • 20

    PHOTOSSubway escalator accident

Close scrollclosebutton

Close for 24 hours

Open
  • The Korea Times
  • search
  • all menu
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Photos
  • Video
  • World
  • Sports
  • Opinion
  • Entertainment & Art
  • Lifestyle
  • Finance
  • Business
  • National
  • North Korea
Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Columns
  • Thoughts of the Times
  • Cartoon
  • Today in History
  • Blogs
  • Tribune Service
  • Blondie & Garfield
  • Letter to President
  • Letter to the Editor
Fri, June 9, 2023 | 20:16
Teachers Running Rampant
Posted : 2009-06-22 17:50
Updated : 2009-06-22 17:50
Print PreviewPrint Preview
Font Size UpFont Size Up
Font Size DownFont Size Down
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • kakaolink
  • whatsapp
  • reddit
  • mailto
  • link
By Jason Lim

``Unfit, Foulmouthed, Drunken English Teachers Running Rampant."

This is how Korea Beat, a self-styled English-language Korean news blog, translated the headline for a Yonhap News story on June 11 about problems with native English-speaking teachers in Korea. A more literal translation of the headline would have been, ``Native Speakers of Questionable Quality Abound." However, once you read the story, Korea Beat's translation is actually more accurate in terms of both the content and tone of the article.

The article is a sensationalist hack job. It unashamedly caters to, and reinforces, the ingrained negative public preconceptions of native-speaker teachers.

There is barely a pretense of serious journalism. It only cites two statistics, both from the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology. Firstly, the number of native-speaker English teachers jumped by 3,000 over two years from 2006 to 2008 as a result of the government's rapid expansion policy of native-speaker English classroom education.

Secondly, 54 teachers quit without notice or resigned ― all for various reasons ― during the first four months of last year. Despite the ministry's claim that this number is negligible, the article disagrees with the ministry's own interpretation of its numbers. To prove its case, the article goes on to extrapolate the number of teachers who quit in a year to about 160 by arbitrarily multiplying it by three. That's 160 who quit out of a total of 5,417 teachers for an annual attrition rate of 2.9 percent.

It's no secret that workforce attrition will be much higher during the first few months of a job since people will be inevitably adjusting their initial expectations to the realities of the job. After the initial bump, the attrition rate tends to level off until it finds a happy equilibrium. This doesn't just happen here ― it's the case in all industries. Therefore, a straight-line extrapolation of the kind used in the article is totally unfounded.

Also, even if we take the article's calculations at face value, less than 3-percent attrition over the course of the year is certainly not bad considering the significant cultural adaptation challenges posed by native-speaker jobs in Korea, especially since many of these jobs are in rural areas. I would actually call that a resounding success.

Unfortunately, the numbers ― as miscalculated as they are ― are not the main problem. The article gleefully cites the most outrageous cases of teacher misconduct to highlight the gross incompetence, negligence and outright lies involving native-speaker teachers. As an example, it tells of a middle school teacher from Great Britain who came in drunk and began to verbally abuse the students using words they didn't understand. One teacher supposedly told the class, ``The reason I'm not married is I don't want to have kids like you,'' and ``Dokdo is Japanese," while teaching sex education.

Gasp. This is indeed outrageous. Well, at least he didn't say Takeshima. That would have been unbearable and could have caused lasting psychological scars on these defenseless junior high school students. I did have one question, though: If the children didn't understand what the teacher was saying, how did they tell the adults what was actually said?

The article also lists other cases that are sufficiently shocking and disgraceful enough to deserve prime real estate in any British tabloid worth its name. But enough. Granted, the cases are probably not made up, but that's not the point; there is a bigger issue here than just bad and sensationalist journalism. The bigger issue is racism.

This article is not a search for the truth but a list of disparate episodes that have been connected in such a way as to create a narrative that is unjustified, inaccurate and dishonest. It's alarmist. Worse, it's outright racist because it attributes certain failings ― in this case, nothing less than a failure of character ― to a whole group of people based on the actions of a few individuals because they bear superficial physical resemblance, come from comparable cultural backgrounds, or share a similar language skill set.

This is unfortunate because such an attitude goes directly against the Korea Inc. stated attempt to transition itself into a diverse, multicultural and engaged workforce, ready to excel in a global environment.

The business case for diversity is easy to make. It's all about inclusive participation, inviting everyone into the problem-solving and decision-making processes, so as to take advantage of a multitude of opinions and perspectives. This would lead to more informed and creative solutions, while developing employees who are more committed and motivated to achieve the solutions that they helped create.

With an overwhelmingly export-dependent economy, the necessity for inclusive diversity in Korea is extremely acute. Otherwise, how is Korea Inc. supposed to understand the needs and wants of its international customer base and make relevant products over the long run?

This is not just a matter of adding color to the boardrooms or assembly lines. It requires a fundamental shift in viewing non-Koreans as full partners to be treated fairly and equally rather than as outsiders to be prejudged and automatically suspected.

This is not an easy task. No one has the right to be self-righteous about this. Korea's national and ethnic culture is based on a strong sense of homogeneity, which arose mainly out of the need to survive while maintaining ethnic identity over several millennia.

But, as is often the case in the history of civilizations, what helped you survive yesterday can actually doom you today. Being unfairly racist against the very teachers who are teaching your kids the international language of our times is not an optimal survival strategy in today's global age.

Jason Lim is the managing editor of the Korea Policy Review published at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. He can be reached at jasonlim2000@gmail.com.
 
wooribank
Top 10 Stories
1Gov't to launch intensive crackdown against foreigners committing drug crimes Gov't to launch intensive crackdown against foreigners committing drug crimes
2Dog meat traders condemn first lady, animal rights groups' push for ban Dog meat traders condemn first lady, animal rights groups' push for ban
3[INTERVIEW] SpaceX's Starlink in Kyiv is wake-up call for Seoul INTERVIEWSpaceX's Starlink in Kyiv is wake-up call for Seoul
4Billy Graham Seoul Crusade celebrates 50th anniversary Billy Graham Seoul Crusade celebrates 50th anniversary
5Dollar remittance, foreign exchange rules to be eased Dollar remittance, foreign exchange rules to be eased
6Home gardening boom inspires plant adoption, specialized care services for leafy companions Home gardening boom inspires plant adoption, specialized care services for leafy companions
7Yoon's labor reform drive sputters as umbrella union exits talks Yoon's labor reform drive sputters as umbrella union exits talks
8Korean businesses seek tougher punishments for industrial espionage Korean businesses seek tougher punishments for industrial espionage
9Yoon calls for all-out efforts to win chip war Yoon calls for all-out efforts to win chip war
10Bookstore specializing in film is haven for readers and seaside lovers alike Bookstore specializing in film is haven for readers and seaside lovers alike
Top 5 Entertainment News
1Netflix's new original 'Bloodhounds' to deliver cathartic actionNetflix's new original 'Bloodhounds' to deliver cathartic action
2'Leaving Las Vegas' director Mike Figgis puts Korea in spotlight in new film 'Leaving Las Vegas' director Mike Figgis puts Korea in spotlight in new film
3White Cube to open space in Seoul White Cube to open space in Seoul
4Music festival brings attention to DMZ Music festival brings attention to DMZ
5China's hallyu restrictions likely to continue unless Seoul-Beijing ties improve China's hallyu restrictions likely to continue unless Seoul-Beijing ties improve
DARKROOM
  • Turkey-Syria earthquake

    Turkey-Syria earthquake

  • Nepal plane crash

    Nepal plane crash

  • Brazil capital uprising

    Brazil capital uprising

  • Happy New Year 2023

    Happy New Year 2023

  • World Cup 2022 Final - Argentina vs France

    World Cup 2022 Final - Argentina vs France

CEO & Publisher : Oh Young-jin
Digital News Email : webmaster@koreatimes.co.kr
Tel : 02-724-2114
Online newspaper registration No : 서울,아52844
Date of registration : 2020.02.05
Masthead : The Korea Times
Copyright © koreatimes.co.kr. All rights reserved.
  • About Us
  • Introduction
  • History
  • Contact Us
  • Products & Services
  • Subscribe
  • E-paper
  • RSS Service
  • Content Sales
  • Site Map
  • Policy
  • Code of Ethics
  • Ombudsman
  • Privacy Statement
  • Terms of Service
  • Copyright Policy
  • Family Site
  • Hankook Ilbo
  • Dongwha Group