Korean-Americans Invited
Dear editor,
I wanted to quickly respond to an article entitled ``Will Foreign Teachers Become Civil Servants?'' that was published in the Feb. 2-3 edition of The Korea Times.
After doing some research on this subject and trying to find out the different nationalities of teachers in America, I must admit I couldn't find out how many were Korean, though I did find that over 16 percent of the teachers are from foreign countries, and most of those are from Asia.
There is an old saying that I have heard often and it is the fact that the reason why America is the best is not because of Americans but because of their willingness to accept the best from the world and pay them well.
The Korean Federation of Teachers' Association was correct when they said that they should not choose teachers from other countries on the basis of the sole fact they can speak English well but on their teaching qualification.
If Korea is willing to accept qualified and dedicated professionals from outside sources, the next question would be whether they will provide the support and resources they need to meet the extraordinary needs of today's students.
The Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development says they will need to change the current educational laws to permit foreigners to become teachers and that public opinion will most likely be against it.
However, it seems strange to me that though Korea is willing to let non-Korean nationals into positions of government, it may be against non-Koreans entering the public school education system as full-fledged teachers. Korea's future relies on the ability of their next generation and Korea owes itself to give these young students the best teachers possible.
As a teacher in Korea and student teacher of Trinity Theological University I have always been amazed and impressed by the high caliber of people who choose the teaching profession for their special motivation and willingness to put up with substandard salaries, low prestige and difficult working conditions because they are committed to making a difference in the lives of children.
Michael Stevens
Christian Teacher
Guri, Gyeonggi Province