Respect of Local Education System
By David Thiessen
For many years this country has seen its share of whiners and complainers who are dissatisfied with the current system of educating Korean students. No matter what has been said in defense of the Korean officials, no matter the proof given that the system is not broken and that there is no legitimate alternative, these armchair quarterbacks and disgruntled Westerners continue to voice their displeasure.
They do not listen to anyone because they think they know a better way even though they forget that complaints about the educational system have plagued mankind throughout all of history and every civilization since the pre-Sumerian days. Also, they do not realize that their complaints are not new or original and do not invoke ``the perfect system."
All the attempts to get these whiners to see reason have failed; even when one uses the Bible these people turn a blind eye because they think they are right and their ideas are better than those who have the right to construct their own system and have been doing so for approximately 5,000 years.
Maybe they will listen to Albert Einstein who said, ``Finally, I wish to emphasize once more that what has been said here in a somewhat categorical form does not claim to mean more than the personal opinion of one man, which is founded upon nothing but his own personal experience."
Einstein knew what these modern observers seem to miss. Their complaints and observations about the KES or any system is merely their own personal opinion, one which does not trump any other person's opinion.
Or maybe they will listen to Admiral Spock of ``Star Trek'' fame who said in sacrificing his screen life, ``The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few." This is one thing many Westerners do not realize ― that the needs of the 700 to 1000 other students in their child's school outweigh the needs of their one or two children and they need to refrain from usurping authority and find alternatives for their children if they are not happy with the current system.
It is not up to the Koreans to adapt to the Westerner but it is the Westerner who agrees to the Korean way by their acceptance of their successful visa application. Being granted an E- or F- Series visa, or other, does not mean one was extended permission to change Korea, to criticize it and its systems, nor to dictate to Koreans what they should or should not do.
It is simply giving permission to be with one's family and to do the job they were hired to do. For most, that means to teach, not to interfere in the lawful rights of their employers of running their own businesses their own way.
One would think that the Westerner would want relief from the Western system, which is rife with drug problems, teen pregnancies, crime, pedophilic teachers, rape and so many other problems which overshadow any good it is trying to accomplish.
Programs like ``No Child Left Behind" are an embarrassment and one would think that the Westerner would like to escape such travesties and embark on a learning experience that they can bring back to their own countries and help their fellow countrymen, instead of attacking the very system and people which have invited them into their country and educational apparatus.
Educating Korean children is a problem for Koreans, it is their country and their children and they alone have the right to determine how that will be done regardless of the opinion of the Westerner. The Western opinion is not greater than the Korean and if the westerner wants the Western way, then they need to stop causing problems and return home. Causing problems is not the solution.
Westerners needs to remember that they are responsible for their own actions and doing wrong is not the right thing to do even if they have been wronged in their eyes. It's time for Westerners to be wise.
The writer is an English teacher in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province. He can be reached at jigufli@fastmail.fm.