Undesirable flocking and drinking
By Shin Chul-ho
On the occasion of summer or winter vacation teachers often go on a staff trip. Some schools go on weekends but most go on a two-day-one-night trip on the very day that the vacation begins.
The purpose is to strengthen teachers' solidarity. However, toward the beginning of both vacations most teachers would rather relax their tired mind and body than to take a trip in a group.
The problem is that the group tours are led by principals and that they deem their instructions ignored when teachers do not want to join the tour. In an extreme case, it was reported in a local newspaper that a teacher had to submit a written apology to his principal because he could not make the trip.
So, principals' pressure makes most teachers join the staff trip except a couple of them for obvious reasons. That is because they are afraid that they will suffer disadvantages in their workplaces. This is a sheer nonsense.
I have an unpleasant experience associated with such an excursion when I worked at a provincial school four years ago. I was unable to participate in the two-day-one-night trip on the Saturday. I was eager to be with my family in Seoul on a weekend and needed to bring some side dishes for the next week. I said that I could not be with them and went up to Seoul.
The principal summoned me to his office a few days later.
What he said was eaten up with ignorance. He was angry with me, saying, ``Despite being sorry for not making the trip, you drove out of the gate without bowing to me while I was standing beside the gate." No matter how hard I thought about his protest, I had never seen him standing there.
What was incomprehensible to me was why he brought that up after a few days. Unless I happened to see him, was that serious enough to create a ruckus? Why am I sorry for not joining the trip? I have the right not to go. The principal's behavior is an act of violence infringing upon my legitimate rights.
Why on earth should I be involved in such a trip?
The trip is taken under the name of a “workshop” but there is no workshop. Right from the start participants indulge in drinking on the bus. After arriving at their destination they have a rich dinner with soju. Then, they go to a nearby karaoke room to sing and drink beer.
On returning to their lodgings, they continue to drink and finally go to sleep after midnight. The next morning after breakfast they go sightseeing to a well-known place, where they drink again. On the return journey, the drinking continues. After arriving at the school they go home exhausted.
This is the typical scenario of a teachers' trip. I know that some schools do not do this and that others do in better ways. Unfortunately, all the ones that I went on were soaked with drink from beginning to end. Korean men's alcohol consumption per capita is among the highest in the world. That is one of the main reasons why our labor productivity stays in the lowest level in the OECD countries.
At a school in Seoul whether to take a trip is determined through a vote. I think that it is a very rational direction to respect the legitimate rights of teachers. Furthermore, we should think about whether this type of staff tour is really needed.
The culture of going around in flocks shows a society where connections are more powerful than skills and knowledge. I hope that the flocking and drinking culture changes for the development of our society in 2012.
The writer is a teacher at an elementary school in Gyeonggi Province. He can be reached at heemy123@hanmail.net.