The Ministry of Education may be moving in the direction of establishing “a community or organization” for foreign English teachers at public schools:
Education authorities across the country are scrambling to hire more native English-speaking teachers for their schools. But they are paying little attention to building an environment to encourage teachers to stay here longer.
The Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development did announce a set of steps to help establish or support a community or organization for foreign teachers at public schools. However, it has made little headway in doing this so far.
“We are aware of the need for an association for foreign teachers. We can immediately start the plan once we secure a budget for the project,” said Kim Chang-eun, the director of English Program in Korea (EPIK), an agency under the ministry.
EPIK has the role of selecting and supporting native English-speaking teachers in the school system.
On top of the lack of a budget, Kim also cited the absence of a unified recruitment system as a key factor behind the nonexistence of a representative body that will allow foreign teachers’ voices to be heard.
Talk amongst yourselves.
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They would have better luck herding cats.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pk7yqlTMvp8
Do they mean something of a labor union?
I doubt it. Besides, KOTESOL has been around for over 15 years…then again, the government doesn’t have that association in its claws.
I wonder what this new association will do about the public school teachers who are are being farmed to schools and whose accounts are often used to launder the school’s commission to the ‘recruiter’.
High turnover and short term stays in Korea make it difficult to organize English teachers here. If the Korean government creates an association, they might also try to influence the composition of its leadership, something like the old non-representative corporatist labor unions under Chun and Park. English teachers need to insist on democratic and transparent procedures to elect the leaders of any future Engish Teachers Association in Korea.
The ministry’s quote above has poor grammar usage, for one. It reads like a bad Newsweek article.
The way it’s funded is very important. If the Korean government funds it, then it has the potential to be a channel through which the government communicates its demands to the teachers. It would also have veto power over the assoc’s activities and spending.
If the teachers self-fund it (voluntary opt-in would be best), then they control it. It wouldn’t be a union, but it would choose its own execs, say by annual vote, and set its own agenda. It would then be a channel through which the teachers could communicate their demands to the government – through the media ideally. The Korean media, being lazy, would just call up the association any time they needed a “voice of the waygook kangsa” for a story. Here, the association could get itself quite a powerful voice. Whether it spent more time acting on behalf of the private or public sector teachers would depend on which ones chose to join, pay their fees, and vote for the executives who ran on a platform the voters supported.
Imagine the day when the association realizes it has enough money in the bank to launch its first class-action lawsuit.
Carr himself might even take an interest, then. (insert winking smiley)
Well, EPIK teachers do suffer from professional isolation, even in the big cities. We don’t get enough official opportunities to talk amongst ourselves.
He and Prof. Hayes could battle it out for who will serve as the association’s general counsel.
Bingo! Shades of the various industry associations that it was mandatory for foreign companies to join the better for Korea, Inc. to get the info needed to compete against them. Although one has to wonder what they have in mind here for a group of people who have no independence.
There is much talk surrounding this idea about how it could bolster teachers’ legal rights here in Korea, and this is all well and good. However, what I would really like to see from an organization like this putting some basic teacher training into a lot of the teachers who come here. It would be better for students and teachers alike to expose new teachers to some linguistic and education theory. Make all (unqualified) new teachers attend a weekend seminar in their first month or something.
Of course, they would then have to take their jobs seriously.
I believe a mandatory union membership is probably a good idea, funded by a levy of W20,000 per month from the teacher, W20,000 per month from the employer. W40,000 × 17,000 Engrish teachers = W680 million per month, or W8.16 billion per year.
Why not let Professor Sean Hayes be the leader of such an organization? He has experience as an Engrish teacher, thus providing the organization a needed perspective; he has a public profile, and he is interested in developing links with the government and power structure. Pay him the W160 million to be the public face and provide guidance, and speak at the union’s teacher seminars, and there’s still a ton of money for operations.
At this point, I’d like to announce that I will not be a candidate for leadership of the Engrish Teachers’ Union. If elected, I will not serve. Professor Sean Hayes is my recommendation.
With W8 billion per year, there could be a teachers’ legal assistance office in Seoul (maybe two) as well as an office in each provincial seat where the courthouses are located. One benefit that would come of the association membership would be that teachers have a permanent place to drop off their claims to be pursued by staff attorneys, rather than leaving the country and not following up.
Uh-uh. Mandatory membership for 100% of a constituency means that the organization will start to exist only for its own sake.
If membership is voluntary, and membership declines over the years to some pittance, then you know that it’s not doing its job, ‘cuz the people it represents feel it’s not representing them enough to pay 20 bucks a month for. Close it down, it’s not working. Start again with a new format.
Paying is a vote of confidence. I’d feel I had a lot more of a mandate if I were president of an organization that had voluntarily paying members putting their dollars behind me and my initiatives.
If it’s not mandatory, very few of these no-accounts would join. Pay W20,000 for insurance instead of weed? You’re joking.
Not paying is also a vote of sorts. If they’re not willing to fund an organization to represent them, then they don’t really want one, and their grievances are insubstantial.
Who will collect and manage the contributions? The government? Then it would just a tax, wouldn’t it?
It should be independent of the government, except for whatever document it needs to certify it as a ‘real’ association (insert legalese).
It would have its own bank acct and treasurer, who would issue reports to its members disclosing its revenues and expenses.
Where are you getting weed for $20!? It’s either oregano, or you must have some amazing source because that’s cheap for this country! (or so I’ve heard…)
I would be proud to be the presidente of the Foreign English Teachers Association!
FETA? I think I’ll pass if that’s the name.
Foreign English Teachers Association?
Sounds like a cheesy name thought up by a Greek.
What about organizations that already exists and partially serve that function? There are two in Daejeon: Socius, and FLEA (Foreign Language Educators’ Association). They don’t necessarily organize class-action lawsuits, but I know that Socius helps foreigners in distress (fired for no reason and stranded, sexually harassed by boss, etc.) and the leader of FLEA is the Canadian Embassy warden for Daejeon or something like that. I don’t know how they finance any of their activities because Socius doesn’t charge for anything, as they are mostly concerned with making information and help available. FLEA collects annual membership feels (although I don’t know how much) and I don’t know what they do with it, but they do organize fund raisers and work with the Red Cross.
Perhaps the private sector is the answer instead of counting on the government. In Daejeon there’s even competition.
There is a Foreign English Teachers’ Association in Siheung (S. Korea) here is the URL: http://www.foreignenglish.com
The Foreign English Teachers’ Association seems to be much improved from previous years. Siheung seems to be doin’ some good stuff!
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