Comments on: Gyopo Complain Of Discrimination in Hagwon Hiring Laws

By: Arghaeri

Arghaeri — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 09:20:14 +0000

Indeed even in this case an apparant UCLA drop out is superior to anyone else, not from UCLA!!!

By: Arghaeri

Arghaeri — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 09:18:34 +0000

#32

Maybe he’s been in Korea too long, certainly seems to follow a fairly typical mindset here!! To hell, with ability, aptitude, training, experience, qualifications in the relevant field, he went to SNU / UCLA therefore he’s clearly better than anyone who did not!!

By: King Baeksu

King Baeksu — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 06:10:51 +0000

#31: Er, do you really mean to say that he is more qualified than the thousands of expats here who have ESL teaching certificates, advanced degrees and years of teaching experience?

I’m no math expert, but surely that makes up more than 1% and 0% respectively.

By: Rich

Rich — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 05:50:39 +0000

If this Yang kid is Korean American, married to a Korean, and speaks both Korean and English, he is already more qualified to teach English at a Korean hagwon than 99% of all the expat teachers and local Korean teachers there.

If he is an upperclassman at UCLA, he is more qualified to teach at a hagwon than 100% of all the expat teachers and local Korean teachers, and 90% more qualified than all the Korean American teachers.

For people to laugh at him or bitch about him is an exercise in sour grapes, in my opinion.

Just an observation.

By: John from Daejeon

John from Daejeon — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 06:34:15 +0000

#24,
“Are you suggesting retention (failing or holding a child back)?” No, I am suggesting grouping students according to their levels. A and B students should not be hindered by teachers spending obscene amounts of time ignoring them while focusing most of their attention on those failing and being left behind to make sure they keep their jobs.
Separation into classes, and lengths of school years, based on one’s educational level could do wonders. Just how far could those at the forefront go if pushed by a group of equals? The same can be inferred if those in the slower classes were all on the same footing, even if it means year-round schooling. They might actually develop some confidence without always judging themselves against the best. This could also streamline much of the difficulties that teachers face when dealing with such a wide range of student abilities within one classroom—playing catch-up with some while trying to keep those at the other end of the spectrum interested and away from mischief themselves.
I grew up and taught in rural America. We barely had the money for out-dated computers, much less for starting a vocational school to supplement the Future Homemakers of America and Future Farmers of America classes in our high schools. Yes, in my district, we still teach as if it were the 1950’s. You know with the heavy emphasis on cursive penmanship. So, rather than dropping this relic of a time long ago in favor of preparing kids for the future, and teaching the skill sets required to survive in it, those in charge act like the status quo is good enough for the future of our children and their children.

You talk as if your school is head and shoulders above the rest in methodology and graduation rates. If it is, please, please, advise Congress on how to raise the standards of all the schools in the nation to the same level. Most children have no say so in where they are schooled, but changing this antiquated system is one way of making it better for all. I know Bill Gates would rather his employees be from the United States instead of having to search for them overseas and then begging Congress to allocate more and more visas to bring these highly skilled workers over every year.

By: roboseyo

roboseyo — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 05:45:57 +0000

Baeksu likes the hands-on teaching style.

By: King Baeksu

King Baeksu — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 04:39:21 +0000

Bum, if you like that approach, you should see what goes on during class presentations!

By: bumfromkorea

bumfromkorea — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 04:30:54 +0000

“I usually play a few porn clips at the start of my English conversation classes and that always gets chins a waggin’ pretty good.”

My old gen. chem professor had a similar approach, but he stuck to Youtube…

But I like your approach better.

By: King Baeksu

King Baeksu — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 04:07:22 +0000

I usually play a few porn clips at the start of my English conversation classes and that always gets chins a waggin’ pretty good.

As far as Korean-Americans in Korea go, I believe they should have all the benefits of being American when it is convenient for them, and all the benefits of being ethnically Korean when it is convenient for them.

After all, they’ve earned it!

By: stafford

stafford — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 03:36:00 +0000

Forgive me poor spelling - I was in bed at about 2 this morning tapping out comments on my iPod! And guilty as charged - I am both an English teacher and a Political science graduate.

Likewise I agree that a “conversation course” needs a teacher who will stimulate their students. It’s not a basic skill - it’s one that usually only comes with (a fair bit of) time teaching, and tends to be lacking in most language classrooms (not to mention public schools) in Korea.