Brian has posted about a proposed bill that would make it mandatory for hagwon to have their foreign teachers complete educational programs on Korean culture and people.
Interesting, although I’m not sure it would do much for its stated goal of improving English language education in Korea.
UPDATE: In a follow-up piece, the KT — well, Kang Shin-who, anyway — reports that foreign English teachers are “unenthusiastic” about Rep. Cho Jeon-hyuk’s proposed bill. ATEK, to their credit, seems to like the idea, though.
Again, I guess it’s nice that the government might help English teachers get oriented to their surroundings on the public dime, but I really don’t believe — as Cho seems to — that the failure to understand Korean culture is the thing causing problems in the classroom, especially in the hagwon. Rather, it’s hiring a lot of young people with no teaching experience.
UPDATE 2: Good luck with this, Rep. Cho:
조 의원은 이러한 연수 제도가 국가 브랜드 가치를 향상시키는 효과도 있을 것으로 내다봤다. 그는 “한국관광공사가 한국을 알리려고 외국에 나가 쓰는 예산이 적지 않다”며 “6만여 외국인이 한국 생활에 적응하는 데 도움을 주고 한국의 전통과 문화를 홍보·교육할 경우 더 적은 예산으로 큰 효과를 거둘 수 있다”고 말했다. 조 의원은 또 “외국인 교사와 강사 대부분이 고학력 젊은층이어서 외국 사이트나 블로그 등에서의 게시 활동이 활발하다”며 “이들이 한국에 대해 좋은 이미지를 전파할 수 있게끔 해야 한다”고 덧붙였다.
{ 27 comments… read them below or add one }
In the US, we have multicultural sensitivity training programs.
In Korea, you have monocultural sensitivity training programs.
Makes sense.
Brilliant observation, Dr. Kim!
As a government registered “foreign high tech worker” I had an optional monocultural training program to attend, which was an overnight event at a nice hotel near Jamsil where they demonstrated first hand, through the event’s under-planning, the chaotic nature of Korean organizational practices and of course, how to properly hand someone your name card. That experience reinforced my experience that there’s this desperate need in this society to Korean-ize everything, even foreign, middle aged, high paid experts. But what the heck… it’s kind of fun once you get used to it.
-Another instructor Christopher Kim said “I think teachers, many of them, will not take the courses seriously. I don’t also think it will make big impact on them.”
Christopher Kim? Why didn’t Kang title the piece, “I don’t like foreigners and neither does this other Korean guy.”
I love how those articles always have quotes from random people, guys the reporter ran into on his way to the Family Mart.
Man, they should let me teach those classes — if the newbies thoroughly understood Korea’s mountain-spirits, everything else would easily fall into place for them.
Yeah, Brian, that’s what I was thinking. And I was surprised to see in the headline that teachers were unenthusiastic about the whole thing when I’m sure that no one has ever heard of any such proposal.
Think of a headline first, then build the story around it. There must be a journalism term for that. Anybody know it?
I think sometimes the problem is not that expats don’t understand Korean culture – it is that they do.
Also on the headlines, wondering if anybody else has noticed that they often have a more bizarre headline at first for a few hours and then it gets toned down later.
Like one a few weeks ago about Toyota moving into Korea. THe original headline was something like “Toyota Coming to Korea to Steal Customers” and then was later changed to something more benign like “Toyota Increasing it’s Profile in Korea”.
They do it all the time.
They already have teachers watch dancing, drum beating, as well as stand up and say the pledge of allegiance to the Korean flag.
Add to that trips to Suwon Hwaseong Fortress, National Palace Museum(Gyeongbok) where they show teachers how to make bibimbab(teachers partake), and then let teachers make meaningful Korean shaped soap.
What’s next? I can’t wait!!!
Somebody made the point on another site that ATEK, an organization that represents about a thousand people, came out saying these lessons were a good idea (provided they’re done right, are meaningful, 등), and Korea’s worst journalist goes and says foreign teachers are “unenthusiastic.” Many foreign teachers do seem to be enthusiastic, but because, as many have already said, this type of program will be really easy to screw up. A lot of us have participated in pretty lousy orientations and Korean classes, so whatever they try and do needs to be thought out, needs to have input from NSETs, and needs to be two-sided.
But, the cynic in me says it will devolve into four hours of people reading word-for-word off lengthy powerpoints in crappy English. I can’t wait to learn about Baekje.
Oh for the love of Christ, just hire the Indians already.
how many “misunderstandings” could be avoided by knowing at least some of the language/culture/history?
I have seen this so many times. So many young folks come here with absolutely no idea of what to expect and after the initial euphoria of being in Korea they become disillusioned and more isolated, preferring to hang with like minded folks and miss the opportunity to really know a foreign culture. What a waste.
Lesson No. 1: Don’t ship in and/or use drugs, shitarses.
The problem is that the parts of Korean culture covered would be of no practical help to the average new teacher. It would likely end up being a long PowerPoint presentation on how Korea has four seasons and Koreans take their shoes off in the house.
Besides, new teachers benefit from knowing nothing about Korea when they first arrive. It gives the Korean students something to talk about with the new teachers. I’m guessing the dope smoking teachers are the ones who’ve been here for years and are slightly nuts from hearing over and over again about the four seasons and Dokdo.
jd,
One of my co-workers always acts as if he’s amazed no matter what our students will say about Korea, “Oh, really? Korea has four seasons. That’s so cool! So does the US. What a coincidence!”. I can’t figure out if he’s the most dedicated teacher I’ve ever met or if he’s got Alzheimer’s.
” knowing nothing about Korea’…..
If I were a hagwon employer(for instance) I’d want not only a good/experienced teacher but one who is prepared to LIVE in Korea. He/she will be better able to concentrate on teaching NOT adapting. Also that wayguk will know what to expect and therefore less inclined to bolt when the going gets tough and save me a ton of money in the long run.
Why anyone would not avail themselves of the plethora of info on Korea BEFORE they come is a constant mystery to me.
every time I sign a new contract, do I have to take the course again? How about those people how have been here 5+ years? I’m sure some of us here could teach the course, do we have to take it too? What if I don’t really give a shit about the differences in Korean culture being spelled out to me? After all, I get it shoved in my face on a daily basis whether I want it or not– even from students who know I’m married to a Korean and been here awhile already. Understanding it doesn’t mean I have to (or want to) conform to it. Koreans should be more understanding that we haven’t been indoctrinated since birth and we’re going to make mistakes. And they shouldn’t be so surprised when we do make those mistakes.
I’m not saying that we shouldn’t learn to adapt, but it shouldn’t be forced upon us either. If anything, hagwon owners and Korean English teachers should be taking cultural sensitivity classes.
Blah.
At a guess, I would say this is just nationalism masquerading as cultural sensitivity classes. I’m pretty sure the “culture” some musty old GNP representative will have in mind will be pretty far removed from the “culture” that many foreigners, and probably most everyday Koreans, choose to enjoy. I’ve never been to Korea, but the Japanese used to pull this shit all the time, before they wised up and realized that foreign teachers are more interested in manga, electronics and their modern history than watching people play the koto.
richardx, those are good points, but I think those flaws owe more to hiring people out of college with little life experience, let alone teaching experience. What has passed for orientations, and what passes for “cultural tips” don’t seem like they’d help. A big part of this cultural orientation should take place during the interview—if they even bother with an interview—and people not committed to TEACHING, and also to LEARNING, while living in Korea simply shouldn’t be hired. That would mean a shift away from job postings that advertise how Korea’s a great place to travel and experience stuff, but don’t mention anything about teaching or responsibilities. But I’m not sure there’s any interest in focusing on quality over quantity yet.
It’d be far better to have orientation sessions with experienced NSETs than with the senior-most Korean teacher in the district. Once a teacher has a good idea of what’s expected in the classroom and in the teachers’ office, a lot of the other things will fall into place.
The classes may be a good idea, but my big thought is who going pay for these things? If its the schools, the whole thing may be relegated to a 20-page powerpoint presentation, doomed to be lost in the same black-hole most other “valuable” powerpoint go. If its the government, then they may want some accountability, which may be a test of the now “educated” foreigners. What will happen if they fail the test?
Are the hagwon owners going to fly them here, have then fail the test, and then have to fly them back? Will it be the prospective teachers? What happens when they can’t pay? Or is the training/test going to be administered in the home country?
I think this could be a great idea if they structured the sessions more as a crash course in comparative sociology than as simply an opportunity to promote Korea to foreigners (who are already in Korea). I think a lot of foreigners could really benefit from learning about things like power-distance relationships, collectivism vs. individualism, and alternate perceptions of time, fate and family. It was certainly eye-opening for me when I learned that American culture is just as much a deviation from the global mean as Korean, if not more so.
I too am extremely skeptical. As several posters have already noted, “education”
is too often used as a euphemism for “indoctrination” in this country.
Were many of the posters here to be forced to sit in on such “lessons,”
I wonder if the teacher would take offense to the constant hand-raising, questions, and corrections.
You know that the first sentence out of the teacher’s mouth would be:
“Korea is a country with 5000 years of history”
[ten hands go up]
One guy just blurts out, “Is that recorded history sir?”
Another person asks, “How is it that this date was agreed upon?”
Another students asks, “Can we truly date a nation’s history from a mythic event?”
Another student, “Don’t Japan and China have similar dating systems based upon mythic foundation myths?”
[Teacher grows irritated and tries to continue.]
Another student interrupts, “During that 5000 year history, was Korea truly ‘Korea,’ united as one single nation, comprising one single ethnic group?”
[Teacher does not answer any of the questions and continues reading his power point presentation.]
Sanshinseon indirectly made a very good point: How about getting qualified individuals, including qualified long-time expats, to teach these classes?
I would love being able to sit in on classes taught by folks like Sansinseon
who actually know what they are talking about.
Grandfalloon brings up some great topics which must be covered in such
courses. I think a lot of us could cover them quite well; but, I must question the extent to which your average Korean civil servant and/or public school sociology teacher (most likely to teach such classes) might truly understand these cultural differences and concepts. How many of these folks in the know could then speak English with the fluency requisite for teaching such material to English-speaking individuals?
Correction:
“mythic foundation myths” to “foundation myths” (duh)
I think a simple one-day course about laws, basic manners and cultural expectations could be done so that it’s relatively painless for those who know it and good for those who don’t. However, I have to join the skeptics above and predict that the reality would inevitably be a disaster.
Wrote it up in the Herald this evening:
http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/NEWKHSITE/data/html_dir/2009/12/02/200912020021.asp
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