[KS] EPIK
Edward J. Baker
ejbaker at fas.harvard.edu
Mon Sep 21 09:06:40 EDT 2009
I quite agree with Werner. His point is well
taken. As one of the detoured or semi-lost who
didn't ever finish his PhD (finished a JD
instead) and who has not had a conventional
academic career, my life has nevertheless been
shaped and enriched by my 40+ year involvement
with Korea and particularly by my 10+ years as a
graduate student at Harvard. Moreover, I am one
of the detoured who has eventually come back to
teach Korean history, at Hanyang U., after
retiring from my interesting, worthwhile, and
Korea-connected administrative career with the
Harvard-Yenching Institute.
Yours,
Ed
Chestnut Hill MA
m: 617-686-8632
>Dear Roald (and dear others on the list),
>just a short note from an old man (who considers
>himself not only a scholar but also an
>educator) reflecting on the term "loss" as came
>up
>("... and if we happen to lose a few students
>because they find out that after working there
>for a while it is worth giving up their degree
>for, or in fact not their cup of tea, then I
>feel that that is simply a loss we must accept.
>...")
>Having taught Korean studies all my life, I have
>"lost" many students, and in the beginning I
>felt sorry, tried to find out what I had done
>wrong, not to mention the
>pressure from the administration, a.s.o.
>But I learned that I was too much fixed on the
>goal (the degree / another scholar in my
>hopefully growing field) and forgot to look at
>what's happening as part of a process in which a
>young human being grew up. And I actually
>started to rejoice at the fact that someone had
>found his way after a detour in Korean studies.
>Also, whatever experience she or he might have
>had, it will be an important part of life's
>experience. Glad to see that someone had
>realized there was a world outside of Korean
>studies, or academics, for that matter.
>Let us look at biographies from the process side...
>Just some musing on "not their cup of tea",
>which made me think the term "loss" was not so
>severly meant as read at first. But there is a
>tendency amongst us to become a little blind and
>living inside our own little world only. And I
>could not resist to stress the point.
>Best,
>Werner
>
>
>
>From: roald.maliangkay at anu.edu.au
>To: koreanstudies at koreaweb.ws
>Date: Mon, 21 Sep 2009 13:03:35 +1000
>Subject: Re: [KS] EPIK
>
>Dear Scott and Ross and others,
>
>
>I support your view that English is very
>dominant - which is why I was quite happy to see
>han'gu˜l being adopted by this small community
>in Indonesia recently, in spite of the many
>reservations I have - but like Scott I feel that
>we should not deny students these opportunities
>a priori, but simply inform them well of the
>many possible pitfalls (too heavy workload, no
>proper health insurance, no proper working
>space, etc.). I have taught at several hagwo˜n
>in the past, and sometimes the experience was
>not a good one, but I would not have been able
>to support my studies without it and I would
>certainly do it again. I have a number of
>foreign exchange students who are interested in
>opportunities like these, and for a number of
>them it may be the only option they have to go
>to Korea. Going to Korea, for whatever reason,
>can be a very important (epic?) experience, one
>that our program's many efforts will never be
>able to emulate, and if we happen to lose a few
>students because they find out that after
>working there for a while it is worth giving up
>their degree for, or in fact not their cup of
>tea, then I feel that that is simply a loss we
>must accept. In our program such incidences
>have, however, not been an issue so far, and we
>do try, of course, to send all students to Korea
>to simply study (and explore). Most of them
>agree with us, it seems to me, that going to
>Korea is vital to being able to gain an
>understanding of the cultures there and I think
>it is our responsibility to discuss with each of
>them what options they have and what they should
>consider.
>
>
>Just my two cents worth... :o)
>
>
>Best wishes,
>
>
>Roald
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "J.Scott Burgeson" <jsburgeson at yahoo.com>
>Date: Monday, September 21, 2009 12:00 pm
>Subject: Re: [KS] EPIK
>To: Korean Studies Discussion List <koreanstudies at koreaweb.ws>
>
>> While I am sympathetic to Ross King's view that English is
>> overdominant in Korea, and have addressed the issue in print
>> myself in the past (see link below), I find his elitism rather
>> astonishing (or should I say somewhat typical for certain
> > members of this List?). Not all of us live happily and
>> obliviously ensconced some rarified ivory tower, and find
>> ourselves compelled to support ourselves in any way we can.
>>
>> I personally feel I learned far more about Korea and Korean
>> culture and society teaching ESL students at Hanyang and Oedae
>> during my first year here than I would have in a Korean language
>> course back home in the States. My daily in-depth discussions
>> with them were a crash course in many of the major issues of the
>> day, and a fascinating window into this society. After that
>> experience, I found myself keen to devote more of my time and
>> energy to the study of Korean culture, including the Korean
>> language. What's wrong if other Westerners choose to follow a
>> similar path?
>>
>> As for tithing or garnishing wages from the salaries of native
>> EFL instructors here on the Peninsula, what a ridiculous and
>> myopic idea. As a professional critic who has published 5 books
>> about Korea but can't even get emails or phone calls returned
>> from the Korea Foundation due to their elitist disdain for non-
>> academic critics and other writers, I'm sure they'll do quite
>> fine without living off the labor of individuals such as myself
>> and other native ESL instructors here.
>>
>> Indeed, I'm sure they would find such an indignity quite beneath them.
>>
>> A link to the article mentioned above:
>>
>>
>>http://www.kingbaeksu.com/bbs/view.php?id=bug&page=1&sn1=&divpage=1&sn=off&ss=on&sc=on&keyword=speak%20english&select_arrange=headnum&desc=asc&no=456
>>
>> Regards,
>> Scott Bug, Insadong
>>
>>
>>
>> --- On Sat, 9/19/09, Ross King <jrpking at interchange.ubc.ca> wrote:
>>
>> > From: Ross King <jrpking at interchange.ubc.ca>
>> > Subject: Re: [KS] EPIK
>> > To: "Korean Studies Discussion List"
>> <koreanstudies at koreaweb.ws>, "Korean Studies Discussion List"
>> <koreanstudies at koreaweb.ws>> Date: Saturday, September 19,
>> 2009, 4:15 AM
>> > English is a powerful and expensive
>> > commodity in Korea, and Korea is in the process of selling
>> > its collective soul to/for English.
>> >
>> > If I had a nickel for every student in the Korean language
>> > programs I have overseen who has come to me and said "I'm
>> > off to Korea to learn Korean, and plan to support myself
>> > teaching English," only to come back 1, 2 or 5 years later
>> > with little or no progress in their Korean, I could retire.
>> > ESL is a seductive mistress for Anglophones (heck, even for
>> > non-Anglophones).
>> >
>> > As a matter of policy, I decline to write letters of
>> > reference for Korean Studies and Korean language students
>> > seeking employment in the ESL industry in Korea, and also
>> > decline to return calls or emails from the many ESL
>> > recruiters who routinely contact me asking for victims for
>> > their schools and programs.
>> >
>> > The ROK should introduce an ESL tithing system -- some sort
>> > of tax on profits made via the ESL trade --with proceeds
>> > going to the Korea Foundation or some such organization that
>> > funds the pathetically few and woefully underfunded programs
>> > trying to go the other way down what should be a two-street,
>> > and thereby recoup at least some of the opportunity cost
>> > represented by the billions of Korean dollars poured down
>> > the ESL drain.
>> >
>> > A pipe dream, I know...
>> >
>> > RK
>> >
>> > > Date: Wed Sep 16 06:18:18 PDT 2009
>> > > From: "David Scofield" <D.Scofield at sheffield.ac.uk>
>> > > Subject: [KS] EPIK
>> > > To: "Korean Studies Discussion List"
>> <koreanstudies at koreaweb.ws>> >
>> > > As with any English teaching position in Korea, EPIK
> > > is not without its
>> > > pitfalls.
>> > >
>> > > >From the US Embassy, Seoul website:
> > > >
>> > > EPIK
>> > > "These fairly new, Korea-wide, government-sponsored
>> > programs place native
>> > > English speakers in every school district in Korea and
>> > present a unique
>> > > opportunity for the adventurous to live away from
>> > popular tourist centers.
>> > > While recruiting and training appear to be performed
>> > quite professionally,
>> > > teachers living and working experiences vary
>> > considerably. Some are welcomed
> > > > with open arms and treated extremely well.
>> > Others, arriving in areas where the
>> > > program has been forced upon reluctant, under-funded
>> > schools, are greeted less
>> > > warmly and face significant challenges winning over
>> > ambivalent or
>> > > antagonistic Korean counterparts. Housing,
>> > benefits, reliability of pay, and
>> > > access to ombudsmen are steadily improving, but still
>> > have a long way to go."
>> > >
>> > > http://seoul.usembassy.gov/t_types.html
>> > >
>> > > Two major issues in the EPIK program that seem to get
>> > flagged up most frequently
>> > > relate to class sizes and contact hours.
>> > >
>> > > 1) class size - teaching in the Korean public system
>> > often means teaching to a
>> > > regular sized Korean class - potentially 30-40+
>> > students per "English
>> > > conversation" class, many with widely varying degrees
>> > of English competency.
>> > >
>> > > The program indicates that teaching is conducted with
>> > the aid of a Korean
>> > > teacher, but this is not always as straight forward as
>> > it sounds. In many
>> > > schools the resident Korean English teacher may not
>> > speak English.
>> > >
>> > > 2) contact hours: instructors are required to teach 22
>> > hours; however, it is
>> > > important to note that this refers to in class
>> > instruction time and does not
>> > > include class prep (which can be formidable in classes
>> > with 30+ students).
>> > >
>> > > As well, the contract should be read extremely
>> > carefully as overtime, for
>> > > example, may be required and not necessarily
>> > voluntary. As well, you can be
>> > > asked to work at any location and this may include
>> > being 'farmed out' to a
>> > > private institute for evening work. The 'market value'
>> > of foreign native
>> > > English instructor is far greater than 20,000/hour
>> > ($16.40/hour) O/T pay
>> > > offered creating an arbitrage opportunity for school
>> > principals to broker the
>> > > foreign instructor to local private institutes. This
>> > is not necessarily a
>> > > regular occurence, but I did encounter EPIK
>> > instructors during my years in
>> > > Korea who spoke of this.
>> > >
>> > > As well, while the work week is set as Monday to
>> > Friday, the contract also
>> > > states that if the total teaching hours are below 22,
>> > you may be required to
>> > > work beyond the scope of a normal work week (incl.
>> > Saturday/Sunday) -
>> > > remuneration for "non-instructional" overtime is set
>> > at the equivalent of
>> > > $4.95/hour (excluding tax).
>> > >
>> > > The contract also stipulates that "training and
>> > orientation" are unpaid, but it
>> > > further indicates that training may not be limited to
>> > the initial
>> > > orientation...
>> > >
>> > > There is similar built in ambiguity concerning the
>> > housing provided. This, the
>> > > contract indicates, will be "as deemed sufficient" by
>> > the employer, with
>> > > furnishing limited to "bed, table, closet, range,
>> > fridge, washer, and tv."
>> > > Further, "the employee shall not request or demand any
>> > other appliances or
>> > > furniture..." The employee is also responsible for all
>> > utility and maintenance
>> > > fees and any other applicable taxes incurred during
>> > the residency.
>> > >
>> > > Korea can be a wonderful place to teach, but the
>> > English teaching market is not
>> > > for the faint of heart. Any prospective
>> > teacher/instructor should do as much
>> > > background checking on schools/programs as possible
>> > before departing, including
>> > > reviewing the sometimes jaundiced views of the
>> > resident ex-pat blogging
>> > > community.
> > > >
>> > >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > --
>> > Ross King
>> > Professor of Korean and Head,
> > > Department of Asian Studies,
>> > University of British Columbia,
>> >
>> > and
>> >
>> > Dean, Korean Language Village,
>> > Concordia Language Villages
>> >
>> > Mailing address:
>> > Ross King, Department of Asian Studies, UBC
>> > Asian Centre, 1871 West Mall
>> > Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z2
>> > CANADA
>> >
>> > vox: 604-822-2835
>> > fax: 604-822-8937
>> >
>> >
>> >
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>
>Share your memories online with anyone you want
><http://www.microsoft.com/middleeast/windows/windowslive/products/photos-share.aspx?tab=1>anyone
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