Korean survey results:Students Prefer Korean English Teachers to Native Speakers

[Yu_Bumsuk]

ironopolis, I think it's a fairly safe assumption that NETs can achieve the most with higher-level students and with beginners teaching phonics if the KETs' pronunciation is really off (as it usually is). Thus, in the public school system it would stand to reason that we'd be most effective at academic HSs and as assistants in early grades at ESs. However, the curricula and tests mandate almost the opposite. It seems that a tech. HS student is more likely to have an NET than an academic one. In fact I'm one of very few NETs I know of who teaches third-year academic HS, and even then the testing system is such that they're detered from investing a lot of energy in learning spoken English.

[DWAEDGIMORIGUKBAP]

They prefer Kets to Nets as they lose face when we see through the holes in their abillity and try to remedy the situation.  A Korean teacher wouldn't push them as much imo so as to save losing face.  They'd push them in other subjects, but not in English as it's seen as such a huge loss of face, like 'You're one of US and you're embarrassing me in a class where WE have to lose face studying THEIR language in the first place.

In every ps I've worked in in Korea (4 of them) the Korean English teachers are the least popular amongst the students in the school.  The smart ones just give the kids an easy time and throw them candys etc. 

I've even had one tell me 'They hate English and will hate me if I push them to learn it too hard, so please don't take this class seriously, let them do what they want, let's have an easy life.'

[swissmiss]

Small personal experience relevant to this:

I had Friday off the other day (one of my contractually scheduled 5 winter vaca days) and my class was covered by a Korean teacher.  We decided together to have some fun with it and play a joke on the kids.  She told them I was gone because I had gone back to America and would be back on Monday (impossible given travel time hence our humor at the joke).  They were horrified.  I was back the next Monday and one of my students ran to me crying.  Another gave me the biggest hug ever.  When I told them it had all been a joke they were besides themselves.  Needless to say according to my students I am never again allowed to take a day off.

Interpret it how you well, that is my 2 cents. 

[VanIslander]

What I find interesting is that it says both parents and students would prefer a Korean teacher but are more satisfied with the lessons taught by NETs.  I guess they are happy with our work but they still don't really want foreigners here.

Indeed.

[thecosmopolitanchild]

So we're better teachers, but not the better choice. Meh, makes sense. If we could all speak fluent Korean and there were enough foreigns around then maybe we wouldnt be called foreign

lol, gyopos who speak perfect Korean are still foreign to natives here.  Ethnically different foreigners are never going to not be called foreign here.

Islander and KPS, I definitely agree. I'm a halfie who's more than capable of conducting a class completely in Korean and although I can't speak for the gyopos, being half-Korean (but even moreso, being able to speak Korean) holds me to conflicting standards at my school.

While I'm "the Korean", I'm held to the same standards as all the Korean teachers. This is really frustrating since I didn't grow up here and I don't know anything about Korean work dynamics, so if I make a mistake because of my ignorance (as opposed to a completely non-Korean), I get punished, because they expect me to know this culture. In other words, I--as a Korean-speaker--get confused with being Korean. Whereas, if I were wearing my "the foreigner" hat, the same faux pas would simply get me a pull-aside from someone, who would tell me what I did something wrong and an "in Korea, this is how we do it" talk. At the same time, when I'm "the foreigner", I'm excluded from event planning, meetings and school trips.