Tag Archives: professor

English lectures: a must or an obstacle? – Good to see a critical eye on this topic again

South Korea’s top universities have been hell bent on expanding classes that are conducted all in English in recent years amid ever-increasing competition to globalize both their students and professors. At the forefront of this movement is the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST).

It’s true that English lectures at universities started so students could develop their English skills and advance them to an international level. But how effective are such classes?

The controversy was reignited after students and professors at KAIST pointed out the ineffectiveness and impracticality of teaching various subjects in English, followed by the five recent suicides and mounting criticism of the school’s president Suh Nam-pyo and his hardcore policies.

“Teaching English lectures is downright crazy,” said Prof. Choi Gwang-mu from the department of computer science at KAIST.

via koreatimes.co.kr

There are plenty of arguments on both sides of the discussion here, but the reality is that learners do not perform as well when taking classes in their second language, particularly at lower proficiency levels. It is silly to insist on lectures in English for all courses.

I’m all for particular programs that require English lectures, particularly in business. However, these should be done for a reason. In business, it is an absolute requirement to not only read English, but communicate and participate in English. Top-level business programs should be in English or, at least, have significant portions of their courses in English.

With this said, if courses are to be taught in English, for goodness sakes, offer support materials in Korean: class/lecture notes, study guides, readings, and so forth. And, how about this, maybe you should train your lecturers to with with language learners. Many professors in these universities did their graduate work in English-speaking countries and, while they may not want to, certainly can conduct classes in English. However, most have no clue what is necessary when working with these same students in that second language. The straight up PPT lecture won’t cut it. Interaction, questioning, and ongoing assessment are all necessary lecture skills, in combination with a focus on scaffolding both the content and the language for learners. If you’re not going to do this, don’t both offering lectures in English.

Endangering education – Great, brief commentary on academic inbreeding

Living things that pursue completeness prefer crossbreeding. Even primordial cells knew this. Instead of blocking germs that threatened to infiltrate them, the cells sought co-existence and co-prosperity with them. Today, the mitochondria in our somatic cells provides evidence of this phenomena. Even if we humans do not consciously choose crossbreeding, our instinct for it is certainly in our DNA.

The same principle applies to education, where academic inbreeding decreases competitiveness for both students and schools. Educational institutions that succumb to this problem fail to keep up with current trends, which is why Ivy League universities in the United States often hire from outside their ranks.

via joongangdaily.joins.com

While academic in-breeding goes well beyond simply being at the same school, this is a significant problem.

These professors primarily graduate from a SKY university and then do their graduate studies abroad. This certainly lessens the damage of in-breeding. However, this also ignores the cadres of qualified, talented applicants who happened to either bloom later or thrive in other environments. It is a terribly short-sighted.

A long struggle for part-time lecturers

A long struggle for part-time lecturers


Kim Young-kon, left, and his wife Kim Dong-ay pose with a foreign supporter from Hong Kong in front of their tent pitched on a sidewalk near the National Assembly in Seoul, in March. / Courtesy of Kim Young-kon

Couple lives in tent for 1,000 days in protest

By Park Si-soo
Staff reporter

For 1,000 days, a couple in their 60s has lived in a worn-out, small tent pitched on a sidewalk leading toward the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, demanding the passage of bills to improve part-time lecturers’ employment status and working conditions.

via koreatimes.co.kr

Another article on part-time lecturers’ struggles in Korea. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, DON’T BECOME A PROFESSOR!!

This is a great job if you can get it. It is becoming more and more unlikely that you will, though. Go make your way in the content fields and then come to teaching once you have made your mark (and some money) in your content area.

Korea’s ‘hourly lecturers’ struggle to make ends meet // and regret spending all those years and all that money getting their PhD

Korea’s ‘hourly lecturers’ struggle to make ends meet

While South Korea’s economic upturn is being touted as a “model case” for economic recovery from the recent global economic slump, not everyone in the country is seeing the benefits of the alleged robust performance of the Asia’s fourth largest economy that would host this year’s G-20 summit, including some who are highly educated yet struggling their make ends meet.

Literally called “hourly lecturers” for their lecture-for-pay based contracts, the nation has many Ph.D. holders who are not hired full-time by a university for a college, but provide lectures.

via koreatimes.co.kr

This article is a good awareness raiser, but it doesn’t give some of the more important facts.

There are an abundance of PhDs in Korea. Most of those are looking for tenure-track professorships. These have traditionally provided good pay, status, and security.

In years past, when there were much fewer PhDs (and an explosive growth in students), getting a job was much easier. However, with the reverse being true now (many PhDs and a saturated student market) it is extremely difficult.

Hourly lecturers now commonly work at many universities at the same time. They fill any untended class available for roughly W1.5-2.0 million per semester (depending on school and program). The more ambitious of these lecturers may teach 6-10 courses at 5-6 universities. To make a living wage, you will sacrifice any semblance of a life (and, let’s face it, the quality of instruction has to suffer).

Through this sort of hustling, as well as volunteering with academic organizations and attempting to put together time to publish, they build their network and qualifications. Most, who continue to work this angle are likely to find a tenure-track position (somewhere in Korea if they are willing to leave Seoul). Many give up and settle for other types of jobs (or stay at home moms–and less often dads).

Here are some challenges that make it more difficult to eventually land a job.

(1) Your PhD. Where did you get it? If it isn’t a popular place (regardless of program quality) for professors in your field to have graduated from, you’ll like have trouble. This is one of those times when the old boy network is in full force. This is really true in Korea and elsewhere. Aside from that, if you went to a top program in the field, then you’re likely ok, too.

(2) Undergraduate. This is one of those hidden secrets in the Korean academia. If you didn’t do your undergrad at a top school in Korea, you are going to have a VERY difficult time finding a tenure-track position regardless of where you did your PhD and how well published you are. This is a one that even most Koreans don’t understand until they come back with degree in hand and confident that they have done all the right things to assure a good job.

(3) Location. Many universities in Seoul, but everyone wants to live/work there. If you’re not flexible on where you are willing to work, you’d better have the right background for numbers 1 and 2 above.

Discouraged yet? You’d better be. If you’re thinking about going to school for that name-your-popular-humanities-major-here PhD, think about this. You are going to go into great debt (or your parents are), you’ll spend at least 4 years abroad (but likely longer), you’ll come back to Korea and either have no job or have to hustle for at least a couple years (making less than 25 million a year), and then maybe, just maybe, you’ll find a professorship in a saturated education market that is resulting in the closing of scores of universities (in other words, your job isn’t safe). Don’t even get me started on the changing procedures of tenure, which are becoming more and more like those in the States (massive publication), but without the same reduction of class hours and the maintenance of an actual ten year framework (more than 2x as long as you’d find in the U.S.).

So, please. Don’t do it. Don’t go this direction. This is not the career path you really want. Spend the same amount of time and pursue directions that will provide you with more options professionally and more rewards financially.

If you do decide to run the gauntlet, good luck, and I hope to see you there.

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