This was originally in the Pusan Underground and
is posted here with the permission of the author. 



         Look Back in Anger - An Open Letter to Pukyong University Students 

- Peter Ackroyd

I was surprised when the "Pukyong Herald" asked us to write about leaving Pukyong
University. We are just foreigners - a necessary but not particularly welcome part
of Korean English education. If Koreans could do our job, we would never be allowed
here.

I did not think anyone would be interested. I still believe that very few will read
this, and even fewer will think about what I have to say for more than five
minutes. One ex-student, who said she was very angry about my leaving, urged me to
write an aggressive article. I told her that I would not be a very credible
protester. My reasons for writing would appear only selfish.  If she was so angry,
she should write. We heard no more. We expect no action. 

When I was President of the Pusan Association of Language Teachers, in 1991-2, I
heard at every meeting about the many ways teachers were being cheated by
universities as well as hakwons. I remember vividly saying at one meeting. "All you
have said about the lies, the cheating makes me realize how lucky I am to be in a
school where there is a sense of honor and decency. I have an apartment where I can
invite guests without being ashamed. I do not worry about whether I will be paid. I
have freedom to research, experiment and develop new teaching material. But most of
all, I have students who make me feel that I am not wasting my time.  That is the
most precious gift students can give a teacher. However, all this can end
instantly.  If staff change, white can become black." 

The best example of the "white" was in 1995 when the university went to
considerable trouble to get our visa status upgraded from E-2 to E-1 so we could
stay nine years without leaving the country instead of three. We were then part of
long term university plans. 

But in the summer of 1996, at last that "black" staff change came. We were lucky
that it did not occur years before. Membership of the English department protected
us. When we were transferred from the English Department to the Language Education
Center, we lost that protection of senior professors with honor and without
political ambitions or "xenophobia" - fear of foreigners who might "know too much".

On January 20. 1997, exactly one month before my contract was due to finish, we
were told of a new policy - only 5-6 month hourly paid part time contracts could be
given to us - or anyone else - in future. There were three shocks: 1] The personal
insult, after eight years as a guest, [from1990 an "assistant professor 'daewoo'"]
of this country. 2] The extremely late notice of this information. No other proper
university positions would be available for March. I face unemployment. 3] The
anger at what was being done by professors, people claiming to be leaders in Korean
education, to their students' English learning. There was money for hosting TV
shows, but not experienced teachers. Only the most lowly qualified would accept
such contracts - no health insurance, in some months almost no income, no "tejikum"
of course.  As a president of a teachers association, I had seen with horror the
disgraceful people who tried to get rich by pretending to be English teachers. Our
students deserved more respect. 

In January and February there were protests by senior professors, students and
graduates. They heard the following replies: "It's not your business. This is a
matter for the Language Education Centre. It's too late. Everything has been
finalized. It is impossible to give full time contracts any more. Money must be
saved. These are orders 'from above'." 

Now, in March, the "impossible" has happened. There is at least one of our
replacement teachers with a full year professional standard contract, as we once
had. We are at least pleased that the "finalized" insulting work conditions were
not so final after all.

There are some educational aspects to all this. 1] The internet makes sure that
such dishonorable behavior can no longer be hidden from the teaching world. For
those who want to keep in touch, my e-mail address is packroyd@aol.com 2] The days
of packing have given us healthy exercise. 3] I have had the education of seeing
how wonderfully "my" Korean family acts together in bad times. 4] We have often
enough heard students protesting about lies, and the breaking of promises. Now we
know that professors can lie just as well to other senior professors about our
"permanent" part time hourly paid contracts. 

I have clearly made many "mistakes". I was once requested to remove my schedule,
with course, seminar and institute hours, from my office door because it gave the
appearance that I was "working too hard". One professor very kindly advised us not
to make any complaints about the new part time policy if we wanted to have any
employment in Korea. He said "This university could sabotage your job
opportunities". He was probably right. Enthusiastic job offers, because of my rare
qualifications, have been suddenly withdrawn for reasons that are strangely
difficult to believe. 

But I am too angry about this bullying; I do not have the tolerance to forgive or
forget the behavior of professors with "the highest" education, who therefore
cannot claim ignorance to excuse the unnecessary stress and hardship they have
caused my wife. 

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Please post anything you want on your homepage. I welcome all sorts of feedback and inquiries about the situation here.

As for the PUK U (no longer Fish U) situation, it was predictable. Like everywhere else in this country, they want more for less. They hired 6 new teachers at low salary, crammed them 3 to an apartment, and increased their teaching hours.

Lauri
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To everyone:

I would appreciate that you pass this on to any TESL list or any university program or job service as it is pertinent information for those considering coming over to work in Korea. Please add any comments you might deem as informative and pertintnent. Thank you.

This announcement concerns the current trend in the treatement of expatriot English teachers at Pukyong University in Pusan (which has an exchange and recruiting program with the following: University of Victoria, BC, Canada; University of Edinburgh, Scotland; University of Liverpool, England; University of New South Wales, Australia (and possibly others there); University of Hawaii -- Manoa, USA; University of Oregon, Eugene, USA; with intention to set up many other programs in other areas. To all those teachers considering employment at Pukyong in the field of English or ESL, here's a warning for you.

I began explroing the world of ESL in 1975 as a student-in-training when the first "boat people" began coming over from Vietnam. Since that time, I obtained my MA in Applied Anthropology in the area of Social Linguisitics and have worked on campuses in the States, in Africa, and Turkey. I have been a teacher in Korea for the past 9 years, with nearly 6 years at Pukyong University in Pusan. My colleague (a TESL specialist out of Liverpool University) was here for 8 years. During that time we were treated as the professionals we were, guaranteed the same employment terms as any Korean colleague, meaning we received comparable salary, annual raises and benefits such as pension pay and health insurance. We were also granted research funds and professor's status (which is very important in Korean social hierarchy).

Our housing was spacious and provided free. We were treated with respect and dignity and were quite happy to devote ourselves to developing the English language program here (which we did quite successfully). Then sudddenly, it all drastically changed.

For the last 2 years, certain junior professors on our campus -- all having spent a good deal of time in the States to earn their doctoral degrees in the field -- have been working at undermining our role as non-Korean teachers of English. They managed to convince certain members of the administration that as we were not Koreans but merely foreigners, we should no longer be given any status. So they removed us as faculty and designated us as "instructors" with the university language institute. This way they could exploit us for teaching university staff's children and housewives and other non-academic programs. Of course, we resisted and then the new contract appeared. It offered us only hourly pay with no benefits whatsoever and only shared accommodations, if room were available. As we no longer held professorial status, we began to lose great esteem in the eyes of our students which in turn affected our role in class.Therefore, we had no choice but to take this offer as a strong hint to resign as we were not cooperative in cow-towing to their expectations of us as "second class" foreign teachers who were here to serve them. Unfortunately, this is a very real attitutde among many Korean employers here -- especially in the private language institutes. You can imagine our shock and dismay to discover this occurring at a reputable national university !

The worst of it was that they held off until the last possible moment (one month before out contract renewal time) to let us know the new terms. By then it was too late for us to apply for and find decent posts elsewhere in country. Not only that, but when we did succeed in making some applications to other unviersities or schools, the President of our university (Han Young Ho) made sure to spread the word that we were fired and were of no value to their programs because we were too old! (I'm 40; my colleague is 48.) What's worse, he and his cronies managed to entice officials at Immigration to interfere with our new work permits being processed by our potential employers. We had broken no laws nor violated any of our contracts. We served well and worked very hard (teaching some 30 hours a week with some classes of 60 students or more), never asking for overtime or extra benefits. We were given no official reason for being let go, either.

It's not the fact that Pukyong grew tired of us after so many years. It's very Korean not to want outsiders around too long. We both were quite ready to move on and are not bitter in the least about the parting of the ways. In fact, both the new posts we were opting for seemed much more pormising for the development of our careers as ESL teachers. (I am planning on becoming the program director at a small but well-known school.) It's the dishonorable and downright mean manner in which they not only booted us out but went even further to malign our character and hurt our reputation as professionals that makes me question our Korean colleagues' seemingly good intentions towards their foreign guests.

I guess what I'm trying to say to anyone out there considering a post here at Pukyong (or anywhere else in Korea for that matter) is to be wary. Make sure you check for full-time salary and benefits in any contract offered, meaning that the term is for 12 months (not 6 or 10) and that vacations and sick days are paid. Also, check the title you'll be given. There is a big difference in how you're treated as "gyo soo" (professor) from "kang sa" (lecturer) which is lower. Remember, this is a Confucian society where status is very important. Why hold the ttile of a common institute teacher when you hold a university post? At any rate, these sorts of things may not mean much to us in the West but the slightest subtle difference can mean a great deal in how Koreans will receive and address you.

With the reduction in status comes the discriminatory and exploitative treatment that many expatriots who live here complain about. Because Koreans tend to be very chauvinistic (as they haven't yet quite come out of their "hermit kingdom" perception of the world) expecting their "lessers" to pay blind obedience (especially as concerns women to men, younger to older), foreign teachers here get fed up and leave. Most foreign teachers don't last more than 2 years and then go home with a very negative attitude about Korean people.

Granted, I am sorely tempted to discredit these people and their closed-minded culture myself after having suffered this recent let-down. However, I cannot judge an entire nation from a few exceptional people's behavior. Yet, I can safely and honestly inform those of you considering professional posts over here that what has happened to us at Pukyong University is not unique. It is also happening on many Korean campuses where the faculty and administration see a vast human resource to exploit and at a cheaper pirce. Just be sure the contract you sign guarantees you the work conditions as presented above. Anything less will mean you'll be treated as inferior in this very complex society where status and image is the end - all and be - all in their concept of human existence.

If you should have any questions regarding living and working in Korea, please contact me at TYHRX@AOL.COM I'll be happy to reply.

Sincerely,

Laurie E. Notch