Sure, somedays I want to rip my hair out, jump on my chair, lift my skirt up, moon them, and then run screaming out of the room.
But I don't.
I sometimes wonder if my Korean co-teachers understand this concept: I just don't do that because it's...morally wrong?
Well I suppose that you then have to address the concept of morally right and wrong. I suppose as an American I will set my standards simply at: don't hit your students. With that being said, where do you draw the line between discipline, punishment, and abuse? I can clearly see that abuse is hitting my kids, but my co-teachers ALL carry wooden sticks and they smack my kids around(?) They thankfully don't do it in front of me...so i'm merely presuming here, although around me they DO make the kids stand up for the remainder of class- discipling or punishment? and they make my kids hold their HEAVY chairs above their heads- discipline or abuse? They also make my kids copy lines and lines and lines of...something, on their knees on the floor- discipline or punishment? Being a foreigner in a foreign place, I don't really feel as though I have a say in the way that they do things, the only thing that I KNOW I can change is what I do, and how I treat my students.
The next question then is, how do I discipline my students?
If they are accustomed to being more forcefully guided along the right path, will they in the end be able to understand and follow the direction i'm giving them? Will they fully understand that my method of sitting down and chatting face to face, translating words like "Disrespect", "Dishonerable", "Innapropriate", and "Bad Attitude" is really me guiding them, helping them realize where they went wrong? Or will they merely think i'm a nutter?
So many interesting questions to ponder as I continue to grow as a teacher.
Anyeong!
But I don't.
I sometimes wonder if my Korean co-teachers understand this concept: I just don't do that because it's...morally wrong?
Well I suppose that you then have to address the concept of morally right and wrong. I suppose as an American I will set my standards simply at: don't hit your students. With that being said, where do you draw the line between discipline, punishment, and abuse? I can clearly see that abuse is hitting my kids, but my co-teachers ALL carry wooden sticks and they smack my kids around(?) They thankfully don't do it in front of me...so i'm merely presuming here, although around me they DO make the kids stand up for the remainder of class- discipling or punishment? and they make my kids hold their HEAVY chairs above their heads- discipline or abuse? They also make my kids copy lines and lines and lines of...something, on their knees on the floor- discipline or punishment? Being a foreigner in a foreign place, I don't really feel as though I have a say in the way that they do things, the only thing that I KNOW I can change is what I do, and how I treat my students.
The next question then is, how do I discipline my students?
If they are accustomed to being more forcefully guided along the right path, will they in the end be able to understand and follow the direction i'm giving them? Will they fully understand that my method of sitting down and chatting face to face, translating words like "Disrespect", "Dishonerable", "Innapropriate", and "Bad Attitude" is really me guiding them, helping them realize where they went wrong? Or will they merely think i'm a nutter?
So many interesting questions to ponder as I continue to grow as a teacher.
Anyeong!
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