Behind the scenes of English education

Kelly Ye spends her days trying to find qualified native English speakers to teach in Seoul’s public schools. [JoongAng Ilbo]

During the Lunar New Year holiday, Kelly Ye, the 31-year-old woman in charge of recruiting foreign English teachers for the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, was in a whirl of activity. While practically everyone else in the country was relaxing, Ye was on the phone with a 31-year-old man in the United States, only named as Patrick, trying to determine whether he was qualified to teach English in Korea.
“I want to help Korean students make their dreams come true through my teaching,” the man told Ye.
Ye’s job title is native English teacher coordinator. Her Korean name is Ye Hee-kyung. She asked Patrick straight-to-the-jugular questions, and gave him high marks for his views on education and his passion.
Because she plans to employ 170 native English teachers before the new school term begins in March, she spent her holiday doing interviews.
Ye was hired in 2006. After graduating from Dongduk Women’s University with a major in children’s education, she went for further study in the United States. She finished a master’s degree in Tesol, teaching English to speakers of other languages.
Because Ye speaks English as well as a native speaker, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education chose her as an employment expert.
Since the end of 2007, Ye has interviewed more than 200 applicants from seven English-speaking countries by phone. The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education gives Ye the final say on who gets hired. Nothing gets in the way of one of her interviews, which usually last 30 minutes, even the holidays.
“Since Korea offers higher wages and better job benefits for native English teachers, we are able to secure more of the talented, ‘blue-chip’, instructors than Japan and China,” Ye said. “We can inject energy into English education by choosing native teachers who studied for the teaching profession.”
During the phone interviews, first of all, Ye tries to find out about the applicant’s personality, passions and educational philosophy.
“It’s easy for me to figure out the applicant’s characteristics by listening to their voice and the way they talk,” Ye said.
She said she looks for the applicants who seem energetic, and drops the ones who seem to lack enthusiasm. She also weeds out anyone who isn’t qualified.
“When interviewing, I am meticulous,” Ye said. “I make a point of checking academic, job, and crime records, and I even check the applicant’s health. I also try to contact the applicant’s former employers.”
More than 15 percent of the applicants who pass the application package review fail the interview, she said. At times it can be difficult to find enough qualified applicants.
“About three applicants compete for each spot now. It could be hard to find qualified teachers when demand for English teachers suddenly soars.”

By Chung Young-jin JoongAng Ilbo [enational@joongang.co.kr]