Teacher evaluation agreement is reached
Published: 13 Nov. 2009, 19:49
The Korean Teachers & Education Workers’ Union, the nation’s only union of teachers, said yesterday it will comply with the Education Ministry’s long-held plan to launch a teacher evaluation program.
Chung Jin-hoo, head of the union, pledged in a press conference at union headquarters in western Seoul that the group will “do its best to come up with a reasonable method of evaluating teachers.”
The union announced on Tuesday that it would join a meeting of six parties involved in public education - two lawmakers who are members of the Education Committee at the National Assembly, the Korean Federation of Teachers’ Associations, two parent groups and the KTEWU.
“We are participating in the six-party meeting since schools should no longer be a venue for conflict and antipathy,” said Chung. “We intend to discuss how to reform the current teacher evaluation system, what valid measures could better assess them and how to reflect the views of students and parents.”
The main goal is to improve teaching standards. But during the past five years the federation had resisted the government’s efforts to publicly assess educators, saying such evaluations could infringe on their authority.
The ministry intends to have students, parents and colleagues evaluate the performance of teachers and principals.
Chung said parents support a teacher evaluation system because there are teachers they suspect are unqualified.
He pledged to help punish teachers who manipulate student records, take bribes, or commit sexual or violent assaults.
The union’s public reputation has been tainted by a series of scandals, including one earlier this year involving sexual harassment by its executive members.
Recently its leaders have been investigated for staging an anti-government protest.
By Seo Ji-eun [[email protected]]
Chung Jin-hoo, head of the union, pledged in a press conference at union headquarters in western Seoul that the group will “do its best to come up with a reasonable method of evaluating teachers.”
The union announced on Tuesday that it would join a meeting of six parties involved in public education - two lawmakers who are members of the Education Committee at the National Assembly, the Korean Federation of Teachers’ Associations, two parent groups and the KTEWU.
“We are participating in the six-party meeting since schools should no longer be a venue for conflict and antipathy,” said Chung. “We intend to discuss how to reform the current teacher evaluation system, what valid measures could better assess them and how to reflect the views of students and parents.”
The main goal is to improve teaching standards. But during the past five years the federation had resisted the government’s efforts to publicly assess educators, saying such evaluations could infringe on their authority.
The ministry intends to have students, parents and colleagues evaluate the performance of teachers and principals.
Chung said parents support a teacher evaluation system because there are teachers they suspect are unqualified.
He pledged to help punish teachers who manipulate student records, take bribes, or commit sexual or violent assaults.
The union’s public reputation has been tainted by a series of scandals, including one earlier this year involving sexual harassment by its executive members.
Recently its leaders have been investigated for staging an anti-government protest.
By Seo Ji-eun [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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