Only about one in five educators say they would choose the same career path if given another chance at life. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, May 14 (Korea Bizwire) – As issues of violated authority plague the teaching profession in South Korea, only about one in five educators say they would choose the same career path if given another chance at life, according to a recent survey.
The Korean Federation of Teachers’ Associations polled 11,320 teachers across kindergartens, elementary schools, middle schools, high schools and universities nationwide from April 26 to May 6. The results, released ahead of Teachers’ Day on May 15, found that just 19.7% of respondents said they would become teachers again if reborn.
This marks the lowest level and first time the figure has dipped into the teens since the teachers’ group began the survey in 2012. That inaugural poll found 36.7% would re-enter teaching, a number that climbed to 52.6% in 2016 before declining to 39.2% in 2019, 29.9% in 2022 and 20% this year.
Satisfaction with current teaching conditions appeared equally grim, with only 21.4% of educators saying they are content — around one-third of the 67.8% who responded positively to the same question in 2006, the first time it was asked.
The greatest challenge cited was “guiding students with problematic behavior or maladjustment” at 31.7%, followed by “dealing with parental complaints and maintaining relations” at 24%, and “excessive administrative tasks unrelated to teaching” at 22.4%.
Surreptitious recording by students and parents has also emerged as a concern, with 26.9% of teachers saying they have directly or indirectly experienced such incidents at their schools. As a result, 62.7% expressed interest in purchasing anti-recording devices.
Despite the recent enactment of five laws to protect teachers’ authority in March, 67.5% said they have not felt any changes in the classroom, with 5.9% claiming their situation has worsened compared to before the legislation.
However, the new laws appear to have curbed some problematic behavior, with 37.7% of educators reporting a decline in malicious complaints from parents and 32.9% seeing a drop in students infringing on teachers’ authority.
A contentious issue requiring teachers to supervise students’ field trips and job site visits has drawn significant pushback due to the increased responsibility. In the survey, 52% called for abolishing such programs, with 93.4% worried about potential parental complaints or legal action in case of an accident. Nearly one-third, 31.9%, said they had experienced or witnessed such consequences.
Plans by some politicians and the Seoul education superintendent to establish a Student Rights Act rather than guidelines have faced opposition from 79.1% of teachers surveyed. The federation urged abandoning “attempts to enshrine excessively rights-focused student rules into law” and instead prioritizing legislation to safeguard teachers’ authority.
The data shows 18.6% of respondents had disciplined disruptive students through separation, with 26.6% of those cases prompting parental complaints.
“Teachers are increasingly losing their sense of pride, duty and passion,” the Korean Federation of Teachers’ Associations warned, calling for “extraordinary measures to protect authority and improve working conditions and treatment before the situation becomes irreversible.”
Separately, the Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union released results of its own survey of 9,361 elementary school teachers from April 15 to 26, revealing similar disillusionment. Only 22.3% reported satisfaction with their current jobs, while 78.9% said their working environment had not improved despite recent legal revisions related to teachers’ authority.
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
