(EDITORIAL from the Korea Herald on Aug. 15)

Teacher evaluations

Seniority no longer reins supreme in the Korean society, where the Confucian
influence is fast receding.

It has given way to meritocracy in both the public
and private sectors. The idea has gained strength that salary compensation and
whom to promote should be determined based on individual performance and talent,
not on the length of employment.
Among the few places that seniority-based compensation and promotion are still
prevailing are primary, middle and high schools. Special interest groups for
teachers agree in principle on teacher evaluations, which will eventually, if not
now, lead to merit-based compensation. But they have attached so many strings to
the introduction of teacher evaluations that they have practically been putting
up an insurmountable obstruction.
A long-awaited turnaround, however, is coming. The Korean Federation of Teachers'
Association presented no preconditions when it decided earlier in the week to
accommodate the government's plan to make the evaluation of teachers in their
performances legally binding. Evaluations are the first step to be taken on the
path to improving public education through competition by rewarding competent
teachers and penalizing those who are not.
The head of the largest group representing teachers' interests said in an
interview with a daily newspaper, "We have no reason to be driven into teacher
evaluations. We will accommodate it of our own volition and without qualms. The
National Assembly will have to pass a bill (on teacher evaluation) during its
regular session (opening next month)."
The group counts as its members 180,000 teachers in primary, middle and high
schools, or 45 percent of the total. As such, it holds sway in changing an
existing education policy or adopting a new one.
In the past, the federation has been under mounting pressure to abandon its
opposition to teacher evaluations. According to a survey conducted in March,
eight in 10 parents demanded all teachers subject themselves to evaluations by
parents, students, fellow teachers as well as their principal.
Even more surprising was the finding that almost two thirds of the teachers
surveyed were in favor of such evaluations. In other words, the opinion poll's
result proved that the federation misrepresented the majority opinion of its
members when it opposed the proposal for teacher evaluations.
No wonder when they gathered for a conference on Monday, 400 leaders of the
federation decided to accept teacher evaluations without attaching any
preconditions. In doing so, they vowed to help promote professionalism for
teachers.
Pressure is also mounting on another special interest group, the Korean Teachers
and Education Workers' Union to follow suit. The militant leftist union, with
which 15 percent of teachers are affiliated, has been persistent in its
opposition to the government's proposal for teacher evaluations.
The union says it opposes teacher evaluations because they would permit
principals to evaluate teacher performance arbitrarily. It also makes a dubious
claim that the competition it would promote would be of little help in advancing
professionalism among teachers.
But the union will have to change course and embrace teacher evaluations if it
does not wish to alienate itself not only from the general public but also from
fellow teachers any further. Nothing better illustrates its predicament than a
decision the main opposition Democratic Party made in favor of teacher
evaluations.
The party's withdrawal of support, which followed the federation's change of
opinion, means that chances are now very high that teacher evaluations will be
written into law in the near future.
The ruling Grand National Party is hinting that promotion and compensation will
not be immediately linked to the evaluation outcome. But what is an evaluation
for if its outcome is not used as the criterion for rewards and punishment? It
should be made to encourage competition among teachers to upgrade primary and
secondary education in the nation.
(END)